Introducing Liberation Theology

by Leonardo Boff, Clodovis Boff, Paul Burns (Translator)

1987 OBIS BOOKS stapled-wraps SOFTCOVER

Genres: Theology, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Politics, Social Justice

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Leonardo Boff, born as Genézio Darci Boff, in Concórdia, Santa Catarina, Brazil, on the December 14, 1938. He is the grandson of Italian immigrants from the region of Veneto who came to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in the final part of the nineteenth century. He received his primary and secondary education in Concórdia - Santa Catarina, Rio Negro - Paraná, and Agudos - São Paulo. He studied Philosophy in Curitiba - Paraná and Theology in Petrópolis - Rio de Janeiro. He joined the Order of the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1959 and received his doctorate in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Munich - Germany, in 1970.
For 22 years he was the professor of Systematic and Ecumenical Theology at the Franciscan Theological Institute in Petrópolis. He has served as a professor of Theology and Spirituality in various centers of higher learning and universities in Brazil and the rest of the world, in addition to being a visiting professor at the universities of Lisbon (Portugal), Salamanca (Spain), Harvard (United States), Basel (Switzerland), and Heidelberg (Germany).
He was present in the first reflections that sought to articulate indignance toward misery and marginalization with discourse, which later generated the Christian faith known as Liberation Theology. He has always been an ardent of the Human Rights cause, helping to formulate a new, Latin American perspective on Human Rights with, “Rights to Life and the ways to maintain them with dignity.”
He has received honorary doctorates, in Politics from the University of Turin (Italy) and in Theology for the University of Lund (Sweden). He has also been honored with various awards, within Brazil and the rest of the world, for his struggles on behalf of the weak, the oppressed and marginalized, and Human Rights.
From 1970 until 1985 he participated in the editorial council of Editora Vozes. During this time he participated in the coordination and publication of the collection, “Theology and Liberation” and the entire edition of the works of C. G. Jung. He was Editor-in-chief of “Revista Eclesiástica Brasileira” from 1970 to 1984, of “Revista de Cultura Vozes” from 1984 to 1992, and of “Revista Internacional Concilium” from 1970 to 1995.
In 1984, he was submitted to a process by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, former Holy Office, in the Vatican. This was due to his theses linked to liberation theology exposed in his book "Church: Charism and Power. In 1985 he was condemned to “obsequious silence” and was removed from his editorial functions and suspended from religious duties. Due to international pressure on the Vatican, the decision was repealed in 1986, allowing him to return to some of his previous activities.
In 1992, under renewed threats of a second punitive action by authorities in Rome, he renounced his activities as a priest and ‘promoted himself the state of laity.’ “I changed trenches to continue the same fight.” He continues as a liberation theologian, writer, professor, widely hear conference speaker in Brazil among other countries, also as an adviser of social movements of liberating popular matrix, as the Landless Movement and the Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs), between others.
In 1993 he was selected as professor of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecology at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).
On December 8, 2001 he was honored with the alternative Nobel prize, “Right Livelihood Award” in Stockholm, Sweden.
He presently lives in Jardim Araras, an ecological wilderness area on the municipality of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He shares his life and dreams with the defender/educator of Human Rights from a new ecological paradigm, Marcia Maria Monteiro de Miranda. He has also become the “father by affinity” of a daughter and five sons, sharing the joys and sorrows of responsible parenthood. He lives, accompanies and recreates the unfolding of life in the “grandkids” Marina, Eduardo and Maira.

