The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology / Edition 2

by Christopher Rowland

Overview

Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. The second edition of this Companion brings the story of the movement's continuing importance and impact up to date. Additional essays, which complement those in the original edition, expand upon the issues by dealing with gender and sexuality and the important matter of epistemology. In the light of a more conservative ethos in Roman Catholicism, and in theology generally, liberation theology is often said to have been an intellectual movement tied to a particular period of ecumenical and political theology. These essays indicate its continuing importance in different contexts and enable readers to locate its distinctive intellectual ethos within the evolving contextual and cultural concerns of theology and religious studies. This book will be of interest to students of theology as well as to sociologists, political theorists and historians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521868839
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/29/2007
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Religion
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Christopher Rowland is Dean Ireland Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford. His publications include Radical Christian Writings: A Reader (2002) with Andrew Bradstock.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the second edition Christopher Rowland; Introduction: the theology of liberation Christopher Rowland; Part I. Contemporary Liberation Theology: 1. The task and content of liberation theology G. Gutierrez translated by Judith Condor; 2. The praxis-based epistemology of liberation theology Zöe Bennett; 3. Liberation theology in Asia Bastiaan Wielenga; 4. Black theology Edward Antonio; 5. Feminist theology: a critical theory of liberation Mary Grey; 6. Demythologising liberation theology: reflections on power, poverty and sexuality Marcella Maria Althaus-Reid; Part II. Aspects of Liberation Theology: 7. The origins and character of the base ecclesial community: a Brazilian perspective Andrew Dawson; 8. The Bible and the poor: a new way of doing theology Gerald West; 9. Liberation and reconstruction: the unfinished agenda Charles Villa-Vicencio; Part III. Analysis and Criticism: 10. Liberation theology and the Roman Catholic Church Peter Hebblethwaite; 11. Marxism, liberation theology and the way of negation Denys Turner; 12. The economics of liberation theology Valpy Fitzgerald; 13. Political theology, tradition and modernity Oliver O'Donovan; 14. Globalizing liberation theology: the American context, and coda Ivan Petrella.

Editorial Reviews

This volume offers a survey of examples of liberation theology in different parts of the world. Following an introduction by Rowland (Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, U. of Oxford), 11 contributions discuss contemporary liberation theology (task and content, its application in Asia, and Black and feminist theology); a Brazilian perspective on the origins and character of the base ecclesial community, the Bible and the poor, and liberation and reconstruction; and finally, analysis and criticism of the topic in relation to the Roman Catholic Church, Marxism, economics, and political theology, tradition and modernity. The epilogue discusses the future. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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