A Theology of Liberation

The book that gave liberation theology its name, written by a Peruvian Catholic priest and published in Lima in 1971; the English translation by Caridad Inda and John Eagleson appeared in 1973. Gutiérrez defines theology as critical reflection on Christian practice in the light of the Word of God, so that action comes first and theology follows. Drawing on dependency theory, he rejects 'development' as a remedy for Latin American poverty and calls instead for liberation, which he describes on three levels: social and political freedom from oppression, the historical process in which people take charge of their own destiny, and liberation from sin into communion with God. There is, he argues, only one history in which salvation takes place. He distinguishes material poverty, which is an evil, from spiritual poverty, and calls the Church to solidarity with the poor. The Vatican's 1984 instruction criticised liberation theology for borrowing uncritically from Marxist analysis.

It is the founding text of liberation theology, and it shows how faith, poverty and political commitment were joined in a way that changed Christianity across the global South.