FALLACIES OF
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
Editorial
January/February, 1980
Volume 15, Number 1
Dr. Ernest W. Lefever (a Church of the Brethren minister)
has written a new book published by the Ethics and Public Policy Center
at Georgetown University, entitled, Amsterdam to Nairobi: The World
Council of Churches arid the Third World. In the book, he
says that the WCC has shifted from its original commitment to peaceful
democratic change in the world, to a "theology of liberation" which Lefever
believes is Marxist in concept and practice. Some positions of the World
Council of Churches "are indistinguishable from those taken in Moscow or
Havana," Lefever says.
The word "liberate" means "to release from bandage." The
word "liberation" is not found in our English Bibles, although it is related
to the word "liberty" (Galatians 5:13; Romans 8:21). The references in
those Scriptures however are to a spiritual liberty, not a political
freedom. The context ,hows that the "liberty" refers to the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ on the Cross as the price paid to set us free from the penalty
incurred by our sins.
Consider the number of liberation movements that have
proliferated in our day;
(1) Groups of sexually perverted students demand recognition
of their homosexual organizations on college campuses and in church conventions.
(2) Women activists are calling for liberation - freedom
from what they call male dominance and a secondary role in society.
(3) A variety of guerilla groups in Africa and Latin America
are attempting to seize political power by functioning as underground movements
in behalf of the oppressed citizens.
Everywhere, there are liberation movements struggling
against what is termed political, economic, racial, social, and male oppression.
Christ the Liberator declared to those who heard Him speak,
that "if the Son therefore shall make YOU free, you shall be free indeed"
(John 8:36). Liberation is a good word because it is really what salvation
means. The theologians however, are saying that "to be liberated" means
to be free to be oneself (free to become an authentic person able to fulfill
one's capacities as a human being). The Bible says that "to be saved" is
to be born from above and to deny oneself (it speaks of spiritual regeneration
and not of political and social revolution). Most of the books and articles
advocating the theology of liberation represent a zero fidelity to the
historic Christian faith, an unwarranted trust in the birth of a "new humanity,"
and hostility to what some of the writers call "the heresy" of Christ-centeredness.
For more detail about "the heresy" of Christ-centeredness, see the book,
Liberation Theology, written by Rosemary Ruether, speaker
at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Cincinnati in 1972.
Even the Pope senses the dangers of the new theology,
During his visit to Mexico, he made some clear statements. U. S.
News & World Report showed a picture. of Pope John Paul II delivering
a speech to Latin American bishops. The caption says, "The Pope delivers
warnings against 'liberation theology' to Latin bishops." The article featured
in this issue of the BRF WITNESS spells out some of the implications and fallacies of liberation theology.
--H. S. M.
Fallacies of Liberation Theology
By Harold S. Martin
Theological movements have rapidly succeeded one another since the end
of World War II. The theology of liberation is one of the newer theologies
which attempts to re interpret the Gospel in light of modern knowledge
and up-to-date concepts. Liberation theology
began at the close of World
War II, but it only came into prominence when it was adopted by the WorId
Council of Churches--first in Bangkok in 1973, arid then in Nairobi in
1975. It was first articulated by Latin American theologians.
The message of liberation theology is simple: Salvation is liberation
from injustice and every form of exploitation that prevents persons from
being "truly human.'' The "salvation" is not defined as personal liberation
from sin, but rather liberation from oppression arid social inequalities
brought on by political and social structures which must be overthrown,
The theology of liberation sounds somewhat familiar to the general public
because of daily bombardment with the terms women's liberation, black liberation,
gay liberation, etc.
Liberation theology has become the current international ethic for churchmen.
Under the name of "the church" and in the name of "social justice," church
leaders are out to free the world from imperialists who have constantly
disregarded human rights and have championed racial discrimination. Liberation
theologians are convinced that socialism is the necessary precondition
for the construction of a just and humane society. Those who hold the liberation
views, generally believe that only if the state intervenes, can the way
be paved toward a new order in which the needs of people can be met. The
present social system must be overthrown and equality must be established
, although the liberationists are somewhat vague about how this would work
out in actual practice.
The theology of liberation has been grounded in the actual struggles
for liberation now going on in certain African and Latin American countries.
