LATIN AMERICAN LIBERATION THEOLOGY 

    THE ISSUES OF POVERTY AND VIOLENCE 

   PABLO RICHARD 

I have stated several times, and other theologians of liberation have also either stated directly or intimidated that if theology (God-talk) avoids mention of the human condition of oppression and suffering, then it is not a valid theology.  If it fails to address these conditions, then it is God-talk in abstractions. It is, in essence, a theology of accommodation and avoidance. Liberation Theology is, on the other hand, a theology of denunciation and resistance.  It is a prophetic theology which seeks to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. 

How can we claim to be engaging in God-talk while ignoring  the human condition?  How can we engage in abstractions, semantics, and speculation and not address what human beings are going through?  How can we claim to decipher the mind of God when we avoid the clear voice of God that says, "I have heard the cry of my people?"  Pablo Richard reminds us of the need to deal with these issues in his theology.

Pablo Richard was a native of Chile and taught at the National University of Costa Rica.  He was one of the writers of the book, "The Idols of Death and the God of Life," Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1983 (Ferm, op. cit., p. 138). 

In an engaging essay, "Biblical Theology of Confrontation with Idols," he traces the concept of idolatry in both the Old and New Testaments, noting how the Bible both denies and affirms liberation (Richard, chapter 1). 

In this affirmation of liberation there is the need for continuing struggle to free the oppressed from their idolatrous religious beliefs.  Richard sees the book of Exodus in terms of violence: violence on the part of the Israelites against the violence of their Egyptian oppressors. Richard sees the inevitability of violence in the movement from idolatry to liberation as crucial for our times as it was for the world of the Bible (Ferm, op, cit. p.52).  

What does "violence" mean?  Is violence something that people resort to when they don't get their way?  It is only when physical violence is imposed on innocent people, or does it also entail the auction of people as an act of rebellion against oppression?  Liberation theologians tend to view violence (armed struggle) as a just response to structural and systemic violence.  

Richard also takes pains to clarify the meaning of the phrase "people of God."  Some thinkers have sought to identify the "people of God" with the popular, hierarchical church.  But Richard prefers a more concrete, specific meaning, using the phrase to refer to the poor and oppressed, who because they have no power, are engaged in a constant uphill battle for justice and freedom.  This is where the real Church is to be found. Indeed, " to say 'church of the poor' is almost a redundancy; the church is either of the poor or it is not the church. Richard by no means wishes to exclude the rich from the church, but he does believe that the rich should cease to rich ("The Latin American Church, 1959-1978," Cross Currents, vol. 28, no. 1p. 36). 

Richard does not believe in advocating for what some would call "a theology of captivity."  He believes that this view leads to a defeatist attitude that can only weaken the determination of the oppressed and harm their course (Ferm, op. cit, p. 53). 

I do not believe that either Richard or any other liberation theologian are advocating for a "glorification" of poverty. In the same manner that they denounce excessive abundance, they also advocate for a just distribution of the good of the land. 

Is Richard advocating for socialism?  If he believes that the church should be the "church of the poor," then it would appear that Richard views the church as a model society which the secular society should try to emulate.  If this is the case, then what we are dealing with is Richard advocating for the non-poor members of the church to divest themselves of their opulence and become just like the regular members of the church (the poor).

Feel free to comment on this brief coverage of Pablo Richard 

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

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona  

Past Visiting Professor of Latin American Theology

Tainan Theological College/Seminary, Tainan, Taiwan