Reviews

[Wandering · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a brief introduction and perview of liberation theology ideas, which was a great theological movement mainly starts in south and central america during 60th and 70th by the pioneer works of gustavo gutierrez and leonardo boof and many other progressive theoligians within the continent who belief that the essence of religion which was christianity in that case is about: standing up for the oppressed, for the wretched of the earth as franz fanon called them, for the marginalized people, and standing up for justice and equality for every body, and that is I think is essence and roots of every religion espicaly the abrahamic religions: judaism, christianity and islam, but unfortunately whithin each relagion strucure as the time is passing religion bases is twisted to support the opressers and parasites who lives by the blood of the people.
The movement was within the institution of the church and do not take a seprate part, but start to reform the theology within the church hierarchy so it was faced by some dgree of opposition and some degree of support within the church, but the main opposition was from the military regimes governing the countries in which the movement take place and this violent opposition lead to assasination and martyrdom of the bishop of catholic church in elsalvador oscar romero in 1980 and many other brave libearation theologists who stood aganist these coruppted regimes.
The main charctrastic of the liberation movment was to interpretate the holey text which is the holey bible in this case, to interpretate it in favor of the oppressed and get form it heremuentics in the preference of the disqualified , deprived, marginalized people, and opposing any form of discrimenation aganist females, blacks, and native groups, on the other hand at the same time there was a great reformation movement taking place in islamic thought lead by people like musa alsadr, mohamed bagir alsadr, ali shariati (the idolouge of the iranian revolution), mahmoud mohamed taha and sayid qutub but unfortunatly non of them have live until he see the fruits of his work because they are ethier excuted or assasinated by the militry regimes dominating in the region before they completing thier ideas.
Ali sharati the well known muslim thinker have a book called relgion aganist relgion and on it he describe how that from every revolutionary peacefull relgion; without exceptions emerges it's contradictory with the same name, for example all the monothestics relgions was started from side off the oppressed aganist the oppressrs: moses was send for pharoh to free the jewish slaves from his oppression, and jessus was a poor carpenter who is send to liberate the poor and preach them by the kibgdom of god, and mohamed was an orphan sheep runer who live a hard life and the majorty of his early supportes in the begining of preaching where slaves and poor; all this religion had been taken from it's truth and turned by the arrogants aganist the wretched of the earth.
there was also a great movement rleated to liberation theology and restoration of the true essence of relgion in the litriture as in the novels of nikos kazantzakis and many other novilists.
But unfortunatly for a variety of causes the current time turns into the time of domination of fundemntalism and fanatics; not the progresive mindful theoligans and thinkers :..(

[Michael Clevenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been said that Martin Luther King Jr., had kept Howard Thurman's classic, "Jesus and the Disinherited" in his coat pocket to read whenever time was to be found. This would be mine. Don't be fooled by the brevity of this work [just shy of 100 pages]. I can't recommend this book enough for those who are interested in social justice, economics, ethics, etc. Certainly is one of the best books I've read in a long time.

For those who don't know what Liberation theology is:

"Liberation theology is a critique of Western political, economic, and social structures from the perspectives of the disenfranchised." -Miguel A De La Torre from "Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians."


Do yourself a favor and pick this up and read it! A+++++

PS. Some quotes can be found here.

[Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent. I really enjoyed it and am going to continue reading more liberation theology texts. Great intro book imo! Helps me reconcile the contradictions between what I’ve understood the teachings of Christian faith and the action of Christians in the United States. To know Reagan funded an “ideological war” against the theology reallly reminds me that he’s the devil. Lol. Bless.

[Kade Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may never read other works on Liberation Theology, but this is the best place to start.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I still find this book a bit underwhelming. It is dated, of course, but it just doesn't have the "stunning precision and clarity" promised in the back cover blurb. (I know: shocking, right?) I might use a couple of chapters, perhaps the first and last, for my undergrad class (mostly first years), and keep looking for some other kind of intro book.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty heavy argumentation, but well substantiated; naturally with a Marxist inspiration.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are 2 things that make this book really special, outside of its obvious subject matter.

