510 - Debated Issues in Liberation Theology

Debated Issues in Liberation Theology

By William R. Barr

"Differences that emerge in liberation theology have to do not only with applying liberation theology in different situations; there are also important differences among Latin American liberationists as to what liberation theology itself involves, how it should be done, and its relations to the church and theological tradition. "

WHILE much of Latin American liberation theology shares a common point of departure (the struggle of the oppressed) and certain broad areas of consensus (focus on the activity of God in history and society, rejection of neocolonialism, concern for the popular church, etc.), this theological perspective is far from monolithic. There are, in fact, a number of key issues under intense discussion and even debate within current Latin American liberation theology. To be sure, there is growing debate within the Catholic Church and also within Protestant churches in Latin America and elsewhere over liberation theology ¹ But in the heat of this debate, it is often overlooked that Latin American liberation theology is itself in ferment, that many issues in it are not yet settled, and that, it is still in the relatively early stages of development.

To focus attention on issues under debate in this theology is not intended to divert attention from its central concerns, nor to represent it as hopelessly divided. Rather, to note points at which it itself is struggling is to recognize that this theology is a movement of thought, not a finished product. A theology that posed as having resolved all issues would hardly be a theology emerging in the struggle for liberation. Latin American theology has come to recognize that theology, too,

William R. Barr is Professor of Theology at the Lexington Theological Seminary, Kentucky. A member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dr. Barr has been involved in and written for numerous ecumenical agencies. This present article grows out of a sabbatical spent at the Seminario Biblico Latinoamericano in San Jose, Costa Rica. While there, he consulted with Carmelo Alvarez, head of the Council of Churches of Latin America, and with Jose Duque of the Departamento Ecumenico de Investigaciones (DEI).

¹ As, for example, the Vatican "Instruction Concerning Some Aspects of 'Liberation Theology.' " There are varying interpretations of the meaning and aim of this statement; see, for instance, Teologia de la Liberacion: Documentos sobre una polemica (San Jose: DEI, 1984). See also the careful critique by Dennis P. McCann, Christian Realism and Liberation Theology (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1981). For Protestant critiques, see Schubert M. Ogden, Faith and Freedom (Nashville: Abingdon, 1970); and Ronald Nash, ed., Liberation Theology (Milford, Mich.: Mott Media, 1984).

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shares in the need for liberation; and in the course of this struggle it is only to be expected that there will be loose ends, issues over which there will be differences of opinion, and issues requiring further work. In examining some of these, we may gain a greater appreciation of the vitality of this theology as well as insights concerning the issues under discussion.

The central themes of Latin American liberation theology have now become widely familiar, however adequately or not they have been implemented. These themes include a fundamental reorientation of theology to beginning from and being done within the context of praxis, the struggle of the oppressed for freedom and justice. Here the theological task is defined as a critical reflection in and on praxis, drawing on the analysis of the social sciences, and developed with the aim of aiding people in working to create a more just and peaceful world community. ² In this way, liberation theology seeks to articulate a theology that springs from the life of the people and God's activity in their midst in their struggle for a new and different life. In the Latin American situation, this means a theology that challenges the root causes of systems of domination and repression, the idolization of concern for national security, the strangling burden of a huge and ever-growing external debt, increasing militarization, and economic, political, and cultural subservience to the more industrialized countries, in particular to the United States. In these concerns and theological understanding of them, there is widely shared agreement in much of Latin American liberation theology, as there is also widely shared agreement that the specific form liberation takes will necessarily vary from one situation to another. What it will involve in a Chile under the rule of Pinochet will be different in many ways from what it will involve in a democratic country such as Costa Rica.

Differences that emerge in liberation theology have to do not only with applying liberation theology in different situations; there are also important differences among Latin American liberationists as to what liberation theology itself involves, how it should be done, and its relations to the church and theological tradition. It is to some of these issues that we will here give attention.

