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Written By Bishop Charles Leigh
On Liberation Theology
I really am not sure how the subject of "Liberation Theology" came into our discussions. I can only suppose it is a result of my thought that anyone discussing the role of the church in the modern world should at least understand the language and basis for Liberation Theology.
Unfortunately the words "liberation theology" like the word "Christianity" has several different meanings depending upon who is using it. Within liberation theology there are writers who are very near to the Anabaptist position (I find this position more interesting personally) all the over to those who sanctify violent revolution. Most of the people I have read only see violence as possible in a very limited use, somewhat near to the position of Bonhoeffer.
The basic premise of most liberation theology is that the church must give a preferential option to the poor. It is somewhat similar to the charism of the Apostolic Catholic Church. We seek to serve the poor because that is where Christ is found and where he serves. However our charism does NOT come from Liberation Theology. It does come from the clear preference of God as found in both the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament. It is in every way in keeping with the practice of the early church. Our charism and practice is not based on any particular theology, but on the word of God itself. The tradition and the best theology of the church tend to reinforce the scripture.
With that said we must also realize that theology over the centuries has consistently enriched and invigorated the church. Theology has always been the means by which the people of God have made sense of the Gospel in ever changing human circumstances. For the church the present changes in human circumstances are greater than any time since at least the fourth century. How do we take the realities of a faith centered in a first century provincial backwater and apply it to twenty-first century realities? How does a first century centered religion apply to birth control, space travel, computers, internet, cell phones, Multinational Corporations, weapons of mass destruction etc? Theology does that for us and in doing so it helps form the Tradition of the church.
The struggle to explain the relevance of Jesus in a post Christian world is expressed in many of the current theologies;liberation theology, process theology, creation spirituality to name just a few. Most of us read them, reject parts of them, and are grateful for the parts of them that give us new insight into the Gospel and into our own practice of the Gospel in the modern world.
Good theology is a gift of God! We must always guard against an anti intellectualism that might cause us to avoid reading theology and to thus limit our insight into the Gospel of Jesus. Some do so out of intellectual laziness, but I am often tempted by fear. It is just so very painful for me to more fully understand the implications of the Gospel. It is most difficult to expand long held ideas but in doing so I can more easily enter into what the Eastern Church calls Divine Communion. In the west we have a somewhat less descriptive term, grace.
Charles Leigh - Spring 2008
Bishop, Apostolic Catholic Church
On Liberation Theology
I really am not sure how the subject of "Liberation Theology" came into our discussions. I can only suppose it is a result of my thought that anyone discussing the role of the church in the modern world should at least understand the language and basis for Liberation Theology.
Unfortunately the words "liberation theology" like the word "Christianity" has several different meanings depending upon who is using it. Within liberation theology there are writers who are very near to the Anabaptist position (I find this position more interesting personally) all the over to those who sanctify violent revolution. Most of the people I have read only see violence as possible in a very limited use, somewhat near to the position of Bonhoeffer.
The basic premise of most liberation theology is that the church must give a preferential option to the poor. It is somewhat similar to the charism of the Apostolic Catholic Church. We seek to serve the poor because that is where Christ is found and where he serves. However our charism does NOT come from Liberation Theology. It does come from the clear preference of God as found in both the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament. It is in every way in keeping with the practice of the early church. Our charism and practice is not based on any particular theology, but on the word of God itself. The tradition and the best theology of the church tend to reinforce the scripture.
With that said we must also realize that theology over the centuries has consistently enriched and invigorated the church. Theology has always been the means by which the people of God have made sense of the Gospel in ever changing human circumstances. For the church the present changes in human circumstances are greater than any time since at least the fourth century. How do we take the realities of a faith centered in a first century provincial backwater and apply it to twenty-first century realities? How does a first century centered religion apply to birth control, space travel, computers, internet, cell phones, Multinational Corporations, weapons of mass destruction etc? Theology does that for us and in doing so it helps form the Tradition of the church.
The struggle to explain the relevance of Jesus in a post Christian world is expressed in many of the current theologies;liberation theology, process theology, creation spirituality to name just a few. Most of us read them, reject parts of them, and are grateful for the parts of them that give us new insight into the Gospel and into our own practice of the Gospel in the modern world.
Good theology is a gift of God! We must always guard against an anti intellectualism that might cause us to avoid reading theology and to thus limit our insight into the Gospel of Jesus. Some do so out of intellectual laziness, but I am often tempted by fear. It is just so very painful for me to more fully understand the implications of the Gospel. It is most difficult to expand long held ideas but in doing so I can more easily enter into what the Eastern Church calls Divine Communion. In the west we have a somewhat less descriptive term, grace.
Charles Leigh - Spring 2008
Bishop, Apostolic Catholic Church