Liberation Theology for Britain

Abstract

So concluded Fergus Kerr in an editorial comment published by New Blackfriars last year. His remark leads us to consider what form a British liberation theology might take, and what obstacles lie in the way of its progress.The question of a British version of the theology of liberation has received some attention in recent years. Two important public lectures considered it, Charles Elliott’s Heslington Lecture of January 1985, and the more well-known Hibbert lecture given by the Anglican Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins, in April of that year. David Jenkins’ lecture pointed out that the task would not be an easy one—certainly not a simple matter of translation from a third-world context to a first-world one: British essays in liberation theology would not be mere echoes or reflections of liberation theology elsewhere. As I learnt from my contacts with some of those who developed liberation theology in Latin America and South East Asia, it would not be in the spirit of liberation theology if it were. As an article published in the Philippines in Manila in 1971 puts it, ‘the question is not “how can we adapt theology to our needs?”, but rather, “how can our needs create a theology which is our own?” ‘. Liberation theology rises out of the particular needs of a particular country for hope in relation to justice, peace and love.As we shall see, there are some questions to be asked concerning Jenkins’ reluctance to envisage too close a parallel between a third-world and a first-world version of liberation theology.