I

The claim is frequently made that liberation theology constitutes an entirely different way of doing theology. ³ This claim is generally directed against European--or more broadly, North Atlantic-patterns of theological thought that take their point of departure from classical theoretical problems and that undertake to develop an apologetic for

²For a recent discussion of the basic definition of liberation theology, see Pablo Richard, La Iglesia Latino-americana entre el temor y la esperanza (San Jose: DEI, 1980), pp. 24-25.

³See Clodovis Boff, Teologia de lo Politico: Sus mediaciones (Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1980), pp. 17-19.

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faith in the face of modern secular doubts and criticisms. Whatever insights may be gained in such attempts, Latin American liberation theology contends that this way of doing theology is in fact ideologically conditioned and constitutes an element in Northern expansionism. Although such theology may present itself as nonideological or as transcending ideology, it reflects, as does all theology, its particular social location and worldview; and its pretension to universality becomes a form of imperialism in relation to other peoples and cultures.

What is needed, say many Latin American theologians, and what is actually occurring in the involvement of Christians in the struggle of the poor, is the emergence of a radically different kind of theological method, a theological understanding that arises in and out of this struggle itself and that addresses the life and death issues with which people are grappling. Such a theology does not merely have liberation as a topic, but is a theology formed in the context of the struggle for liberation. As Juan Luis Segundo puts it in a statement that many other Latin American liberationists would support, the struggle for liberation requires a "re-reading" of Scripture which is sensitive to its social context and meaning and which seeks to articulate its message in the present social situation as grasped by those suffering and struggling in this situation for fundamental change. That, he comments, is something much more-and something essentially different from-the attempt merely to apply traditional theological concepts to the situation. It involves una manera nueva de hacer teologia, a new way of doing theology. ⁴

But some Latin American theologians believe this point can be overstated. Segundo Galilea, for instance, cautions against exaggerating the novelty of liberation theology. He agrees that it does involve a basic change from customary forms of North Atlantic theology. But as he sees it, the concern to root theology in the praxis of faith ties into one of the perhaps less prominent but nevertheless vital streams in the history of theology. He identifies three chief ways in which theology has been done in the life of the church: (1) as a form of intellectual contemplation, meditation, or wisdom, as, for example, in Augustine's Confessions and Pascal's Pensées; (2) as systematic theology or dogmatics, the rational explication of the church's official teaching or dogma; and (3) as " pastoral theology," reflection in and on the actual situations in which Christians find themselves and the issues with which they are engaged, as, for example, in the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian in the struggle with Gnosticism. It is primarily this latter strand of theological tradition, Galilea suggests, to which liberation theology is related and which it continues. Thus, to speak of liberation theology as an entirely new way of doing theology is, says Galilea, "excessive." ⁵

⁴ Juan Luis Segundo, Liberacion de la teologla (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Carlos Lohle, 1975), pp. 12-14. Eng. trans. by John Drury, Liberation of Theology (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1976), pp. 7-9.

⁵ Segundo Galilea, Teologia de la Liberacion: Ensayo de sintesis (Bogota: Indo-American Press Service, 1976), p. 16.

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He particularizes this thesis in terms of Latin American history. He and other liberationists point to precedents of liberation theology in the resistance of native Americans to the Spanish conquest (and in religious reflection on this, such as that of Tupac Amaru, leader of the Incas) and in the strong protests of some missionaries against mistreatment of Indians. Perhaps the most famous of these was Bartolormé de las Casas, but there were also others. Latin American liberation theologians and historians are presently busily engaged in researching their past and discovering "roots" of liberation theology in their own historical experience. ⁶

This work has already proven insightful in many ways. It forms a needed corrective to histories written from the point of view of the dominant powers, which often overlook or merely mention in passing those who identified with the oppressed. Such efforts are not merely an attempt to "legitimate" liberation theology. Their primary aim is to retrieve neglected elements from Latin American experience that form the background of the present and ongoing struggle for social justice.

