Outlining the Practical Implications of Gustavo Gutierres' Theology of Liberation and Comparing it to Western Theology

Abstract

Liberation Theology’s seminal text, Teología de la liberación (1971- A Theology of Liberation), was written by Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian priest and renowned theologian. This article describes Gustavo Gutiérrez's theology of liberation with a Christian theological-humanist study approach. As one of the modern Christian thinkers, Gutiérrez's role in fighting against injustice, oppression, poverty, and the Western colonialist capitalist system in Latin America is enormous. Gutiérrez inspires the Third World Countries to struggle against the stubbornness and greed of arrogant people. He appeared as a propagandist who fueled the spirits of marginalized groups in Latin America in the early 1970s. This article uses a qualitative method with a literature review of the theology of liberation a la Gustavo Gutiérrez. This article shows that Gutiérrez succeeded in building a revolutionary Christian ideology with a foundation of liberation theology to elevate and sustain egalitarianism among human beings. But 'there is no ivory that isn’t cracked', Gutiérrez did hermeneutics that were out of context. The article will also consider and criticize liberation theology in terms of its hermeneutical approach. The author also makes a comparison between liberation theology and Western theology, the mainstream that preceded it.

Keywords

• theology of liberation
• western theology
• gustavo gutiérrez
• church