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Definition: Liberation theology from Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable

The theory originating among Roman Catholic theologians in South America that liberation from social, political, and economic oppression is a vital constituent of the Christian message. The term translates Spanish teología de la liberación, coined by the Peruvian Gustavo Guttierez in 1968 and used for the title of his book published in 1971. 'Liberation' expresses a dislike of 'development', meaning an imposed solution to South America's problems, determined by the industrialized nations and involving little initiative on the part of the people.


liberation theology

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Christian theory of Jesus' prime role as the ‘Liberator’, a representative of the poor and devoted to freeing them from oppression. Enthusiastically adopted by Christians (mainly Roman Catholic) in Latin America, it embraces the struggle towards a classless society, and has often led to violence. It has been criticized by some Roman Catholic authorities, including Pope John Paul II. The movement has also spread to other nations in the developing world. The concept of Jesus as ‘Liberator’ is based on the teachings of the Gospels, in particular Matthew 19:21, 25:35, 25:40, and Luke 4:18. The movement was initiated by the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutierrez in his book The Theology of Liberation (1969). One of its leaders is Leonardo Boff (1939– ), a Brazilian Franciscan priest. Liberation theology focuses on the belief that the teaching of Jesus demands action against poverty, social injustice, and the misuse of political power, in order to free the poor from oppression. In St Luke's…
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Full text Article Liberation Theology

From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
Liberation theology is a collective term for a group of related theologies, which rose to prominence in the last three decades of the twentieth century. Latin American liberation theology is probably the best known of these, and it originated, along with Black theology , in the USA in the late 1960s…
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Full text Article liberation theology

From Encyclopedia of American Religious History
Liberation theology is a term used to describe a group of theologies that perceive the centrality of the Christian message as the actualizing of social justice. Liberation theology developed in Latin America during the 1960s as the “Third World Priests Movement.” This movement, initially restricted…
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Full text Article Liberation Theology

From The Oxford Companion to International Relations
Liberation theology was first developed in Latin America in the 1960s. Its most important theorist, Gustavo Gutierrez, wrote articles and later a book, A Theology of Liberation , that argued that a central element of the message of the Bible is the special duty of Christians to work with the poor…
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Full text Article liberation theology

From Encyclopedia of World Religions: Encyclopedia of Protestantism
During the 20th century, various groups challenged the universality of traditional Christian theology. They suggested that established church theologies did not speak for the whole church, but only for the ecclesiastical and political leaders and those who supported them. They condemned theologians…
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Full text Article LIBERATION THEOLOGY

From Global Dictionary of Theology
Liberation theology arose in the Latin American church of the late 1960s as an ecclesial and contextual theology responding to a specific historical and social setting. Amidst the diversity found among proponents of liberation theology, certain core concepts may be identified. Ultimately it may be…
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Full text Article Liberation Theology

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
Liberation theology developed through the extrapolation of the context of biblical scripture to describe and identify the role of the church in the deconstruction of the historical structures of poverty, instability, and inequality within developing social systems. The initial movement traces its…
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Full text Article liberation theology

From Encyclopedia of World Religions: Encyclopedia of Catholicism
One of the most influential modern liberation...
Liberation theology identifies the church and its gospel message with a social, economic, and political struggle on behalf of poor or oppressed groups and aims to base the church on local spiritual communities. It grew out of the political theology of Johannes Baptist Metz (1928-) and was made known…
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Full text Article Liberation Theology

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
Liberation theology is a primarily Christian religious doctrine rooted in Latin American Catholicism. The goal of this doctrine is to bring about social justice by facilitating the self-determination of poor and otherwise oppressed peoples so that they can extricate themselves from the circumstances…
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Full text Article liberation theology

From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
A movement within the Roman Catholic Church, arising in part from the experience of the priesthood in rural South America, in which Marxist ideas are synthesized with Christian teachings to produce a mixture which is both politically potent and intellectually bizarre. The central claim of liberation…
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Full text Article liberation theology

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Christian theory of Jesus' prime role as the ‘Liberator’, a representative of the poor and devoted to freeing them from oppression. Enthusiastically adopted by Christians (mainly Roman Catholic) in Latin America, it embraces the struggle towards a classless society, and has often led to violence. It…
| 438 words
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