But it may be a mistake to tie liberation theology to only one strand of theological tradition. The attempt to understand the involvement and work of God in the struggle of the oppressed is certainly a pastoral theology, but it also involves meditation and systematic reflection as well. Galilea's own statement is clear evidence of that. Even more important, however, is the fact that as the church and Christians engage with others in the struggle for justice, they confront issues that force them to reflect critically and constructively on the reality of their situation and the possibilities for transformative change. Galilea's point that there is precedence in the history of the church for a theology of praxis has merit and deserves further study. Precisely the discernment of such precedence does not diminish but makes even clearer the need for re-vision of the theological task in the present situation. If liberation theology is not an absolutely new way of doing theology, it is at least a renewal and further development of a way of doing theology that has been largely submerged in a church that has all too often been allied with the status quo.

II

One of the key insights of Latin American liberation theology is its sharp perception of the historical and social location of faith, the perception that faith is always embodied in a particular social context. Here faith is seen not only as an interior attitude or decision of the person but also as a mode of action, a way of living, which is affected by and which affects one's relations with others and the social structure of these relationships. This includes economic, political, and cultural

⁶ See, for instance, the important studies of the Comision de Estudios de Historia de la Iglesia en America Latina (CEHILA) published under the titles Materiales para una historia de la teologia en America Latina (San Jose: DEI, 1980) and Raices de la teologia latinoamericana (San Jose; DEI, 1985).

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aspects, and thus also the ideology-the world-view, life-view, and system of values-which support and legitimate the structures of a society. Consequently, faith is never free of ideology; it is always a stance taken in some particular social and ideological context. And given the pluralistic world in which we live, this means a stance taken in the midst of various and conflicting ideologies. But does faith, then, become simply identical with its ideology?

Some Latin American theologians seem to suggest that faith constitutes an alternative vision of reality and nexus of values: in effect, an alternative ideology. Hugo Assmann, for example, argues that the political significance of faith is not something additional to faith, but is the "act of faith as such in its concrete context of historical praxis." ⁷ This leads Assmarm virtually to identify faith with a social vision. As he sees it, the task of faith is to struggle against oppressive ideologies, particularly those of international capitalism, and for the formation of a new and different ideology, that of a more just economic and political world order.

But other Latin theologians are uneasy about equating faith with an ideology. They insist that there is a transcendent dimension to faith that always reaches beyond human hopes and visions, even the highest, and that clings to the mystery of God. Clodovis Boff is one who has given attention to this dimension of faith. He contends that faith is not "exhausted" in any of its manifestations including its ideological expression. At the same time, he acknowledges that faith always exists only in its specific manifestations and thus in some ideological form in the midst of the conflict of ideologies. An informed faith, he argues, is cognizant of this and attempts to act responsibly in this conflict, challenging ideologies that deny justice and that undermine human rights.

Faith also has a capacity, by virtue of its relation to its subject, to reflect critically on its own ideological expression. If this were not the case, there would be no possibility of avoiding idolatry: the absolutizing of faith's own ideological expression. But because faith is a trust in God beyond its own power of comprehension, there is a capability in faith of critiquing its own visions. This leads Boff to conclude that there must be a " continuing dialectic" between faith and ideology. Faith is always involved in the struggle of ideologies, but its ultimate confidence is not in an ideology but in that which transcends and transforms all human visions, including also those of faith. ⁸

But is this critical capacity of faith effectively exercised in the practice of Christians and the church? The hard reality seems to be that for centuries and still today the church is often so bound up with oppressive social structures that the faith it promotes almost inevitably falls captive to the dominant ideology. Given this situation, what

⁷ Hugo Assmann, Opresion-Liberacion: Desafio a los cristianos (Montevideo: Tierra Nueva, 1971), p. 20.

⁸ Boff, Teologia de lo Politico, pp. 95-97.

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appears to be needed, according to some Latin American liberationists, is a "de-ideologization" of faith and theology ⁹ which will then allow faith the freedom to engage in critical use of ideologies. In this view, faith must first be broken loose from its present ideological captivity. This can occur only through the exposure and testing that comes through Christians and the church joining with the oppressed in the struggle for justice.