1. This book outlines the process and general mission of any liberation movement, clearly, definitively, and articulately, in under 50 pages. I’ve seen current books agonize over this concept for 300 pages and never really come to a conclusion. Just baseline as a guide for getting organized and creating a foundation for a movement - it’s indispensable.
2. This book doesn’t give a single inch to any ideas that all people are not equally deserving of a good, peaceful, and prosperous life. I don’t think I realized how *exhausted* I am by the battle to justify universal basic human worth. There’s no room for it here. Everyone deserves a good life, and everyone deserves a chance to define that for themselves. I think this emphasis is directly tied to the book’s focus on theology, and the strong analysis of Christ as the authority on “the vocation of being human” (as Padrig O Tuama writes), and that makes me wonder… about this absence of spirituality among current day efforts. Capitalism ranks people’s worth. Even community, when considered *completely logically*, struggles to define one’s value. But in theology, in Liberation Theology, it’s woven directly into the fabric of the universe. It’s God’s law and God’s mystery. And it is allowed to be both realized and not completely understood by us as individuals.

Obviously, I’m not supporting the centering of any one theology within liberation. I wouldn’t even say that Boff does so - there is room made for the work of theologians of different faiths within the book. But this difference between movement foundations feels important to consider.

Anyway. This is easily the most valuable book on liberation and activism I’ve ever read. Highly recommend.

[George Trudeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful academic booklet. Not sure I could recommend it for discipleship purposes but for those interested in the field it's worth a read.

[Jaiden van Bork · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard for me to get behind the whole God thing, but if nothing else this book reveals this: Spirituality must be deeply liberating and liberation must be deeply deeply spiritual if either intends to succeed in its foundational mission. What would Jesus do?

[Jacob Padgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful introductory reading into liberation theology.

[Jon Coutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic, helpful, still relevant.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION BY TWO PROMINENT THEOLOGIANS

Leonardo Boff (born 1938) is a former priest, as well as a theologian, philosopher and writer, who is currently Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecology at the Rio de Janeiro State University. After being ‘silenced’ by the Catholic church for his supposedly ‘Marxist’ views, he ultimately left the Franciscan order and priesthood. His brother Clodovis Boff (born 1944) is a Catholic theologian of the Servite Order, philosopher, writer and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná.

They have written/cowritten many books, such as Introducing Liberation Theology; Faith On The Edge; Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor; Francis of Assisi: A Model for Human Liberation, Church: Charism & Power: Liberation theology and the Institutional Church; Christianity in a Nutshell; Jesus Christ Liberator;Salvation and Liberation: In Search of a Balance Between Faith and Politics; Theology and Praxis: Epistemological Foundations; Feet-on-the-Ground Theology: A Brazilian Journey; The Bible, the Church, and the Poor, etc.

They wrote in the Preface of this 1986 book, “Much has been written about liberation theology, but we felt there was still a need for a short book giving an overall, non-technical, and objective account of this new way of ‘doing theology.’ This work is the fruit of an intense process of thinking and of commitment to the poor in order to bring about their liberation.”

In the first chapter, they explain, “what is needed is not so much contemplation as effective action for liberation… We are on the side of the poor only when we struggle alongside them against the poverty that has been unjustly created and forced on them. Service in solidarity with the oppressed also implies an act of love for the suffering Christ, a liturgy pleasing to God… ‘Aid’ is help offered by individuals moved by the spectacle of widespread destitution… There is a failure to see that the poor are oppressed and made poor BY OTHERS; and what they do possess---strength to resist, capacity to understand their rights, to organize themselves and transform a subhuman situation---tends to be left out of the account. Aid increases the dependence of the poor, tying them to help from others, to decisions made by others… not enabling them to become their own liberators.” (Pg. 4-5)

They suggest, “Christianity can no longer be dismissed as the opium of the people, nor can it be seen as merely fostering an attitude of critique: it has now become an active commitment to liberation. Faith challenges human reason and the historical progress of the powerful, but in the Third World it tackles the problem of poverty, now seen as the result of oppression. Only from this starting point can the flag of liberation be raised.” (Pg. 7-8)

