Abstract

Daniel H Levine*

More than a half century since its publication, Gustavo Gutierrez’ landmark A Theology of Liberation, remains a fresh source of ideas and inspiration with wide implications for the ways in which people of faith understand the world and organize to act within it. This works forms part of the general transformations in Latin American Catholicism following the Second Vatican Council and the documents of Medellín. Core ideas include one history, recognition of the legitimacy of utopian action, and a vision of the world and the church from the base. Liberation theology provides no recipe for political action, but rather a general commitment to activism as a legitimate expression of faith.