III

From its beginnings, Latin American liberation theology has focused on history as the context and medium of God's salvific activity, without however denying a transcendent dimension of salvation beyond history. The classic statement of Gustavo Gutierrez is typical of this view. When he writes that salvation is the cure for sin, he means not only inner sin but the rejection of God in the whole of life, in the ways in which people live with others and the institutionalization of those relationships. Salvation "embraces every aspect of humanity: body and spirit, individual and society, person and cosmos, time and eternity." ¹⁰ In this inclusive sense, salvation is not only a matter of life beyond death. It signifies "the transformation and fulfillment of the present life. The absolute value of salvation-far from devaluing this world-gives it authentic meaning and its own autonomy, because salvation is already latently there." ¹¹ Gutierrez seems to envision salvation both as empowerment and as the ultimate, comprehensive aim of the struggle for liberation.

More recently, however, Leonardo and Clodovis Boff have addressed the matter in a somewhat different way. They, too, focus on "the theological element present in socio-economic liberations." Liberation, they argue, involves more than simply changing the forms of human life; it involves creating conditions in which human beings can flourish. But the creation of a new quality and community of life is never fully realized in any historic liberation movement. Historical liberations both express and anticipate the deep and total transformation of existence which is eschatological salvation. The Boffs draw on a distinction promulgated by the final document of Puebla between "partial liberations" and "integral liberation." ¹² They argue that there is more to salvation than even a full and complete liberation, for the Kingdom of God signifies not simply a reformation but a profound transformation of life, a radically new existence. They believe this is demonstrated in Jesus

⁹See Segundo, Liberacion de la teologia, p. 101 (Eng. trans., p. 87) and chap. 4. For a discussion of Segundo's thought on this matter, see Alfred T. Hennelly, Theologies in Conflict (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1979), chap. 7.

¹⁰ Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1973), pp. 151-2.

¹¹ Ibid., p. 152. See also Gustavo Gutierrez, La Fuerza historica de los Pobres (Lima: CEP, 1979), esp. pp. 108- 17.

¹² Leonardo and Clodovis Boff, Salvation and Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984), chap. 2.

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Christ. His liberating action sprang from and embodied a new quality of human existence in the power of God. Salvation, as enacted here, has to do with "the eschatological condition of human being," a deeper "dimension" of human being than economic, political, and social well-being, although it includes these. ¹³ The Boffs conclude that while salvation includes and is mediated through historical liberations, it is not simply identical with nor an extension of historical liberation.

Is there a basic difference between the view set forth by Gutierrez and the Boffs? Both emphasize the close relation of salvation and liberation: salvation involves and is mediated through the historic struggle for liberation. But while Gutierrez suggests that salvation is the extension and completion of liberation, the Boffs contend that liberation even in the most comprehensive sense is not, as such, salvation. In their view, salvation is God's radical transformation of creation, the overcoming of death, and the gift and realization of a life together beyond all that we can envision, and thus beyond all revolutionary hopes and dreams. They conclude that "salvation and liberation are without division and without separation, but they are also without confusion and without any change of one into the other." ¹⁴ The issue seems to be whether salvation signifies an extension and fulfillment of historic liberation efforts, or a qualitatively new and different character of life which, while it may be anticipated in some ways in historic liberations, essentially transcends them.

It is important to recognize that this issue is currently under intense discussion in Latin American liberation theology. Critics who persist in charging that this theology conflates salvation totally with social liberation completely miss the mark. Any serious conversation with Latin American theology will have to take into account its own profound wrestling with this issue.

IV

The fact that many Latin American liberationists draw upon and employ Marxist concepts in analyzing the Latin American situation and its relation to the dominant world powers has evoked charges in some quarters that it has capitulated to Marxism, or at least is in danger of doing so. Such criticism often overlooks the fact that many non-Marxist social analysts also make selective use of Marxist ideas. Marxism is not so logically tight a system that it must be accepted in whole or not at all. ¹⁵ Liberation theology, in fact, makes critical use of Marxist thought, often drawing more on revisionist Marxists, such as Althusser and Veron, than on Marxist orthodoxy. Furthermore, there is vigorous discussion and even debate within liberation theology as to the usefulness of Marxist analysis in coming to grips with the contemporary reality of Latin America.

¹³ Ibid., pp. 56-58.

¹⁴ Ibid., p. 60.

¹⁵ As the Vatican "Instruction" seems to imply.

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Many Latin American liberation theologians interpret the problems and conflicts of the region in terms of class differentiation and class conflict. But these notions, while certainly emphasized and defined in certain ways by Marx, were by no means invented by him. They are clearly used more widely than by Marxist thinkers only. Latin American liberation theology does draw upon Marxist interpretations of class conflict, especially as a means of critiquing the dominant capitalist ideology. But its use of Marxist analysis seems to function more as an instrument of critique than as a prescription for achieving the needed transformation of society. Even where there is commitment to some form of socialism-and socialist visions in Latin America, as elsewhere, vary widely-the kind of social order envisioned is rarely conceived wholly in traditional Marxist forms, despite the labeling of such views as Marxist-Leninist, but in ways that are reflective of the cultures and values of Latin American peoples.

The limits as well as advantages of Marxist analysis are weighed and debated in Latin American liberation theology. A clear distinction is made between use of Marxist thought and adherence to Marxist political parties. As Jose' Comblin points out, "the use of Marxism as an instrument of analysis or interpretation of reality does not signify necessarily by any means adherence to a Marxist movement." ¹⁶

Comblin points out that, with the exception of Cuba and more recently Nicaragua, Marxist political parties have constituted generally a very small minority in the Latin American political scene. And at times such parties have been reluctant to support popular revolutionary movements, as for example in the early years of the Cuban revolution, although at times they have played a significant part in political change.

Still, says Comblin, "the influence of Marxism on the development of Latin America has been many times exaggerated." ¹⁷In the Cold War era following WWII, and in the midst of renewed U.S.-Soviet tensions in recent years, there has been a tendency, particularly in the U.S., to view all nationalistic movements of self-determination as being communist-dominated or influenced. Especially in military circles in North America and also in Latin America, movements calling for radical social change are often viewed as the work of a communist conspiracy to subvert Latin America and turn it into a satellite of Moscow. Such views, and the counter-revolutionary activity they engender, can turn into self-fulfilling prophecy when reform movements are opposed by the U.S. and forced to turn to communist countries for needed trade and support.

There are, to be sure, legitimate grounds for concern about increasing Soviet involvement in Latin America. But many Latin Americans are

¹⁶Jose Comblin, "Movimientos e ideologias en America Latina," in Alfonso Alvarez Bolado y otras, Fe cristiana y cambio social en America Latina: Encuentro de El Escorial, 1972. Instituto Fe y Secularidad (Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1973), p. 116.

¹⁷Ibid.

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also concerned about the increasing influence and intervention of the U.S. and international capitalism in the internal affairs of the region.

Latin American theology has found Marxist analysis useful at points in understanding the nature of foreign imperialism and class struggles within Latin American societies. Yet many Latin American liberationists believe that developments within the world political and economic scene since Marx have forced revision of Marxist theories, and this is particularly the case with respect to the specific realities of modern Latin American society.

It is true that some liberationists urge the need to go beyond a pragmatic and eclectic use of Marx to a more thoroughgoing commitment to Marxist interpretation. The Cuban theologian Sergio Arce Martinez argues that in Cuba Christians were faced with a concrete decision whether to try to understand their struggle in Marxist terms or to oppose such interpretation in principle. This was not merely a theoretical decision, but an issue Christians had to deal with as they shared in the revolutionary struggle for a new society. Use of Marxist analysis in this situation, for some Christians, proved to be a practical necessity. It was not only that they came to see a positive connection between their faith and the revolution, but also that their experience in the revolutionary struggle helped them see more clearly how much their previous thought and life-structure had been shaped by a particular bourgeois ideology. Arce contends that through the encounter with Marxism, the church in Cuba is coming to realize that "the church must take an option which implies the renunciation of the bourgeois ideology of Christendom." ¹⁸

At the same time, other Latin American liberationists, while drawing on some elements of Marxism, are more skeptical of the sufficiency of its philosophical foundations. They question not so much the materialism in Marx, since Christian faith also emphasizes the material world: God's blessing of creation as good, the presence of God in the humanity of Christ, and the presence of Christ in eucharistic bread and wine. They question the narrow limits within which Marxism views the range of human well-being. They point out that a full and liberated human existence involves moral, mystical, and eschatological dimensions that are not adequately dealt with within the framework of Marxist interpretation.

