ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that the scheme of action proposed by liberation theology is consistent with the teaching of the Jewish and the Christian scriptures about the promises held out by God to "the poor" and "the oppressed". The underlying intention of liberation theology is to lift up the poor. Liberation theology certainly places considerable emphasis on the superiority of praxis to both theoria and orthodoxy. Liberation theology seeks intellectual prestige by claiming to represent the voice of the poor. Theologians have an obligation to think ahead for the church, experimenting with new ideas about institutions, which may one day form the practical basis for Catholic social thought, as it develops in the future. Extensive surveys show that public opinion in various Latin American nations, especially among the peasants and the workers, is quite complex and seldom that of the liberation theologians. Latin American literature is full of abuse for the alleged individualism, crassness, and materialism of Anglo-American commercial culture.
