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A Theology of Liberation

Gustavo Gutiérrez

Liberation theology

It is the founding text that gave liberation theology its name and its method of reading scripture through the experience of the oppressed.

Synopsis

A foundational work of liberation theology arguing that Christian faith demands active solidarity with the poor and structural struggle against injustice.

Core passage idea

Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted work

Salvation is not merely otherworldly but is worked out in history through a preferential option for the poor and their liberation from oppression.

It reframes faith as inseparable from the political and economic emancipation of the marginalized rather than private piety alone.

To avoid a bubble

Pair with Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom.

Reading note

Approach it knowing it fuses Catholic theology with social analysis, so its categories draw on both scripture and structural critique.

Best paired with

Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom

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