They note, “if we are to understand the theology of liberation, we must first understand and take an active part in the real and historical process of liberating the oppressed… So the criticisms made of liberation theology by those who judge it on a purely conceptual level, devoid of any real commitment to the oppressed, must be seen as radically irrelevant. Liberation theology responds to such criticism with just one question: What part have YOU played in the effective and integral liberation of the oppressed?” (Pg. 9)

They explain, “In liberation theology Marxism is never treated as a subject on its own but always from and in relation to the poor. Placing themselves firmly on the side of the poor, liberation theologians ask Marx: ‘What can you tell us about the situation of poverty and ways of overcoming it?’ Here Marxists are submitted to the judgment of the poor and their cause, and not the other way around. Therefore, liberation theology uses Marxism purely as an INSTRUMENT, It does not venerate it as it does the gospel. And it feels no obligation to account to social scientists for any use it may make… or Marxist terminology and ideas, although it does feel obligated to account to the poor, to their faith and hope, and to the ecclesial community, for such use… Liberation theology, therefore, maintains a decidedly critical stance in relation to Marxism. Marx … can be a companion on the way… but he can never be THE guide… This being so, Marxist materialism and atheism do not even constitute a temptation for liberation theologians.” (Pg. 27-28)

They note, “The liberation theologian goes to the scriptures bearing the whole weight of the problems, sorrows, and hopes of the poor, seeking light and inspiration from the divine word. This is a new way of reading the Bible: the hermeneutics of liberation… In effect, the hermeneutics of liberation questions the word of God without anticipating the divine response. Because it is a theological exercise, this hermeneutics is done in fidelity---that is, in openness to God’s ever new and always surprising revelation---to the foundational message that can save or condemn.” (Pg. 32-33)

They state, “Liberation theology is conscious of being a new theology linked with the current period of history and addressed to the great masses… in the Third World. Nonetheless, it sees itself as maintaining a basic link of continuity with the living tradition of the faith of the Christian church… With respect to the limits and incompleteness of the systems of the past---liberation theology maintains a stance of CRITICISM… With respect to incorporating overlooked but fruitful theological strains that can enrich and challenge us today, liberation theology maintains a stance of RETRIEVAL… Liberation theology also finds inspiration in the individual evangelical experiences of so many saints and prophets, many of them declared heretics at the time, but whose liberating impact can clearly be seen today…” (Pg. 36-37)

They argue, “Paul VI launched a challenge to the social teaching of the church when he said it was “…something that develops through means of a reflection carried on in permanent contact with the situations of this world.’ … By taking up this challenge, liberation theology places itself fully in line with the requirements of the teaching of the church… Furthermore, Cardinal Ratzinger himself, in his instruction on liberation theology… considers the social teaching of the church as a sort of preliberation theology, of ‘pastoral theology of liberation,’ insofar as it tries to ‘respond to the challenge posed to our time by oppression and hunger’ …. The only conclusion one can draw from all this is that there is NO incompatibility of principle between the social teaching of the church and liberation theology.” (Pg. 38) Later, they add, “Criticisms of certain tendencies within liberation theology, which have to be taken into account, do not negate the vigorous and healthy nucleus of this form of Christian thinking, which has done so much to bring the message of the historical Jesus to the world of today.” (Pg. 76-77)

They further state, “With regard to militant Marxist groups in Latin America and elsewhere, it is enough her to say that liberation theology has shown: *That Marxism no longer has a monopoly on historical change: Christians have adopted this cause in the name of their faith and have done so without taking up combative or polemical stances. *that the Christian appeal to social commitment is meeting with a special response among the religious masses of Latin America… *that Christian faith is freeing itself, irreversibly, from the shackles of capitalism, which can no longer count on the church as one of the pillars of its ideological framework… liberation theology provides the most convincing refutation of modern atheism, because it has demonstrated, through its actions, that God is no longer a source of alienation in history, but the fountainhead of social commitment.” (Pg. 87)

They conclude that the characteristics of such men and women? They are: Comradely; Prophetic; Committed; Free; Joyful; Contemplative; and Utopian. They advise, “The holy city… can be established on earth only when men and women filled with faith and passion for the gospel… create the human dispositions and material conditions for it… The new earth will be a gift of God and the fruit of human effort.” (Pg. 93-95)

While a somewhat “conservative” work (perhaps intended to mollify church officials), this book is nevertheless an excellent overview of Liberation Theology, that will be of great interest to students of it, or to those just seeking an “introduction.”

