Theory*

• Marx’s teachings - principe of praxis

  • Society is constantly changing through history: going through conflict, stability and then conflict again
  • Change comes about through analysing a situation
  • Then working out the reasons behind it
  • Then changing it
• Alienation and Exploitation - Marx’s key factors

  • Religion and belief in God has brainwashed people into thinking that God is the cause behind change in the world, this is an illusion which causes false hopes in people, eg. an afterlife
  • Religion suggests that some people are born to rule over other people and that everything will be equalised in the afterlife, objectifying and alienating people
  • Capitalism makes some people objectify others, eg. workers being ‘owned’ by the ruling class
  • Society would be better off under communism, where everyone shares equally
  • The production line makes everyone depersonalised and thus alienated
  • The few ruling class control the many workers
  • Religion is one of the more powerful tools to oppress the workers, ‘it is the opiate of the people’
  • Praxis is required
• Praxis by Marx

  Understanding a situation and then bringing about change in it
• Gutierrez

  believes his theology has been influenced by Marxism, most liberation theologians suggest Jesus is the only one true teachers and that Marx is the ‘instrument’ that helps the methodology
• Luke’s Gospel

  • the idea of reversal
  • focused on social justice and social revolution that Christianity promised
  • The Kingdom of God is not in the distant haven’t, but among us
  • Wanted the poor to become drivers for action (praxis)
• Torres Restrepo

  • Catholic priest
  • joined the Colombian National Liberation Army
  • was killed in action, standing up for the oppressed
• Gutierrez

  • didn’t promote violence, but didn’t reject it outright
  • liberation takes place over two stages, both of which are essential
  • against Marx together with Christianity
  • Marx says religion is the problem, Gutierrez says religion is the solution
  • supported the preferential option for the poor
• Gutierrez‘s essential stages by which liberation takes place

  1. fixing the human-made probes of poverty and oppression through human methods, liberating them from structural sin
  2. liberating people from person sin and promoting reconciliation
• Segundo

  • suggested that spiritual liberation should come first
  • Christians can definitely free people from personal sin, but may or may not be able to change social structures
• Pope Benedict XVI

  • was suspicious of the Marxist influences
  • argued that the Catholic Church would work for the poor but not using Marxism as a tool
• Pope John Paul II

  • accepted the preferential option for the poor
  • emphasised spiritual poverty alongside material poverty
• The Catholic Church

  welcomes liberation theology
• Pope Francis

  • accepted liberation theology but distanced himself from the Marxist aspects of it
  • criticised Capitalism
• The Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31

  • the rich man ignored the poor Lazarus
  • thus, the rich man ends up in hell and is told that he had the opportunity to prevent this if he’d paid more attention to the teachings of the Scriptures
• Ratzinger

  • focus too much on materialism, not Jesus' message
  • liberation should be about the person, not the poor
• Boff

  • Marx is a tool for theology
  • Jesus is the teacher