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Liberation theology is a diverse theological movement that speaks powerfully, prophetically, critically, and often controversially against oppression. This course will introduce students to key developments in Liberation Theology, equipping them to think critically about the movement, while drawing from its resources to make sense of the injustices we find in the world today.
Week 1 - Gustavo Gutiérrez’ ‘Theology of Liberation’
This session introduces students to liberation theology through one of the movement’s founding members, the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez. It focuses on four key features of Gutiérrez’ thought: history as a theological source, the place and role of the poor, his use of Marxism, and his analysis of structural sin.
This session will give students a basic understanding of Gutiérrez’ Theology of Liberation and an opportunity to discuss it critically. In doing so, it will equip them for further independent study, as well as to recognise the similarities and differences between Gutiérrez approach and the others in this module.
Week 2 - James Cone’s ‘Theology of Black Power’
This session introduces students to James Cone’s Theology of Black Power; a foundational text for Black Liberation Theology, and a parallel origin to Gutiérrez for liberation theology more generally. It focuses on his reception of Black Power as both theological problematic and method; his Christocentrism; his hermeneutics; and the similarities and differences between Cone and Gutiérrez.
This session will introduce students to another important, foundational strand of liberation theology. This will equip for further study, as well as enabling them to recognise the diversity within ‘liberation theology’ more broadly, and to begin to think through the kinds of internal issues that drive development within then movement.
Week 3 - Rosemary Radford Ruether’s ‘Feminist liberation theology’
This session explores how Rosemary Radford Ruether uses a liberation theology method to think through feminist issues in a theological context. Focusing on her ‘Sexism and God Talk’, the session considers her concept of tradition, how this underpins her theological method, her concept of liberation, the foundations of her ecclesiology, and an example of this method at work.
This session will show students how liberation theology methodologies can be extended to feminist concerns. It will also serve as an occasion for thinking about how concepts such as tradition can be negotiated in the context of addressing other theological concerns.
Week 4 - Jacquelyn Grant’s ‘Womanist Theology’
This session looks at Jacquelyn Grant’s ‘womanist theology’, which addresses the situation specifically of Black women. It focuses on her critique of feminist theology, her use of Christology to outline a new method, and the meaning of ‘womanist’ inquiry in a theological context.
This session will encourage students to think through the task of liberation in an explicitly intersectional way, as well as to reflect on the limitations of both Feminist and Black theology as Grant presents them. It will also enable them to think about how Christology can be used creatively and in a fine-grained way, beyond general narratives around Christ’s identity with the oppressed.
Week 5 - Marcella Althaus-Reid’s ‘Indecent Theology’
This session looks at Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Indecent Theology – a queer, postcolonial development of liberation theology. It focuses on her critique of Liberation Theology in both its classic and feminist forms, and her development of its methodologies to recover the ‘indecent’, sexually transgressive lives of the urban poor in postcolonial Latin American contexts.
This session will introduce students to Althaus-Reid, setting them up for further study. It will also give students the opportunity to reflect on the relationship between sexual normativity and colonialism, and the potential implications of a rigorous commitment to centring the poor in theology when romanticised images of the poor are dispensed with.
Video presentation
Preparatory Reading
Gustavo Gutiérrez: Towards a Theology of Liberation
Questions for reflection
1. What are the challenges of Gutierrez’s preferential option for the poor?
2. Is there a problem with Gutierrez’s use of Marxism? If so, is it fatal for this theology?
3. How does our context differ from Gutierrez’s? What ‘signs of the times’ could Gutierrez help us to read today?
Preparatory Reading
James Cone - Black Theology and Black Power
Questions for reflection
Preparatory Reading
Rosemary Radford Ruether - Sexism and God-Talk Towards a Feminist Theology
Questions for reflection
1. What do you think of the centrality Ruether gives to experience in her theology?
2. Do you agree with Ruether’s view that all religious traditions share a common experience of truth that can be appropriated by/used to correct other traditions?
3. Does Ruether provide a good solution to problems within our own traditions?
4. Is Ruether’s solution to the way sexism is embedded in theological language satisfactory?
Other useful document
National Christian Students’ Conference
Preparatory Reading
Jacquelyn Grant - White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus
Questions for reflection
Preparatory Reading
Marcella Althaus-Reid - Indecent Theology.pdf
There are two videos this week. The course video - Week 5 - focuses on Marcella Althaus-Reid’s ‘Indecent Theology’. The second offers some concluding thoughts.
Questions for reflection
Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.
