THEOLOGIES OF LIBERATION: ETHICAL DIMENSIONS (CEST-3200)
(01/30/2023-05/19/2023)
Course Memo
This is a team-taught, lecture/discussion course designed for advanced first-degree students (MDiv, MA, MTS) as well as for advanced degree program students (STL, STD, PhD). It will engage various liberation theologies starting with the Latin American liberation theology as it traces its origins to the grassroots Christian communities that struggled for justice. It will explore the distinctive way in which liberation theologies correlate their interpretation of their social, economic, and political situation with the Christian tradition and praxis. The course will critically examine their fundamental presuppositions, contribution to contemporary theology, and efforts to articulate the Christian ethical messages as an effective response against oppression and on behalf of human liberation. Drawing on Catholic social teaching, the course will consider the implications of these theologies on the Preferential Option for the Poor.