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Summary Theology - Liberation theology & Karl Marx
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Liberation Theology & Karl Marxwhether or not Christian theology should engage with
atheist secular ideologies
Should engage
Liberation theology advocates right action over right belief - For Marx,
the right action was about working for a socialist revolution to bring about a
communist state. For liberation theologians, right action meant putting
Christian beliefs into practice and working to bring about the Kingdom of God
on earth by living according to God's rules. Many liberation theologians,
notably Leonardo Boff, argued that Marx was a useful instrument or tool for
doing theology but Jesus Christ was the main teacher. Eg When Jesus healed
the paralysed man on the Sabbath, it shows that doing good and the right
thing is better and more important than believing the right thing.
Better support for the struggling - Liberation theology criticises the church
for quietly condoning and not challenging this injustice of institutions through
its encouragement of people to be obedient and peaceful. Gutierrez
encouraged Christians to 'build a new society' and to support the 'exploited
classes' in their struggle against their oppressors. This can be understood as
engaging with atheist secular ideology as it followed the Marxist teaching of
entering into the class struggle on behalf of the poor. Gutierrez advocated a
'preferential option for the poor' which challenges capitalist society.
Câmara on the church
The traditional model is to be trained in official Church teaching and then
translate this into action (orthodoxy leading to orthopraxy). But liberation
theology argues that theology should begin with the reality of people’s lives
and seeking to act justly. So orthopraxy comes first and, from this, orthodoxy
will emerge. As Dom Hélder Câmara said, ‘When I give food to the poor
they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me
a communist.’ Câmara’s point is to argue that the church only focussed on
the ‘saintly’ business of feeding the poor when it ought to have been
challenging the injustices that created such poverty. In turn, schools should
, not just inform the next generation but teach people how to interpret and
reform power structures in society
Jesus teachings - According to Leonardo Boff, Christianity teaches us to
challenge political leaders and work to transform society so that it is more
equitable and just rather than to meekly accept suffering and wait for
heaven. One of the main tenets of this kind of understanding of Jesus is that
he gives preference to the oppressed and poor rather than the powerful
and wealthy. Two stories from the New Testament that illustrate this are The
Parable of the Good Samaritan and The Healing of the Woman with a
Haemorrhage. In both instances, an oppressed group (Samaritans and
women) are glorified. Samaritans were seen as being ethnically and
religiously filthy, but Jesus speaks of their love and humanity.
Not engage
Pope John Paul II believed that to turn the church into a secular political
institution and to see salvation solely as the achievement of social justice was
to rob faith in Jesus of its power to transform every life. The image of Jesus
as a political revolutionary was inconsistent with the Bible and the Church's
teachings. Christian theology should not be political, or involved in
revolutionary violence. The Church's business was bringing about the
Kingdom of God, not about creating a Marxist utopia.
Ratzinger argued that many liberation theologians rely too heavily on the
Marxist analysis of society, and others even more so for their support of
Marxist revolutions or regimes. They argue that Marxist ideologies are
incompatible with catholic beliefs. Christianity focused on the view that
Salvation came through the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is too
much focus on materialism and not enough focus on the message of Jesus.
Ratzinger argued that liberation should be about the person and not the
economic situation of the poor. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6 - shows that you
need to believe in Jesus for salvation, not just do good things.
Jesus - The New Testament also seems to suggest that Jesus wanted to
separate Christianity from secular ideology. When Jesus was asked to take
sides in the political controversies of his time (the domination of the Roman
Empire), he answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. Give to Caesar
what is Caesar’s and to God, what belongs to God”. Liberation theology
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