ABSTRACT
Searching for the roots of explicitly contextual Christian theology is the search for the roots of liberation theology in the first instance. This is because liberation theologies, unlike many other types of Christian theologies, are open and explicit about their agendas and influences. The journey here begins in Latin America in the 1950s and specifically among the disillusioned Roman Catholics in Latin America living in poverty and often under oppressive rule. These were Roman Catholics disillusioned with a Church and theology which at best did not seem to reflect their own experiences and which at worst simply ignored their circumstances. The Roman Catholic Church was seen by many involved in the theological movements for liberation in Latin America as imposing an authority that did not recognize or seem to value contextual struggles. More than this it was a Church which through its actions had come to be identified with oppressive and often brutal political regimes and was seen to be both powerful and wealthy whilst many members of the Church suffered great poverty and injustice.
