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Liberation Theology and Hermeneutics

I haven't really done much reading in theology, but a friend lent me a book on liberation theology, a theology which had its source in Latin America and stresses liberation of the oppressed (most importantly, but not exclusively, the economically poor). Especially because liberal theologians emphasize class conflict as a cause of poverty, and because they believe revolution to be the solution to that poverty, observers have interpreted it as Marxist. Liberal theologians themselves see the relationship to Marxism, but believe the "poor" to be broader in scope than Marx's proletariat. Marx's proletariat is a group of wage workers who do not own the means of production and who sell their labor to live. Liberal theologians would include the unemployed and underemployed as those needing liberation; and they also consider racial, ethnic, and gender oppression, albeit as secondary to economic oppression.

Liberal theologians' emphasis on liberating the oppressed is Biblical, as seen in verses like Isaiah 58:66, Jeremiah 22:3, and (in relation to kings) Proverbs 31:8. I know, however, that Christ's purpose was broader than the economic oppression highlighted by liberal theologians. His liberation is centrally a spiritual one, from the bondage of sin and condemnation (John 8:34-36, Romans 6:17-22, Colossians 1:22, and Hebrews 2:14-15, for example).

In line with liberal theologians' central purpose is their method of interpreting scripture. Look at the following words from my friend's book:
"Liberative hermeneutics seeks to discover and activate the transforming energy of biblical texts [emphasis theirs]. In the end, this is a question of finding an interpretation that will lead to individual change (conversion) and change in history (revolution)."*
Because liberating the poor is central to liberation theology, it is understandable that liberal theologians would search specifically for scripture that fits liberating the poor. Approaching scripture in this way, however, at best minimizes the grander message of the Bible, and at worst ignores it. It seems its proponents reduce as secondary Christ's purpose in coming and dying: to "give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Liberal theologians' efforts are crucial, then, but perhaps minimize the importance of spiritual freedom offered in Christ.

*Boff, Leonardo and Clodovis Boff. Introducing Liberation Theology. Wellwood, UK: Burns & Oats/Search Press Ltd, 1987.
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