Latin American Liberation Theology

Liberation theology in Latin America was in part a response to the call of Second Vatican Council for Christians to “read the signs of the times” in order to proclaim and practice their ancient faith in contemporary contexts. To liberation theologians, Christian love of neighbor is what demands work for justice and political struggle. In many ways, liberation theology is simply a radicalized outworking of official Catholic social teaching. Liberation theologians have presented various versions of what they call the “hermeneutical circle.” The hermeneutical circle also expresses confidence that Christians will recover fuller insights into the Bible and church tradition when they are living in authentic relationship with the poor and reading both texts and reality through their eyes. Indeed, since liberation theology requires Christians to “read the signs of the times” and engage the concrete historical situations in which they find themselves rather than attempt to do timeless theology, its practitioners can never stop moving around its “hermeneutical circle.