In Marxist analysis, there appears to be a basic ambivalence as to the role of religion in the social struggle. Is religion, as Marx sometimes suggests, only a projection of social longing and hopes, destined eventually to be displaced by a more realistic, scientific understanding of

¹⁸ Sergio Arce Martinez, "La tarea teologica actual: Una perspectiva desde la praxis cristiana y el quehacer teologico en Cuba," in Jorge V. Pixley y Jean-Pierre Bastian, eds., Praxis cristiana y produccion teologica, Materiales del Encuentro de teologos celebrado en la communidad teologica de Mexico, 1977 (Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1979), p. 168.

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human life, or does religion have a continuing service in the struggle and life of the people? This seems to be a question Marx was never able to resolve. In any case, Marx seems to have viewed the human being as basically and principally a "worker" whose mental and spiritual life is a reflection of one's social and material conditions. Jose' Miquez Bonino notes that surely this is far too limited a vision of the human being. We live not only as homo faber but also as homo ludens and as homo adorans. ¹⁹ To take account of this does not constitute a flight into romanticism or idealism. It is simply necessary in order to grasp the full scope of the human struggle. What these Latin American liberationists call for is neither a wholesale acceptance nor rejection of Marxism but a critical appropriation of Marxist analysis within a Christian vision of human life and the world.

Recognition of the limits of Marxism, as well as the objection that Marxism, too, is a foreign import into Latin America, has led some Latin American theologians, such as the Argentines Juan Carlos Sconnone and Lucia Gera, to develop a "populist theology" which, eschewing Marxist categories, draws upon images and concepts and modes of thought from the particular culture of the people. Here the aim is to develop what is called a "historical hermenuetic" growing out of "the national and popular experience." ²⁰ Although this project is barely underway, it has excited considerable interest in some Latin American circles. Some early critics question whether a social scientific analysis can be confined only to categories and methods of analysis drawn from national experience. They question whether such a project can take account of common features of dependency of Latin American nations as well as the cultural pluralism that exists within each of the countries. ²¹

The question of the value and use of Marxist analysis is an issue under intense discussion within Latin American theology, and by no means an issue raised only outside the region by its critics. To recognize this shatters the stereotype sometimes projected by its critics in representing Latin American liberation theology as uncritically accepting of Marxist thought. The place and role of Marxist thought is not yet settled in liberation theology, and may perhaps never be. For liberationists, the more important question is the extent to which any of the available means of analysis facilitate a clearer understanding of the Latin American situation and contribute to reshaping it in a more just direction. Even those who draw heavily on Marxist tradition realize that this must be the final test of its adequacy.

¹⁹ See Jose Miguez Bonino, Lafe enbusca de eficacia: Una interpretacion de la reflexion teological latinoamericana de liberacion (Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1977), p. 135.

²⁰ See Juan Carlos Scannone, "Teologia, cultura popular y discernmiento," Revista de Centro de Investigacion y Accion Social (1974). Also, Lucio Gera, "Cultura y dependencia a la luz de la reflexion teologica," Stromata (1974).

²¹ See the critique in Roberto Oliveros Maqueo, Liberacion y teologia: Genesis y crecimiento de una reflexion (1966-1976) (Lima: CEP, 1977), pp. 349-352.

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V

Christology has become one of the focal points of recent Latin American liberation theology. There are at least two primary reasons for this. One is a concern to liberate this figure from a religious and theological captivity which has made of him not much more than a religious relic or a sentimental idealist. The other is a concern to explore the possibilities in this figure for a clearer perception of what is involved in a liberating life in community. ²²

One of the issues in liberation christology-though certainly not the only one-has to do with how this figure should best be focused in order to discern his liberating significance. This is related to the complicated and perplexing problem of the relation of the historical Jesus and the Christ of the church's faith and later interpretation, but it is not wholly identical with it. Generally in liberation christology, it is urged that the question of the relation of the historical Jesus to the Christ of faith must be relativized, and in fact is relativized, in the experience of Christians working with others in the struggle for liberation. As Christians ponder this figure in the midst of their struggle, their concern is not with questions of historical accuracy so much as it is with questions as to what guidance and resource Jesus provides in the struggle for freedom and justice. But in dealing with these questions, decisions must be made as to how this figure should be focused in the attempt to grasp his relevance in the contemporary situation. And in this regard, Latin American theologians come to different conclusions.

