Date of Award
5-1-1986
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Theology (ThD)
Department
Systematic Theology
First Advisor
John Johnson
Abstract
Therefore, it is the basic thesis of this study that a theological critique of and response to liberation theology can be done properly only on the basis of its methodology, for it is the theological method of liberation theology and not its theological or political results which serves as its unifying force. Emilio A. Nunez C. says it simply: "Fundamentally, what distinguishes the theology of liberation most from other theologies is its methods"? It is the method, and the hermeneutical presuppositions which accompany it, that shape this diverse and conflicting movement into a unified whole. It is not an oversimplification to say that liberation theology is not a "theology" atoll. Rather it is a method of "doing" theology. It is, then, at this methodological level that the challenge of the movement must be met.
This dissertation will examine and critically evaluate the methodology of liberation theology. First, however, it is necessary to explore some of its fundamental emphases and concepts in greater details so that the movement, its roots, its causes, and concerns, can be examined on its own terms. Chapter one will be devoted to this. Chapter two contains a survey of the literature of liberation theology from Latin America. Latin America is generally considered to be the birthplace of liberation theology. It was there that the movement grew and prospered and put Latin America into the situation, for the first time in its history, of being an exporter of theological ideas. The Latin-American liberation theologians have also shown themselves to be among the most prolific among the movement's advocates. This survey will involve a brief discussion of the peculiar situation in Latin America that gave rise to the movement, a brief history of the movement in Latin America itself, a survey of the major writings of the main liberation theologians from Latin America, and a brief summary of the general tenor of Latin American liberation theology.
Recommended Citation
Preus, Jacob, "The Hermeneutics of Liberation Theology: A Lutheran Confessional Response to the Theological Methodology of Leonardo Boff" (1986). Doctor of Theology Dissertation. 15.
https://scholar.csl.edu/thd/15
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