Gustavo Gutierrez wrote a book entitled A Theology of Liberation
which is in many ways the textbook of this movement. In it he
says that liberation theology "is a theological reflection born of the
experience of shared efforts to abolish the current unjust situation, and
to build a different society, freer and more human." Present day struggles
in Third World countries have given rise to liberation theology.
In much of our denominational literature, the words "liberation" and
"salvation" are used interchangeably. One of the gross dangers in the realm
of religion today is that theologians don't use other words to say the
same thing; they use the same words to say something different! They
use the word "salvation" but do not teach biblical salvation as it has
been historically defined.
How does the theology of liberation relate to the word of God? Are its
basic tenets true to the Scriptures? How shall we view the movement in
light of basic Bible principles?
1. THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
The liberation theologians nearly always select themes like the account
of the Exodus from Egypt and the Luke 4 passage telling about Jesus "preaching
deliverance to the captives . . . . and to set at liberty them that are
bruised" (Luke 4:18). They consistently omit themes like justification
and sin, sanctification and holiness, and the second coming of Christ.
Liberty is not the central theme of the Christian faith. In the favorite
theme of the liberationists (the Exodus account), note what the Lord told
Moses to say to Pharaoh: "Let My people go that they might serve Me"
(Exodus 8:1). The goal for liberation is service and obedience to God,
and not some abstract idea of liberty! The people of Israel were shifted
from servitude to Pharaoh, to servitude to God! They were not liberated
and left to their own devices.
he Gospel accounts are sometimes stretched by the liberationists to
the point of portraying Jesus as One who was tolerant of violence when
used against justice (for example, the temple-cleansing incident). Thus
during the time of transition, during the overthrow of repressive structures,
the oppressed are absolved from inhumanity and brutality. No sense of wrongdoing
is associated with such violence. It is quite evident that there is among
liberationists, a deliberate twisting of biblical concepts to suit a set
of theoretical political principles.
2. THE MEANING OF SALVATION
Salvation according to the Bible relates to man's lite in the world,
awl to his eternal destiny. Gutierrez talks about salvation, but it is
defined in terms of building the new society. Conversion is a commitment
to hell) the political task of humanizing life on earth. It follows from
the position taken by the advocates of liberation theology that salvation
is by and through politics.
The liberation concept of salvation is defined in collective terms
to the virtual exclusion of individual redemption. Liberationists
frown upon using the phrase, "accepting Christ as personal Saviour."
The writer in Brethren Life and Thought, Spring, 1977, says:
"We have tended to stress personal salvation, with little emphasis on the
need for the salvation of institutions -- big business, the penal system,
the legal system, schools, welfare system, and capitalism. We must turn
around." To liberationists, the "group" salvation is so important because
we need the corporate strength of "the church community" to resist the
world's powerful institutions. (See pages 99-100,
Becoming God's
People, The Brethren Press, 1979).
Faithful Christians down through the years have strongly objected to
any interpretation of salvation that claims to be biblical, and yet obscures
man's need to be saved from sin through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ.
3. THE SINFUL NATURE OF MAN
The liberation theologians do not overlook the sinfulness of man. Personal
sin is acknowledged, but they say it exists because of oppressive political
and social structures. The liberationists ignore the words of Jesus: "Out
of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts . . . . all these things come
from within and defile the man" (Mark 7:20-23).
Jesus teaches that man is born with an evil nature and with propensities
toward iniquity. Liberation theologians say that sin is the result of a
bad social and political system, and thus the overthrow of the oppressive
structures is the primary goal of the new theology.
The root of the liberation theologian's definition of the church's responsibility
lies not in a biblical view of man, but in the Renaissance
view of man as one who regenerates himself by his own powers. For more
detailed information on this point, see pages 72-73,
Evangelicals
and Liberation, Harvie Conn et al, P & R Publishing Co., 1977.
To the liberationist, salvation is man's effort to free himself
from political, economic, racial, and social oppression.
4. THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
The liberation theologians show practically no appreciation for the
church's role as the proclaimer of the unsearchable riches of Jesus, nor
of its missionary mandate to win people to Christ. The mission of the church
is described exclusively in terms of political liberation.
Gutierrez says that the poor, the diseased, the illiterate, the ignorant,
the hopeless - were not intended by God, who loves all men, to be poor.
