Denysenko A. Liberation theology: critical analysis

Present dissertation is devoted to a comprehensive critical analysis of methodological, hermeneutical, biblical, theological and social aspects of such an important direction of the social thought of modern Christianity as the Latin American liberation theology. Its main characteristics should include the search for a theological response to the challenges of social transformation of society, the justification of the political activity of Christians in order to resolve social contradictions and conflicts, the methodology of the hermeneutical circle, reading the Old Testament narrative of the departure of Jews from Egypt and the life path of Christ through the prism of the poor and oppressed. Important markers of the identity of the movement are also the reorientation of attention from orthodoxy to orthopraxis, the use of secular (in particular, Marxist) ideologies as instruments of social analysis and social critique, the interpretation of the historical process as a history of salvation, the emphasis on the economic aspect of sin, etc. After more than half a century, liberation theology, after experiencing a series of transformations, acquired a new breath at the beginning of the third millennium and moved from the sphere of practical experience to the sphere of academic reflection. A critical analysis of the liberation theology shows that, despite the crisis of its classical Marxist version, it has diversified its issues and continues to play a significant role in discussions about the nature and tasks of social theology, the formation of a program of social transformations. This circumstance is connected with the process of revising the conceptual foundations of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, which, after the collapse of the socialist camp, began to correct its approaches to many problems of the present, taking a critical attitude to the processes of globalization and seeking solutions to social problems in the era of neoliberal capitalism.