[Elijah Halford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warning! This is a rambling review by a 16 year old. A super smart one;) but still a 16 year old. Don’t judge

4 1/2 stars

I had come across Liberation Theology a few times before, mainly through Dr. Cornel West, and was familiar with a lot of its core teachings. But when I saw this at my school’s library I had to pick it up.

For some background: Liberation theology is a movement that stemmed from the deep poverty and colonial oppression in Latin America. LT states that Christians ought not only focus on the liberation of the spirit(salvation) but, that a Christian’s calling is to also liberate the “least of these” from their socio-economic oppression and to bring the kingdom of God(which they saw as absolute liberation) to earth. It drew deep criticism from the Reagan Administration, who spent millions of dollars in an ideological war to maintain a complicit Christian culture in the U.S., as-well as high ranking individuals in the Catholic Church in Europe. But even though it was lambasted as “Marxist” and “Materialist” it had a huge influence in the political and religious realms of Latin America and later most third world countries.

The core beliefs of Liberation Theology are…

God’s Preferential Option for the Poor: Citing God’s liberating the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh(Exodus 3:7-8) as-well as much of Jesus’ teachings(Luke 4:18, Luke 6:20, Matthew 25:40) to show that God shows solidarity with the oppressed and would choose the Poor of the world over the Pharaohs of the world.

Faith as Praxis: LT inverts the common western teaching of Doctine -> Actions, Orthodoxy to Orthopraxis, and takes the emphasis away from intellectual pursuit of Christ and places it on the hands on pursuit of Christ in solidarity with the “least of these” and in fighting for their liberation.

Structural Sin: LT believes that sin is not only individual but that there is structures of sin which are beyond one person. Similar to a brick wall; where every individual brick placed is a sin, but the entire wall built with thousands of bricks, is also equally sin. And that we must destroy these structural sins weaved into the fabric of society to liberate those oppressed from them. Examples would be exploitation of labor, systematic poverty, racism, sexism, etc.


MY THOUGHTS:

I went in expecting it to be truly radical and possibly heretical, maybe I’m not the best judge because I am not new to radical thinking. But it was not heretical. Truly, it was a breath of fresh air to see people with the same passions I have, come to the same conclusions as me.

I knew there was certain aspects of Marxism which was used by the theologians, but it was not nearly as much as I had expected. The book made clear that Liberation Theology rejects Marxist materialism and atheism and merely uses it as an analysis of the class struggle to understand why the poor are poor, and why the oppressed are oppressed. The authors explained that Marxist analysis can be a stop along the way to liberation, but it can never be the guide, as Jesus Christ is our only guide (I paraphrased, but it was pretty close to the original quote).

I understand the hesitation from conservative Christians, but personally I thought they used it really reasonably, from what I’ve read. And it makes a lot of sense too. I am fond of Marx’s critiques of capitalism and I think they still hold true to this day, I know not everyone does… but you can’t liberate the poor without understanding why the poor are poor. Christianity in practice has ALWAYS been political; the only problem with Liberation Theology is it disrupts the status quo, it doesn’t affirm it. LT is not hated for its beliefs, it’s hated because it acts on those beliefs. The religious elites didn’t like Jesus either, he was tortured and crucified as a political threat; this is the legacy that Liberation Theology carries forward into the modern day.

