LATIN AMERICAN LIBERATION THEOLOGY: RUBEM ALVES 

There is a question as to whether Rubem  Alves belongs in the camp of Liberation Theology or Theology of Hope.  And since Liberation Theology and Theology of Hope appear to be similar in some respects, it is difficult to make that determination.

The thinking of Rubem Alves, more than that of most other Latin American liberation theologians, is grounded in the Theology of Hope.  This theology, exemplified particularly in the writings of the German theologians Jurgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg, emphasize the eschatological dimension of history.  History in this view is understood to be futuristic, open to new beginnings, with God as the promise of eventual fulfillment.  For these theologians, human salvation is social in character, geared toward social justice and human liberation.  God is envisioned as the "power of the future," leading humanity toward the fulfillment of social justice (Ferm, op. cit. p. 27).

Alves's close identification with European political theology has arisen, in part, from his graduate work at Union and Princeton Seminaries in the United States.  His first book, A Theology of Human Hope (1969), was based on his doctoral dissertation at Princeton University (Ibid.).

Because Alves is very much at home with the writings of Jurgen Moltmann, Juan Segundo has branded him "a disciple of Moltmann."  Such a characterization, however, is misleading, for even in his "A Theology of Human Hope," Alves is highly critical of Moltmann, a judgement that becomes increasingly severe in his later writings,  In his first book, Alves faults Moltmann for focusing almost exclusively on the transcendent dimension of eschatology, thereby giving second place to the human dimension.  For Alves, hope is not something transcendent beckoning humanity from beyond; rather hope is "the stretching out of human consciousness, as it looks beyond the unfinishedness of what is (Rubem Alves, A Theology of Human Hope. St. Meinard, Ind., Abbey Press, 1969, p. 67)."

Alves advocates what he calls a "political humanism"-that is, a creative open-ended process that continually affirms  that a better tomorrow can be achieved.  This political humanism contains three components. First, it denies finality to the present human structures; they by no means represent the final chapter in human history.  Secondly, one must always continue to hope that the future will include the elimination of  these present oppressive forms.  Thirdly, it is humanity and humanity alone that will effect these changes and created new structures that promote human justice.  Alves does not contend that the perfect social order can be achieved, but that a far better society than the present can emerge (Ferm, op. cit., p. 28).

So a fundamental question remains.  Does humankind have the capacity to create and sustain perfect social structures that mete out justice?  Or, from a Pauline, Augustinian, and Calvinistic point of view, is humanity so tainted by sin that it cannot erect these structures?  Is it possible from a Wesleyan point of view that through the power of the Holy Spirit, humankind can erect just social structures that are not perfect, but far better than what we have?  Those questions remain open-ended as human history demonstrates sincere efforts to create those structures, and at that same time, failures at the end of the day. 

For Alves the term "violence" means anything that keeps humans from realizing a better future.  In short, violence is "the power of defuturization." Alves makes much of the notion of freedom and even suggests a "language of freedom," entirely secular in nature, which "does not look behind the stars first in order to find a meaning for the earth (Alves, op. cit.,  p. 163).  

At this point we get into the squabble between "conservative" and "liberal" Christians.  Liberals will say that conservatives are so "heavenly minded that they are no earthly good," and conservatives will say just the opposite, that liberals are "so earthly minded that they are no  heavenly good."  So the question for the theological task is whether our eschatology (doctrine of the final things or history as we know it) should be whether we focus on "The other side of Jordan" as the final destiny of humankind, or whether we should focus on Jesus's words, "If I by the finger of God cast out demons, than the  reign of God is among you."  

We may ask, "Where is God in all this?"  Alves replies: "God is the power for humanization that remains determined to  make humans historically free even when all objective and subjective possibilities immanent in history have been exhausted....The beginning, middle and end of God's activity is the liberation of humans....To speak about God is to speak about the historical events that made and make people free (Alves, op. cit, p. 99)."

A fundamental question remains.  Does Alves's theology fit in more with Liberation Theology or with the Theology of Hope?  In this writer's (yours truly) opinion, to the extent that Alves does not come out strongly to emphasize that oppression and suffering are the starting points for biblical interpretation and theological reflection, that his theology fits in more with the Theology of Hope.  This is not to say, by any stretch of the imagination that Alves's theology is either heretical or worthless.  As Ferm points out, if Alves has reached the point where he can say only that "all is vanity and a striving after the wind," in fairness  to him we should point out that this fatalism is a product of years of agonizing struggle against the forces of oppression in Latin America that seem only to grow stronger (Ferm, op. cit, pp. 29-30).  

While Alves's eschatology might appear to be and remain futuristic in its orientation, I do not believe that he is living in "La La Land."  Nor do I believe that his theology is one of "In the Sweet By and By."  He wrestles with the reality of demonic and structural evil.  Because of that, I would not exclude him from the camp of Liberation Theology.

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

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona 

Past Visiting Professor of Theology

Tainan Theological College/Seminary