I am regularly inspired by the writing of American Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr. Here is something Richard Rohr wrote in a recent blog: “The vast majority of people throughout history has been poor, disabled, or oppressed in some way (i.e., “on the bottom”) and would have experienced history in terms of a need for change. The people who wrote the books and controlled the social institutions, however, have almost always been the comfortable people on the top. Much of history has been recorded from the side of the winners, except for the unique revelation of the Bible, which is an alternative history from the bottom: from the side of the enslaved, the dominated, the oppressed, and the poor, culminating in the scapegoat figure of Jesus himself.”
This is a clear and concise summary of what the Bible is about. Yet, that is not what I was taught in school or in college nor is it what many in Ireland are taught even today. As far as I learned the Bible was a collection of stories about the Jews in the OT and then about Jesus and the apostles in the NT. It was hardly connected to the unjust society and the treacherous situation in which the great events like the Exodus and the Crucifixion took place –except in a superficial way.
The official Catholic Church teaching kept the truth about the Bible a well kept secret. Perhaps they felt the truth was too threatening or too challenging. Now some of the Protestant churches placed much greater importance to the Bible than the Catholics and yet some of them insist on a narrow fundamentalist literal interpretation. They fail to deal with or challenge the reality of injustice, poverty and political oppression in this country and in the world at large. Some do not accept that God can also be known in Creation. Faith is a special way of knowing based on humility and received within a community which is centred on the person and life of Jesus the Christ who was crucified for taking on the political and religious establishment.
The world we live in today has not changed that much from the time of Jesus of Nazareth. A small number still have all the wealth while the vast majority live in absolute poverty or have just enough to get by. We have a rich minority and a poor majority. Most of us, I suggest, are somewhere in between. In global terms most of us are considered to be among the wealthy. Then there are the Billionaires like Mr Trump, now the President of the USA. I read in a newspaper this week that 8 men are estimated to be wealthier than half the world’s population (3.6 Billion). It is estimated that these eight men are worth £350 Billion between them. We live in a most unequal and ill -divided world in which the rich get richer and the poor are getting poorer. The Bible would certainly be urging people of faith who say they live by the Bible to adopt a radical approach to this great and growing division of the world. It is a justice issue –not only a matter for charity. Some of these rich men actually give away a great deal of money to charitable causes. That does not change the system. The numbers of hungry children keep growing every year.
In Ireland we hear all kinds of contradictory interpretations of the Bible -depending on one’s religious or political allegiance. The Free Presbyterians have one way of reading which is fundamentalist and literal. They find in the Old Testament a prohibition against drinking alcohol. Catholics take a more nuanced interpretation which does not upset too many people while feminists and liberationists will have a radical political interpretation.
It is not simply a matter of which church or which preacher is right or wrong but which reading and which interpretation leads to the living out of a more critical, honest, inclusive, humane practice in the community and within society. That is the measuring stick with which to judge the correctness/effectiveness or not of the various interpretations of the Bible. As St Paul states echoing the words of Jesus: “By your fruits you shall know them.”
It’s instructive to remember Richard Rohr’s thesis that the Bible is the book of the poor written by the poor and most clearly and correctly interpreted by the poor and oppressed. That has been one of the great discoveries made by liberation theology in south and Central America and in South Africa. The God that the poor discovered in the Bible is the God of the poor and oppressed who liberates and who walks with them in their struggles. It is a lesson that we in Ireland, belonging to all Christian persuasions, would do well to reflect on – especially during Christian unity week.
Don’t know if it’s fair to say that fundamentalist Protestants who believe in the literal translation of the bible are less nuanced than the Catholic Church who believes in Papal infallibility.
Both seem pretty lacking in nuance to me.
Hi Joe,
I know you don’t reply to comments, but hey ho, maybe you can respond by doing another blog on what i’m asking.
Joe, i’m genuinely interested to know more about this ‘liberation theology’ you referred to in the blog. Especially where you say “The God that the poor discovered in the Bible is the God of the poor and oppressed who liberates and who walks with them in their struggles.”
I’m a practicing Catholic and a couple of things have come to mind regarding that last statement:
When you say ‘poor’ do you mean “materially poor”? as opposed to “poor in spirit” or maybe you mean both? And the same with ‘oppressed’, in what sense are these people oppressed?
