History and Politics of Latin American Theology

The History and Politics of Latin American Theology explores the contribution of major Latin American theologians to contemporary politics. The historical relations between Church and state have been well documented, but with the advent of democratic governments and the collapse of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe those narratives were given less attention by theologians around the globe. However, the basic relations between religion and politics, those relations outlined by pioneers of liberation theology, such as Guiterrez, became a manifesto for religious believers facing contemporary problems both in Latin America and the Third World - contemporary problems of land ownership, the neo-liberal economic conquest of the Third World, the oppression of women, the destruction of rainforests, global warming, corruption and indigenous rights. The History and Politics of Latin American Theology examines the ecclesial framework in which the manifesto was born, and also examines the contemporary challenges made to those pioneering theologians and the manifesto.