It is too easy for us as Christians in the west, with full stomachs and every want satisfied, to condemn the poor for being “too materialistic”. We criticize our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine for supporting the revolution. The Christian’s under occupation, just as Jesus was. Christians born where Jesus was, who walked where Jesus walked. Christians who have had their homes destroyed, their possessions lost, their dignity stolen, and many who have been torn apart or buried under rubble by the bombs of occupation and of oppression. We condemn them for being too materialistic; for wanting freedom, food, housing, healthcare, the basic necessities needed to live. While Christians in the west live life in abundance, we(and I say we because I am in this category too) own houses with more rooms then we can fill, we own enough clothes to never repeat an outfit for a month, we go on lavish vacations, eat expensive cuisine; even our mission trips maintain a certain standard of comfort. This is not inherently wrong of us, but how dare we call out our brothers and sisters in poverty or under oppression for wanting the basic means of survival, or the freedom of life.

Liberation Theology makes a very compelling case for Christianity to not merely sympathize with the poor, or engage in acts of charity, but to topple the structural sins that exploit and oppress our brothers and sisters. In a tradition dating back to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, it calls us to something more, to flip the tables of oppression, and to be liberators of the body, not just the spirit.



“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Luke 4:18-19

[Valdemar Gomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

God knows why, I've been an impatient reader with the three last books I've read. Maybe it's because I'm tired, maybe it's because they were boring. I don't know.

The ideas in this book are fine and stimulating, but it repeats itself way too much, saying barely anything new in 5 to 5 pages.

[Gretchen]

This is a good overview of the historical context of lib theo and some of the basic concepts. However, I think all of lib theo needs some sort of glossary of terms - jargon abounds...

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid, brief overview of Liberation theology (<100 pages, you could get cover to cover in a handful of hours total) and does a pretty decent job at "Introducing Liberation Theology." The short length gives wide accessibility, but then the trade-off is that there are many sections leaving more to be desired, and places where arguments are almost entirely unsubstantiated with reasons or evidence.

Should you read this?

It depends on who you are and what you're looking for.

If you:
-are a not a big/fast/frequent reader but want to know some of the basics about Liberation theology (and you're likely to actually tackle a work of twice the length like Gutierrez seminal A Theology of Liberation) then yes pick this up. If you ARE a reader and need a good starting point for a literature yes this is for you.

-want the most recent, apologetic or constructive work on Liberation Theology; no, this book is not what you're looking for. It is dated now and really only gets superficially at most the tenets of this theology.

-are someone who has already read 3+ works on the subject, then you can also safely pass on this title.

Regardless of who you are, you would probably be better for reading this.

I "really liked it" (that's goodreads language for 4Stars), and I'll finish this short-sweet review with a quote.
"...the criticisms made of liberation theology by those who judge it on a purely conceptual level, devoid of any real commitment to the oppressed, must be seen as radically irrelevant. Liberation theology responds to such criticism with just one question: What part have you played in the effective and integral liberation of the oppressed?” (9)

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably not as accessible as an 'introduction' should be? Though it picked up a fair bit around halfway through, I couldn't entirely shake the feeling either that as a non-christian gaining a full understanding of this just isn't possible, or that the way it was presenting itself was more specifically targeted towards someone either with a fairly extensive knowledge of christianity and/or is a christian themselves; (which would also make total sense)

Even so, in the parts where I felt like I had a better grasp of what was going on, it seemed like a pretty interesting ideology and something worth exploring for many people.

It did also feel dated in a handful of aspects, something that may well have changed since 1987. I appreciated that it was fairly cognizant that the world is more complicated for many people than just class. Specifically it draws attention to the ways in which the intersection of poverty with indigenous peoples in Latin America as well as racial minorities and women differ in worse ways from many people; and that care should be taken not to ignore this, also highlighting some feminist approaches to liberation theology that were being made. Conspicuous by their absence in particular, however, were considerations of sexual identity and gender identity beyond that of CIS women, which was a shame, but may be indicative more of the period in which this ideology developed and was written about here, and not of any current trends, I don't know.