He says, "They were made poor." He goes on to explain that the social
system is the enemy. The worst social system is capitalism. Gutierrez calls
it "developmentalism"; others called it "colonialism." The name doesn't
really matter. It is the capitalistic free enterprise system that must
be uprooted.
According to liberation theology, the "church" is the community of all
those willing to participate in the struggle for liberation, and not a
community of those who have been reconciled to God through faith in Jesus
Christ. But from an evangelical point of view, there is no way such a concept
can be squared with the Word of God!
5. THE TEACHING ON ADVERSITY
One of the fundamental messages of the Christian faith is its instructions
about how to live under adversity. Paul repeatedly prayed that he would
be delivered from his thorn in the flesh, but he was not delivered. Instead,
he learned how to live victoriously with his affliction.
All of us soon discover that we are not gods, and that in this life
there is a measure of sickness, poverty, and injustice for each person.
Sometimes oppression and tyranny, like sickness and suffering, may be a
part of God's disciplinary plan for His people. (This does not lessen the
wickedness of those who treat others unjustly, but God has sometimes permitted
cruel treatment as an act of discipline).
The positive values of suffering, martyrdom, and "the cross" in the
Christian experience are overlooked or minimized. The beatitude of the
reviled and persecuted (Matthew 5:11-12) becomes instead the battle-cry
of liberation!
6. THE CONCEPT OF EQUALITY
There is an inescapable contradiction between "liberty" and "equality."
If men are absolutely free, inequality must result, because the
most able (whether by nature, training, or circumstance) will come out
on top. If, on the other hand, men are absolutely equal, the
liberty of the ablest will necessarily have to be so curtailed as to be
non-existent.
Excessive inequality does reach heaven (as it did when Israel
was in Egypt), but inequality of some kind is an inescapable fact of life.
God did not endow us equally. There will never be complete equality on
this earth, and perhaps not in heaven either (Luke 12:48).
Jesus gave the parable of the talents, which illustrates the justice-
of inequality. Jesus did not say that all should have received the same
talents, but only that more would be expected of those who were more richly
endowed.
Violence plays an important role in the theology of liberation. Liberationists
hold that violence is sometimes necessary to achieve the desired goal.
The oppressed sometimes need to show hostility toward the landlord, the
businessman, and government officials. The overthrow of the present order
seems to be the only alternative. The church becomes a fomenter of dissatisfaction,
revolution, and strife. The liberationists are optimistic about solving
life's problems by means of a politically re-created society. Liberation
theology defends armed intervention by an oppressed population against
its oppressors. For more information on this concept, see Rubem Alves,
A Theology of Hope, Corpus, 1969. On this basis, the World
Council of Churches feels justified in contributing funds to liberation
groups in Rhodesia, South Africa, Mozambique, and elsewhere.
Poverty plays an important role in the theology of liberation. The
theologians say that "the poor" are " the privileged recipients of the
gospel." But to make such a statement is to ignore repeated biblical declarations
that God is no respecter of persons. Lowly shepherds
celebrated
Christ's birth, but so did the wise men, whose presents indicated
that they were wealthy as well as wise!
The Apostle Peter was a lowly and uneducated fisherman, but Paul was
a highly educated Pharisee and a member of the establishment. Luke was
a doctor and therefore a professional man. Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathea
(who buried Jesus) were rich and were members of the established order.
Jesus did say, "Blessed are ye poor" - but they were not the only ones
who were blessed.
The theology of liberation is the logic behind social activism. The
connection between liberation theology and Marxism is obvious.
Everything
is to be interpreted in terms of the class struggle. Revolution is
inevitable. Lenin's theory of imperialism is accepted overwhelmingly. However,
most liberation theologians prefer the word "socialism" to "communism"
because they look upon the Soviet Union as just another exploiting power.
In other words, what the Latin American liberationists have done is to
cast Marxism in Christian terms, and to give their movement a foundation
in Christian theology.
The destitute and oppressed look to God as the only true Liberator.
The "consolation" of Israel (and of the nations) - is a baby in the arms
of aged Simeon (Luke 2:25), and not a bomb in the hands of an African guerilla!
God's program for the liberation of the wretched of earth lies in the hands
of the nail-scarred "wretch" of Calvary!;