Liberation Theology's Temptations

Father Bonaventure Kloppenburg, OFM, a Brazilian theologian and author of the book "Ecclesiology of Vatican II," has cast a critical eye upon the liberation theology of his native continent. His essay, "Temptations for the Theology of Liberation," is reprinled in booklet form by the Franciscan Herald Press (Synthesis Series, 1974). The critique is balanced, although not without flaws. He insists, on the one hand, that he is in fundamental agreement with liberation theology's emphasis on the political dimension of the Christian message, onthe critical role of faith and the Church with regard to concrete social realities, and on the importance of the "signs of the times" for coming to terms with the basic implications of the Gospel. Father Kloppenburg agrees, too, that social injustice is perpetuated by various mechanisms of dornination and that many Christians are themselves part of the international network of economic oppression. All of the Lord's disciples. the author readily asserts, have an obligation to work for a better world, a world of greater justice, humanity, and love. But there are also certain tendencies in liberation theology which, if unrecognized or ignored, can negate its undeniably sound aspects. Father Kloppenburg calls these "temptations." The first is the temptation to give priority to situation over Gospel. The here-and-now must always be placed under the judgment of the Christian tradition and particularly its sacred texts, without prejudice to the conviction that the texts themselves are to be read in the light of present experience. A second temptation is to play down the ontological dimension in theology, and to insist that all truth is "practical" or else it is not truth at all. A third temptation is to reduce theology to politics. There is more to Christian hope than the version of a renewed social order. A fourth temptation is to minimize individual, personal sin. The basic reason why social justice cannot perfectly be realized is men and women are prone to sin (Romans 7: 14-24). Left to our own resources, we could not attain the final Kingdom. A fifth temptation is to lilnk the Gospel exclusively with socialism. Indeed, some liberation theologians explicitly identify Original Sin with industrial capitalism. A sixth temptation is not to consider the ambiguity inherent in "liberation. "Until the parousia, Christian liberty will always be unfinished . . . and under constant threat of succumbing to egoism and pride." A seventh temptation is to forget the "eschatological proviso" (that the German theologian Johannes Metz speaks about). The final Kingdom will be the product of God's work. We call contribute to its coming. We can remove the obstacles in its way. But it remains ultimately an act of divine power.