Jose' Comblin urges that the focus should be on "the human life, simply human, of Jesus" as his disciples knew him and tried to understand him. ²³ What they saw and experienced in him, Comblin believes, was a man of humble origin and background, much like a campesino or urban laborer today, who committed himself totally to the mission of God. In carrying out this vocation, he identified with and ministered primarily to the poor and oppressed of his day and culture. His primary work was that he lived with them as "a free man" (un hombre libre) and invited them, through his proclamation and mighty works, to share this new life of freedom in the power of God's coming Kingdom. Such freedom involved a radical independence from the dominant powers. Jesus didn't seek their permission for his work. Indeed, this, says Comblin, constituted his worst offense in their eyes: "he showed that he didn't need them." ²⁴ While Jesus promoted no specific political program, his life and activity were politically significant in that he called people into a life together with others that could not be controlled by the dominant powers. Their response was to have

²² See Jose Miguez Bonino, ed., Faces of Jesus: Latin American Christologies (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984).

²³ Jose Comblin, Jesus de Nazaret: Meditacion sobre la vida y accion humana de Jesus (Santander: Editorial Sal Terrae, 1979), p. 7.

²⁴ Ibid., p. 22.

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him executed on a charge of sedition. But that did not end his mission and influence.

Although there are many historical and methodological questions raised by Comblin's proposal-and he acknowledges and deals with some of them-a question that must also be considered is whether this way of portraying Jesus, as a historical model of a liberating life, really corresponds to the way he is experienced in the struggle for liberation. Do those engaged in this struggle encounter this figure primarily as one who long ago and far away offered in his life an example of a liberating life? Juan Luis Segundo points out that those who find this figure powerfully helpful always see him through the significance he has in the present situation. In other words, they see him first of all not in his own historical context but in theirs, and thus in terms of his "living presence" among them²⁵ Theologically, this is expressed by saying that it is the risen, living Christ who discloses his identity through his salvific work, that is, through his power to move people and transform human life.

Segundo employs an evolutionary model, an "ecology of mind," as he calls it, to explicate this experience of the present reality of Christ. Christ is encountered in the marginalized in their growing selfconsciousness and protest against oppression, in their struggle for a better life. In this figure, they find encouragement, direction, and the strength to persist in their struggle, often in the face of overwhelming odds. Segundo likens this somewhat to the influence of an Einstein: the new orientation he gave to theoretical physics, the influence he had on his peers, and the much broader influence he has had through the popularization of his ideas in shaping the modern world view. Yet the influence of Jesus Christ in the struggle of the poor is more than simply the introduction of a new way of looking at things; it is also a new way of living with others in the power of God. This reaches its climax in his death and resurrection. Here he not only models a life of faithfulness. His suffering and self-sacrifice in God's cause become the means through which God breaks through the structures and powers of bondage and death and shows that they cannot ultimately prevail. ²⁶

Other Latin American theologians, such as Leonardo Boff ²⁷ and Jon Sobrino, ²⁸attempt to combine these approaches in a dialectical hermeneutic.

Even though we cannot here go more deeply into this discussion, nor touch upon a number of other significant points of convergence and divergence, perhaps what has been reported at least indicates something of its varied and dynamic character. While there is a broad consensus

²⁵Juan Luis Segundo, El hombre de hoy ante Jesus de Nazaret, Tomo, II/2 (Madrid: Ediciones Cristiandad, 1982), pp. 803f.

²⁶ Segundo, El hombre de hoy ante Jesus de Nazaaret, Tomo II/1, pp. 11-12.

²⁷ Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Time (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1978), pp. 7-15.

