Liberation Theology and Its Critics: Toward an Assessment

From its beginnings, liberation theology has provoked a wide and diverse range of responses from a multitude of critics-theological, methodological, political, ecclesiastical. Liberation Theology and Its Critics is a comprehensive and systematic explication of these diverse criticisms, as well as a reasoned and rigorous defense of liberation theology. McGovern states his aim thus: to "understand better the world of Latin America and the culture and conditions which prompt a liberation theology, while at the same time giving expression to some of the misgivings that many US Americans experience when reading about liberation theology." Liberation Theology and Its Critics begins by discussing the place of theology itself in liberation theology. The book offers an historical overview, shows us what liberation theologians see as most distinctive in their work, addresses the biblical interpretations and major areas of theology stressed by liberation theologians, and discusses other theologians' critiques. Next, McGovern explicates the use of social and political analysis in liberation theology, which has been one of the areas of particular controversy. He focuses on such issues as dependency theory, Marxism, "class struggle," socialism, and the Nicaraguan revolution, addressing throughout the concerns raised by a range of critics, from the Vatican to Michael Novak. Finally, McGovern explores the role of the church and how liberation theology is lived out in practice. He examines base communities, ecclesiology, current political trends in Latin America, the varying status of liberation theology as well as its most recent developments. McGovern demonstrates that liberation theology encompasses a wide spectrum of theologians with different styles and emphases. It requires careful study, non-polemical debate, and an honest effort to present the views of both liberation theologians and their critics fairly. McGovern's book will be the benchmark against which subsequent work is measured.