Toward a Liberation Theology for the “Oppressor”

Abstract

Amidst the absence of methodological consensus and the divergent theologies which presently characterize traditional theological circles, liberation theologies from the black, feminist, and Third World perspectives stand out as the most discernible development in Christian thought. Because implicit in these theologies is a distinctiveness concerning the nature and scope of theology, and because they include a social critique which links the destinies of the and the oppressor, those who stand outside communities of oppression but inside the community of faith are challenged to take seriously liberation theologies and their far-ranging implications. The inter-relationship of and is explicated in the theologies of Freire, Cone, Gutierrez, Ruether, and others. All address the dialectical themes of particularity and universality in the Christian tradition. Can a theology for the oppressed also become a theology for the oppressor is the question raised by Robert McAfee Brown, though Frederick Herzog and others also have queried the North Atlantic theological community and its corresponding churches. That is, can those outside the movements for liberation develop a liberation theology of their own; one which will affect their theological and human renewal and complement the obvious quests for liberation and the theological explication of them? And if so, how is that to happen? The major thesis of this essay is that the theological methods employed in black, feminist, and Third World liberation theologies are the clues for understanding this new development and also the key to theological renewal elsewhere. Beginning with corporate reflection on the struggle for justice, identity, and meaning, liberation theologies then move to an interpretation of concrete experience, the application of Judaic and Christian themes GLENN R. BUCHER is Associate Professor of Religion at The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio. He co-edited Confusion and Hope: Clergy, Laity and the Church in Transition with Patricia R. Hill. He has had articles published in The Journal of Religious Thought, Theology Todar, Christian Century, Brethern, Life and Thought, Intellect, and others. This essay is a revised version of a paper delivered at the 1975 AAR meeting and part of a larger project on liberation theology.