The reason i’m seeking clarity is because i’d like to understand the latter half of the statement where you say that God liberates them. Liberates them from what? Are you saying God changes their financial situation or helps them to cope with the struggles that being materially poor brings? If you mean helping them to cope, then isn’t this the same God that helps me when i worry about losing my Job and providing for my family, or when tragedy strikes me from the left-field. Is the God i feel present with me in these situations not the same God as you refer to?
The point i’m making i suppose is that God did not just come to save the materially poor, he came to save everyone regardless of your bank balance. And i’m not saying it’s not a moral imperative to help the poor, of course it is. But i’m struggling to understand the two Gods you are referring to in this ‘liberation theology’?
There again, in what way also does this God in liberation theology help the oppressed? This is why the definition of these two terms: “poor” & “oppressed”, should be more adequately defined.
I hope you can add some flesh to the bones i’ve sketched out. And apologies if any of this has come across a muddled. Just trying to understand what you mean.
God bless.
Kieran
Scott and Kieran, thank you for your interesting comments. I will need some time to consider the points you raise and I will try to respond in due course. I would say in answer to Scott that I do not know any Catholics who take papal infallibility that seriously.I will need time to respond to Kieran’s questions.
Joe thanks for your reply! Delighted you are considering a response.
If you’d like to reply directly you can email me at kieran.maxwell@sky.com
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kieran
Kieran, below is an attempt to deal with your questions. You refer to my statement: “The God that the poor discovered in the Bible is the God of the poor and oppressed who liberates and who walks with them in their struggles.” You state: I’m a practicing Catholic and a couple of things have come to mind regarding that last statement: When you say ‘poor’ do you mean “materially poor”? as opposed to “poor in spirit” or maybe you mean both? And the same with ‘oppressed’, in what sense are these people oppressed?
This is a short response. When I speak about the poor in the context of liberation theology the primary reality is the materially poor. The poor in any society are usually oppressed as well by all kinds of forces. The God of the Bible, the God I believe in ,does not exclude anybody but reading the Bible from the point of view of the poor in society you see that he is clearly on the side of the poor rather than the rich oppressors. Just read the prophet Amos to see what I mean. There are warnings to those who trample on the poor and needy. They are warned to change.
The traditional God we had been taught was the Great Judge who favours those who obey the rules and those who make the rules and those who live by the standards of the society. In contrast the God that the poor found after reading and reflecting togther on the Word of God in the Bible is the God of the Poor, the God of Justice and Mercy and Love who takes the side of the poor and oppressed. This culminated when Jesus became the incarnation of this God and showed by his every word and action a clear preference for the poor, the downtrodden in his day. This is the basis for liberation theology’s reference to ‘the preferential option for the poor.’ Over the centuries the church which claimed to represent Christ on earth moved further and further away from the Jesus of the NT and the God of the OT and became the God of the Empire, indeed the God of the colonial Oppressors. This had very serious consequences as ‘Christian’ empires expanded and a new brand of Christianity spread in the colonies-obedience was the great virtue proclaimed by the preachers.. In recent years the poor have reclaimed the Gospel, the Word of God and that are essentially where liberation theology comes from. It is the liberation of the Bible from a narrow and distorted interpretation by those in power and it is the understanding of the Bible in terms of liberation of the poor from all forms of oppression, injustice and indignity. The growing respect for human rights and the dignity of the human person as reflected in the documents of the Second Vatican Council(1961-65) contributed greatly to the renewal and reinterpretation of the Bible which has been taking place in South and Central America, South Africa and some places in Asia. Sadly, not much is happening by way of promoting amore radical understanding of the Bible. There has been a slight shift in thinking due to the work of Trocaire, Fr Peter McVerry and Brother Kevin, Fr Des Wilson and a few others. There is in my opinion a greater need for a renewal in the church’s understanding of the Bible than ever before. Pope Francis is pointing that out in his Laudato Si letter and with his constant references to the connection between Climate justice and the growing gap between the rich and poor in the world.
Kieran hope this helps.
Now, whilst I have no real knowledge of these things, I have always believed ( rightly or wrongly) that true Christianity is Socialism. Even Pope Francis has come to understand that his early rejection of liberation theology was in fact a rejection of Christ. He took the side of the church hierarchy against those brave and driven priests working amongst the filth of the favellas. I don’t think that it is Christ within the poor exactly, rather Christ within the priests and others who give up the trappings of materialism to live the life of the oppressed man, along side him in solidarity.