[Denise Kettering · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an excellent overview of Latin American liberation theology and emphasizes the basic ideas and theology as well as the historical development around this theological perspective. Liberation theology is prxological and developed in Latin America around a context of oppression created by disparity between the very rich and very poor. This theology redefined what it means to be in the Christian community. The aim is specifically at those who are economically poor. There is a close tie, in some cases, to socialism and Marxist theory. It is often criticized for this connection as well as the revolutions that it has birthed in some cases. My rating of this book does not have to do with my evaluation of the theological position, but with the book's ability to explain the perspective and tenets of liberation theology, which I believe it does very well.

[Derek Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as an archival document, less helpful as an introduction to liberation theology. Some thoughts:

*The tension between the brothers' differing levels of commitment to Marxism comes through and leads to some incoherence.

*It's too bad, in my view, that Leonardo eventually replaced "class struggle" with "democratic struggle" as the subject of liberation, but the beginnings of that are apparent here.

*These early Latin American theologians were ahead of the curve on climate change, but perhaps in an ecologistic way, a la "natural balance" fetishism that Adam Curtis has critiqued.

*Burns is a solid translator and includes appropriate notes

[David Doel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books that thrive on words like eschatological and subsidiary and contestatory, etc. turn me off! Unfortunately, this book is more about theology than about liberation. It is written for an university audience and has a vocabulary that will chase those seeking liberation away.

What was missing from this book that I had hoped to see were:

A clear definition of what a "liberation theology" society looks like and, ideally, descriptions of examples from history or now in existence.

Suggestions for what I as an individual can do to make this society a reality. They have said that giving alms is not the answer; what is the answer?

One and, when needed, two-syllable words.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a bad overview, but unfortunately, possibly because something gets lost in translation, it feels like it goes in circles a bit too much. I do like how it calls out Christians to look more closely at the conditions of their fellow man and the section detailing how each major cornerstone of the Catholic faith (God, Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, etc.) shows how they point us towards a theology that is active in making this world a better place, not just readying ourselves for heaven.

With things as they are in 2020, this is a lot of good food for thought.

[luke timothy bitzkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boff and Boff's "Introducing Liberation Theology" was a thorough yet concise introduction to liberation theology. After having interacted with this theology on multiple occasions before reading this book, I now wish that I had read it much earlier. Though dated in some small parts, Boff and Boff gave a clear account of the focus, history, and envisioned trajectory of liberation theology, emphasizing heavily (and necessarily) the Latin American roots of this theology while also pointing toward what the authors argue to be its eventual worldwide ordination.

[Jeffrey T. Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief and dated, but helpful introduction to the basic ideas and history of liberation theology. I recommend it for those who just want the basics. Those who want an in-depth explication and analysis will be better served elsewhere.

[Bryant Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably a bit dated by now but as the title suggests it's only a basic introduction to the history and theological thought and practice of liberation theology. It gets 5 stars by way of doing what it's designed for. A short read but well written. A good starting place.

[Andreas Nedergård · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very short introduction suitable if you just want to know what Latin American liberation theology is/was about. Not much help for further studies and understanding of how the proponents did biblical exegesis etc. apart from their hermeneutical starting points.

[Julian Munoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro to a growing movement, Liberation Theology. A must read for an Christian or true follower of Christ

"By his example Jesus showed that there can be compatability between love of others and opposition to their attitudes"

[Serge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used this book with sophomores fo their final project about Catholicism in Latin America. Chapter 4 on the key themes of Liberation Theology was particularly useful in furthering our conversation about competing Christologies (and Mariologies)

[graceofgod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring tbh.

[Jake Chaplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and concise introduction to Liberation Theology, though dated it's worth the read for any beginner or someone needing a refresher.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to liberation theology from two of its chief (Brazilian) advocates and practitioners in the 1980s.