Liberation Theology: The Latin American Christian Response to Transnational Capitalism

Abstract

Latin America is a clear case of how the power structure shapes the destiny of a continent. With the arrival of Europeans in the New World in the fifteenth century, the period of modern history began for Latin America with a continent plentiful in natural and human resources, and the seemingly less generously endowed northern Anglo America. But five centuries later, while Anglo America has become the leader of the wealthy First World, Latin America has fallen into the desperate poverty of the Third World. The cause of this sharp contrast is to be found in the unequal relationships and power structures that have existed from the very beginning of the modern history of the Americas. Liberation theology emerged in Latin America in the 1970s as a response to the structural oppression of the Third World by the First World. Liberation theology has brought hope to the poor and the oppressed amid the revolutionary atmosphere of the Latin American continent. Latin America is the only Third World continent where the majority of people are Christian. Because of this, liberation theology is regarded as a Third World Christian response to the social injustice under transnational capitalism. Latin American historical experience and the history of liberation theology in the light of the political-economic realities of Latin America will be explored in this work. These include socio-political as well as doctrinal aspects such as the hermeneutics of the poor, the dependency theory, and the belief in salvation within history.