A Theological Conundrum: Liberation Theology vs. Western Theology

                 A Theological Conundrum: Liberation Theology vs. Western Theology

                 By Dr. Juan A. Carmona


One of the major complex issues that I have faced as a Puerto-Rican minister and theologian, is how to balance or integrate the theology that I grew up with (even in the Hispanic Church) with the theology that has become my own since my seminary days in the late 1970's and early 1980's. In the predominantly Puerto Rican/Hispanic circles that that I grew up and ministered in, the biblical hermeneutics and theology were actually importations of Western (Euro-American) theology that came to our Latin American countries through the Protestant Missionary Enterprise.  Our doctrines were based on translations from English to Spanish, and reflected the theological outlook of the missionaries from Europe and the USA.  Even some of the hymns that we sang in the Hispanic Church were translations of hymns that were originally written in English.  Both the liturgy and theology in our Hispanic churches were colonial importations.

Some may want to ask as to whether this applies only to the so-called "conservative/evangelical" theology. The answer is absolutely "No!"  While the Hispanic-American Church as a whole operates with the theology of the so-called "conservative/evangelical" orientation, even the so-called "liberal" theology which came from Europe and has made some inroads into the Hispanic Church community, was constructed independently of the experience of the oppression and suffering of Hispanic and other people whose origins are in the so-called "Third World."  We can include in this the "Social Gospel" component of liberalism. These theologies, for the most part, did not address our situation as a colonized and subjugated people or community in the USA.  If anything, the theology, intentionally, or unintentionally, served to project the notion that anything which came out of Euro-America, be it philosophy or theology, was inherently superior and universally valid in all times and in all places.  The Social Gospel, though intended to address the evils of society, was not oriented towards structural and systemic change, but rather towards a "reformation" of the social, economic, and political structures.

Liberation Theology, emerging out of Latin America, called attention to the economic, social, and political chaos in Latin America, and eventually a Liberation Theology of the Hispanic Diaspora in the USA was developed in order to address the secondary class status that Hispanic-Americans are subjected to.

As a Puerto Rican/Hispanic theologian who is preparing to teach Latin American theology in an Asian context, I can't help but wonder what baggage do I bring with me?  Do I seek to bring a mixture of Euro-American and Latin American Liberation Theology?  Do I limit myself to lecturing exclusively on Latin American theology?

There are no easy answers to these questions.  The task of theology is continuous one. There are so many issues to take into consideration.  New discoveries and insights come into play.  All theology is tentative. But the struggle to find clarity of thinking and action continues.

In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona