HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422
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Original Research
Moltmann’s theology in dialogue with liberation theologians revives the role of Black Theology in democratic South Africa Author: Kelebogile T. Resane1 Affiliation: 1 Department of Historical and Constructive Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Corresponding author: Kelebogile T. Resane, resanekt@ufs.ac.za Dates: Received: 11 Sept. 2021 Accepted: 05 Nov. 2021 Published: 17 Dec. 2021 How to cite this article Resane, K.T., 2021, ‘Moltmann’s theology in dialogue with liberation theologians revives the role of Black Theology in democratic South Africa’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 77(4), a7127. https://doi. org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.7127 Copyright: © 2021. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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The theme for Liberation Theology has always been about concerns for the marginalised masses and socio-political liberation for the economically disadvantaged. Its mandate is to seek to guide towards the discovery of being human without references to historical divisions between the haves and have-nots created by socio-economic imbalances promoted by political regimes. Moltmann’s content of theology, its revision, its innovation rather than the theological method has marked his restless imagination. His method of exploration in doing theology has brought him into dialogue with philosophers and theologians of different persuasions. In this study, he is evaluated in his dialogue with the liberation theologians. The focus is on Moltmann’s theological approach to ecumenism, built around the Kingdom of God concept, and ecclesiastical analysis and political theology. These three areas are the transitional arguments on how Moltmann enters into dialogue with the liberation theologians. The argument moves on to point how Liberation Theology has exerted itself as Black Theology in South Africa during the apartheid time. Black Theology is a theology of liberation because of its resistance and endeavours of eradication of all forms of oppressive systems. The two injustices (socio-cultural misnomers) in the democratic South Africa are discussed as a calling for Black Theology’s voice. These are corruption and human rights abuses. Black Theology brings religion into the secular world as a way of aborting all forms of discrimination based on race, sex and economic class. Contribution: Black Theology is invited to revisit Moltmann’s ecumenical, ecclesiastical and political theological understanding, as a way of reviving itself back to the centre stage of prophetic role within the corrupt and human rights and dignity abuse society. Keywords: Moltmann; Liberation Theology; Black Theology; kingdom of God; politics; religion; dialogue.
Introduction Liberation Theology is a religious movement that arose in the mid-20th century within the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America. Liberation theologies emanate less from the structured learning centres than from the grassroots societal levels. It is a social and political movement within the church, which aims to interpret the biblical message through the lived experiences of the poor and the oppressed masses. In other words, it seeks to apply religion by empowering the poor and the oppressed through political and civic affairs. In Liberation Theology, the socio-political experiences and abject poverty provoke the alternative reading of the Bible; especially when the ecclesial sacraments become politicised as weapons of social injustice. These ecclesial sacraments become ‘political in the sense of being directly linked to the issue of emancipation from structural sin’ (Gutierrez 1973:11). It emerged as a response to the socio-economic development pushing the peasant workers and rural farming populations to the periphery and the margins of economic development. When that kind of scenario develops, economic and political unrest can be expected, and these will always be met by political dictators unleashing brutality in the name of national security. The mandate of Liberation Theology has always been concerns for the marginalised masses and socio-political liberation for the economically disadvantaged people. The early stages of Liberation Theologies in the 50s and 60s of the previous century has been a political engagement of Latin American theologians, such as Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff, Juan Luis Segundo and Jon Sobrino. These theologians were known for the slogan: Preferential option for the poor. They were in broader composition, Catholics. However, some Protestant evangelicals joined
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