Marxism with Liberation Theology

• Liberation theology

  •It focuses on action first (Orthopraxy – right practice) rather than belief (Orthodoxy – right belief)

  •It requires Christians to reflect critically on their experiences in life.

  •It focuses on the experiences of the poor and sees Christianity as an opportunity to respond to poverty and other examples of exploitation and alienation in the world.

  •It is a theory linked to Karl Marx’s (19th century German economic theorist) analysis of capitalism.
• How did liberation theology begin?

  •Theological movement that began in 1964 when young Catholic theologians met in Brazil and vowed to find what the true Christian message was in the face of the poverty of Latin America.

  •It is therefore both an intellectual movement but also a practical one

  •Two members of the group became leading liberation theologians: Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutierrez.
• Conscientisation- Paulo Freire

  When a person becomes aware of the power structures in society
• The Kingdom of God in liberation theology

  •The concept of the Kingdom of God is central to Liberation theology.

  •It is the world made anew – not where you go when you die.

  •The coming of the Kingdom of God is something that must be hoped and worked for in this world.
• Gutierrez's 2 types of liberation

  1st – there must be social and economic liberation – poverty and oppression are caused by humans and can be alleviated by them = people must take responsibility and act!

  2nd – people must be liberated from sin, reconciled with God and all of God's brothers and sisters in Christ.
• Liberation Theology, Marxism and Latin America

  •Latin America was an under developed part of the world where many people lived in poverty

  •It was at a cross roads: stick with capitalism or choose socialism?•This ideological battle impacted general elections, caused violence and revolution, socialist governments were overthrown with the help of the USA and communists led rebel movements

  •The violent uprising that Marx had predicted seemed to be happening in Latin America.

  •This led to Liberation theology, a focus on increasing human well-being not wealth
• Gustavo Gutierrez

  •For Gutierrez being Christian requires a person to be political.

  •The Church must be a voice against alienation and exploitation, requiring orthopraxis before orthodoxy.

  •Thus working to change people’s lives for the better should come before concerns about the official doctrines and teachings of the church.

  •The Marxist analysis of structural inequality (which we embrace) informs Liberation theology’s concept of structural sin (accepting the injustice suffered by the poor and oppressed masses).

  Gutierrez did caution the people against completely following Marxism
• “Liberation theology freely borrows from Marxism certain ‘methodical pointers’ that have proved fruitful in understanding the role of the oppressed.” - (Boff and Boff ‘Introducing Liberation Theology’)
• “According to liberation theology, capitalism has clearly been incapable of satisfying basic needs in Latin America, despite the fact that government and business leaders are professed Christians.”  -(Fitzgerald ‘The Economics of Liberation Theology’)
• Liberation theologians identify the social sin in society that results in poverty and much suffering. They with action attempt to overturn this as capitalist approaches perpetuate the class system.
• In acknowledging that Jesus is the one true teacher but that radical steps are required, Liberation theology has taken Marxism, an atheist structure, to the limit. Any further and God would begin to be described as a false consciousness within Christianity.
• Liberation Theology has had a positive impact on societies in Latin America, showing that the focus on praxis has been successful.
• Any further interaction with Marxism may make Christianity lose its distinictiveness.
• Liberation theology has not had a global impact and perhaps this is because Marxism has not been engaged with enough. Christianity still focuses more on spiritual poverty rather than real poverty.
• There is still deep injustice in Latin America, it is clearly further Marxism is necessary for a truly successful revolution.
• Liberation theology is confined to Latin America and the Marxist system of analysis should be used to apply its principles in other contexts.