Moving to a Liberation Theology
Introduction
The traditional doctrines of Salvation and the Holy Spirit can be viewed differently when approached from the perspective of Liberation Theology. The theological position of the liberation theology is that social justice and the liberation from oppression is the key to executing the philosophy and teachings of Christ on Earth. According to Juan Luis Segundo in The Liberation of Theology, the central premise of Christianity is liberation: God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity must all be understood in the light of liberation. As Segundo states, “Adam communicated sin and death to all human beings. Christ communicated justice and life to all….[Christ’s] communication of life and justification outdid Adam’s communication of sin and death.”[footnoteRef:2] In other words, Christ liberated mankind from the wages of sin, and those who call themselves Christians should engage in demonstrating this liberation by advocating for social justice and the end of oppression. Salvation is thus reinterpreted in liberation theology in terms of the extent to which social justice is achieved for people here on Earth. The Holy Spirit is reinterpreted to be seen as a guiding spirit for justice and equality—the motivating force for ending oppression and inequality. This paper will summarize developments seen by moving to a liberation theology from the original thoughts of the four doctrines expressed below. [2: Juan Luis Segundo, Liberation of Theology (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002), 211.]
Original Thoughts on the Four Doctrines
My original thoughts on the four doctrines of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity are comprised of the following definitions, which serve as the starting point in my movement towards Liberation Theology. Of these four doctrines, the main two that I will focus on are salvation and the Holy Spirit.
God
God is the beginning and the end—the Alpha and the Omega: the ultimate Divine—the essence of all that is. God is neither male nor female, because these are genders of the human species, but God is a spirit: God IS—“I AM Who Am.”[footnoteRef:3] God is the Great protector and the Great destroyer—a concept that is found in the Hindu religion as well with Shiva being the creator and destroyer, the spirit in whom opposites meet.[footnoteRef:4] God is eternal. God is also internal and is the loudest voice I hear in the morning and the softest voice I hear at night. God is the blue moon beams shining down on my morning meditation. God is the radiant sun lighting my way throughout the day. God is my best friend yet is in my worst enemy. God is free from lateral comparisons. God is failure. God is suffering. God is with me. God is the supreme soul I desire. [3: Ex 3:14] [4: “Religions,” BBC, 2003. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/beliefs/intro_1.shtml]
Jesus
Jesus is the way the truth and the light.[footnoteRef:5] I cannot access redemption and grace except through him…although I am having doubts about this holding true to all. The more I am looking and exploring world religions the more I am seeing each as a pathway to the ultimate result which is God. Jesus directs me, in a language that I understand, on a path which will lead to the same place that the Jews, Muslim, many Hindu, Buddhists, and other religious sects ultimately seek. I believe that too many people in ALL religions concentrate too much on the path and not enough on the destination. This perspective on Jesus is not far from the perspective of the liberation theologians who view Jesus as a source of revelation for a particular people. [5: John 14:6]
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the eternal force of God permeating all existence. The feeling I feel in my gut when things go right and when things go wrong—this is the communication of the Holy Spirit, Who is God. The Holy Spirit exists to teach us new methods of talking, of feeling, of seeing, and of believing so that we can achieve the process of salvation.
Trinity
I have no problem believing in the Trinity. People ask me all of the time if I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course I believe Jesus is the Son of God; and I also believe that I am the son of God, as we ALL are children of God.
Approaching Liberation Theology from the Doctrines of Salvation and the Holy Spirit
What bothers me is this idea that GOD is this old white man sitting on a cloud issuing grace, weeping for me, and eternally mad and vengeful. God IS—as has been stated...
Bibliography
Freire, Paul. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. NY: Continuum, 2000.
Kenneth Leech, “Liberating Theology: The Thought of Juan Luis Segundo,” Theology, 84, 700 (1981), 258-266.
Las Casas, Bartolomeo de. “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.” http://www.columbia.edu/~daviss/work/files/presentations/casshort/
“Latin American Liberation Theologians.” Latin Life, 2018. http://latinolife.co.uk/node/214
Martin, Malachi. The Jesuits. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1987.
“Religions,” BBC, 2003. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/beliefs/intro_1.shtml
Rhodes R. Christian Revolution in Latin America: The Changing Face of Liberation Theology Christian Research Journal, 1991.
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Notification Regarding Liberation Theology: Instruction on Certain Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation’ Roma Italia, 1984. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html
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