²⁸ Jon Sobrino, Christology at the Crossroads (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1978), pp. 1-16.

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that Jesus' identity is concentrated in his ministry among the poor and his proclamation of the Kingdom of God as God's radical transformation of social as well as individual existence, a variety of christological views within this common orientation also emerge. These new insights are coming not just out of academic discussions but out of the struggle of Christians to understand the significance of Jesus Christ in the midst of their work with others to create a more just society.

VI

Latin American liberation theology in its early stages tended to share the critical or even negative view of popular religion of earlier liberal thought. The many religious fiestas, rites, images, legends, and sentiments of the people were generally regarded as filled with superstition, exaggeration, obscurantism, and as easily manipulated by oppressive powers to control the people and hold them in subservience. Such powers supported popular religion for the purpose of diverting attention from the real needs and suffering of the masses and to link religious sentiments to a patriotism upholding the status quo. Consequently, liberationists tended to view popular religion as anti-revolutionary and an element of conservative reactionism. The opposition of Catholic and conservative Protestant churches to radical social reform seemed to support this view. At the same time, more progressive leadership in the church often called for a type of Christian education that was designed to move people "beyond" popular religion to a more "adult" or "mature" faith, thus implying that popular religion represented a weak or immature faith.

More recently, Latin American liberation theology has taken a new look at popular religion. Rather than seeing it as a hindrance in the quest for liberation, some liberationists now champion popular religion as an authentic manifestation of the life and wisdom of the people. Juan Luis Segundo has recently pointed to this change of view as marking a " second stage" in Latin American liberation theology. ²⁹ In the first stage, he says, liberation theology attempted to reach out to the people, but in this more recent stage the theological task is seen as learning from the people. "Instead of teaching the people, theologians must now learn from them." And if theology is to learn from the people, Segundo suggests, theologians must leave aside a superior attitude which looks down on the unsophisticated expressions of popular religion. Rather, theologians should try to enter the perspective of the people, to see and feel life as they see and feel it, and to learn from the wisdom enshrined in their customs, traditions, and sensibility.

But does this also mean leaving aside critical, rigorous theological questioning? Some Latin American liberationists who also share a concern to listen more carefully to and to learn from the people are nevertheless unwilling to give a kind of blanket theological endorsement

²⁹ Juan Luis Segundo, "El cambio dentro de la teologia latinoamericana (dos estapas)," Cuardernos de Teologia, VI, No. 4 (1985), pp. 7-20.

523 - Debated Issues in Liberation Theology

to all that transpires in popular religion. Pablo Richard, for instance, points out that popular religion is itself part of the conflict in which the people find themselves, and thus itself contains conflicting elements. What he believes is needed is not an uncritical acceptance of popular religion but rather a discriminating understanding of its potential and power in the liberation struggle. As he sees it, the religion of the people is a force that can become an "obstacle or a liberating power." ³⁰ Hence, the study of popular religion needs to be part of a more comprehensive analysis of the society and its global relationships. Within this larger context, the power of popular religion to sustain people in the struggle for justice can be more clearly discerned and appreciated. It then becomes clear that popular religion is much more than simply a diffused expression of Christianity providing a social opening for the evangelization efforts of the church. There are powerful resources of identity and strength in the religious life of the people. These resources sustain people by preserving values, attitudes, perspectives, and means of mutual support and affirmation in the face of increasing standardization, regulation, violations of human rights, and control by the dominant powers. But in order for this to be made more effective, the theological task is to work with people to tap the resources of popular religion within a broader sociopolitical understanding of their situation.

Latin American liberation theology is itself clearly in development and shares in the liberation struggle of which it speaks. We must not assume that Latin American liberation theology is a "total package" which must either be accepted or rejected as a whole. Furthermore, the issues with which this theology is struggling are significant not only in Latin America but also for theological understanding in other contexts.

³⁰ Pablo Richard, "Religiosidad popular en Centroarnerica," in Pablo Richard y Diego Irarrazural, Religiony Politica en America Central: Hacia una nueva interpretacion de la religiosidad popular (San Jose: DEI, n.d.), p. 17.