Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the great liberation theologians, has died. It's really not a surprise--he lived into his 90's, after all. Dr. Wingeier-Rayo, one of my seminary professors, contributed to an article in The Washington Post: "Father Gutiérrez’s approach was 'substantially different from earlier church practice,' Wingeier-Rayo wrote in an email, 'because it took into account the local context and interpreted the Bible from the perspective of the poor and marginalized.' Among other tenets, it emphasized the 'preferential option for the poor,' a belief in giving priority to the powerless; and promoted a broad concept of sin, in which it is unjust not only to lie or steal but to participate in social structures that contribute to inequality."
As we read these words today, they may not seem so radical to us. We've had 50 years of studying this type of theology, 50 years of hearing these basic ideas, 50 years of going deeper. We've seen people like Archbishop Romero murdered for these ideas, and he has gone from being controversial to being made a saint.
Some people may reject these ideas for being too political, and liberation theologians come down on different political sides. The Washington Post article notes: "The central question of liberation theology, he [Gutierrez] said, was, 'How do you say to the poor, the oppressed, the insignificant person, ‘God loves you?’”
Gutierrez told us again and again that Christians must be in solidarity with the poor, and that solidarity went further than charity dollars and donations. Liberation theology looks at structural issues that keep people in poverty. Liberation theology calls us to dismantle these systems of oppression.
I have already seen some social media posts that remind us of how far we have to go in terms of this theology, and that is true. Still, it is good to remember how far we have come--and how much of that progress is because of liberation theologians like Gustavo Gutierrez.
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