A study of the theme of justice in the theology of Reinhold Niebuhr in critical comparison with the theology of select Latin American liberation theologians

Abstract

What this study is intended to achieve is the critical assessment of the theology which seeks to give meaning to this experience of discipleship. It is this theology which has emerged from the Latin American context which is to be placed in critical dialogue with the theology of Reinhold Niebuhr. Both Liberation Theology and Niebuhrian theology are concerning with social justice and its relation to Christian faith. It is the thesis of this study that Niebuhrian realism provides a theology which is better able to guide and give meaning to discipleship which seeks social justice. At the same time this study will examine the areas of Niebuhrian theology which are challenged by the insights and criticisms of Liberation theology. The end result of this study will be the explication of a Niebuhrian realism which is 'liberative'.

Our examination of the theme of justice will begin with an analysis and critique of Reinhold Niebuhr's understanding of justice. This first section of our study will comprise four chapters which deal with Niebuhr's anthropological realism, the values of justice, the implementation of justice, and a final chapter of critique and comment. At this point I need to take responsibility for my reading of Niebuhr. I am conscious that I have organised and abstracted Niebuhr's position in a systematic manner which is lacking in his own works. In this manner I have reduced the dialectic tension and ambiguity experienced in the reading of Niebuhr. Whether this is a loss or gain to Niebuhrian theology I will leave to the reader to assess. A second comment to be made concerning this analysis of Niebuhr's theology has to do with the term 'Christian Realism'. In the following study I have avoided the use of this term. This term has come to refer to Niebuhr's theology and the theological movement related to it. It is my concern in this study to deal specifically with Niebuhr's position and not the post-Niebuhrian theological movement.

The next section of our study will involve placing Niebuhrian theology in dialogue with Liberation theology. This dialogue will begin with a comparison of theological method. Following this chapter on theological method will be three chapters which deal with specific theological topics and their relationship to social justice. These topics are; sin, salvation, and christology. The final chapter in this section will deal with the values and ethics of Liberation theology

It is necessary at this point to define what is meant by 'Liberation theologian' and how these theologians are chosen to be in dialogue with Niebuhrian theology. Our study will be limited to dialogue with Liberation theologians of Latin America. This identification has do with context and commitment rather than geographical location or cultural identity. These theologians write with the socio-political and economic context of Latin American in mind and with a commitment to social transformation which favours the poor and oppressed of Latin America. The choice of specific Latin American Liberation theologians will correspond to the topic under consideration. Different Liberation theologians will be brought into dialogue with Niebuhrian theology according to the subject matter which their work addresses. This means that our choice of Liberation theologians will be selective, but still representative.

Another issue to be addressed concerning Liberation theologians is their differing theological traditions. In this study I have avoided the identification of Liberation theologians as either Roman Catholic or Protestant. It is not that this distinction is insignificant. It is no accident that Protestant Liberation theology presents some of the most significant challenges to the Niebuhrian position. This distinction between theological traditions is avoided because of the commonly-held ideas among the various theologians. It is very difficult to make general statements concerning Liberation theologians which identifies them as either Roman Catholic or Protestant. The consideration of each specific theologian requires so much qualification concerning his or her relation to a tradition, that such identification seems counterproductive to the task at hand.

The final section of our study will be an attempt to present a Niebuhrian theology modified by the critical insights of Liberation theology. In this section we will consider a theology of justice which is inclusive of the realism of Niebuhrian theology and also inclusive of the historical commitment of Liberation theology. We will identify this modified Niebuhrian theology as Liberative realism.

A concluding introductory comment needs to be made concerning the limitations of this study. There are areas of justice and of contemporary concern which are not addressed in this study, such as issues of penal justice or ecological concerns. Both Liberation theology and Nlebuhrian theology are primarily concerned with distributive justice in regard to social life. They are concerned with the structures and systems of justice and how they determine social existence. A contemporary issue which neither Liberation theology or Niebuhrian theology address is that of ecology. This is certainly a growing issue in national and international justice concerning pollution and the global affect of the decimation of the rain forests, but it lies beyond the scope of this dissertation.

Another limit of this study is in regard to the ideological plurality of social existence. This dissertation is concerned with presenting a Christian theology of justice and does not deal with the religious and secular diversity of which social life is composed. In this regard, further study would be required which explores how a Christian position on justice relates to a society in which there is a variety of religious and secular positions in regard to social justice.