A Theology of Liberation Quotes

“If there is no friendship with them [the poor] and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“[Neighbor is] not he whom I find in my path, but rather he in whose path I place myself, he whom I approach and actively seek.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Charity is today a 'political charity.'. . . it means the transformation of a society structured to benefit a few who appropriate to themselves the value of the work of others. This transformation ought to be directed toward a radical change in the foundation of society, that is, the private ownership of the means of production.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“We take it for granted that Jesus was not interested in political life: his mission was purely religious. Indeed we have witnessed . . . the 'iconization' of the life of Jesus: 'This is a Jesus of hieratic, stereotyped gestures, all representing theological themes. In this way, the life of Jesus is no longer a human life, submerged in history, but a theological life -- an icon.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The denunciation of injustice implies the rejection of the use of Christianity to legitimize the established order.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“In the final analysis, poverty means death: lack of food and housing, the inability to attend properly to health and education needs, the exploitation of workers, permanent unemployment, the lack of respect for one's human dignity, and unjust limitations placed on personal freedom in the areas of self-expression, politics, and religion.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The theory of dependence will take the wrong path and lead to deception if the analysis is not put within the framework of the worldwide class struggle.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“There are not two histories, one profane and one sacred, 'juxtaposed' or 'closely linked.' Rather there is only one human destiny.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“History is no longer as it was for the Greeks, an anamnesis, a remembrance. It is rather a thrust into the future.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The unqualified affirmation of the univeral will of salvation has radically changed the way of conceiving the mission of the Church in the world. . . . The work of salvation is a reality which occurs in history.”
― Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation

“But there is one thing that is privileged to be a paradoxical sign of God, in relation to which men are able to manifest their deepest commitment -- our Neighbor. The sacrament of our Neighbor!' -- Congar”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Man is saved if he opens himself to God and to others, even if he is not clearly aware that he is doing so. This is valid for Christians and non-Christians alike -- for all people. . . . We can no longer speak properly of a profane world. A qualitative and intensive approach replaces a quantitative and extensive one.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“If there is no friendship with them and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The Exodus from Egypt, the home of sacred monarchy, reinforces this idea [desacralization of creation]: it is the 'desacralization' of social praxis. . . . In Egypt, work is alienated and, far from building a just society, contributes rather to increasing injustice and to widening the gap between exploiters and exploited.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The God of Exodus is the God of history and of political liberation more than he is the God of nature.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Since the Enlightenment, the political order is an order of freedom. The political structures are no longer given, previous to man's freedom, but are rather realities based on freedom, taken on and modified by man. . . . This new definition of politics carefully distinguishes between state and society. The distinction . . . allows us to differentiate between the public sphere of the state of the Church (or the combination of them) as powers from the public sphere 'in which the interests of all men as a social group are expressed.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“An essential clue to the understanding of poverty in liberation theology is the distinction, made in the Medellín document "Poverty of the Church," between three meanings of the term "poverty": real poverty as an evil—that is something that God does not want; spiritual poverty, in the sense of a readiness to do God's will; and solidarity with the poor, along with protest against the conditions under which they suffer.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“The use of a variety of tools does not mean sacrificing depth of analysis; the point is only not to be simplistic but rather to insist on getting at the deepest causes of the situation, for this is what it means to be truly radical.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to a dictatorial and oppressive government?”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“To be converted is to know and experience the fact that, contrary to the laws of physics, we can stand straight, according to the Gospel, only when our center of gravity is outside ourselves.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“although the privileged of this world can accept the existence of human poverty on a massive scale and not be overawed by it (after all, it is something that cannot be hidden away in our time), problems begin when the causes of this poverty are pointed out to them. Once causes are determined, then there is talk of "social injustice," and the privileged begin to resist. This is especially true when to structural analysis there is added a concrete historical perspective in which personal responsibilities come to light. But it is the conscientization and resultant organization of poor sectors that rouse the greatest fears and the strongest resistance.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Love of Enemies' does not ease tensions; rather it challenges the whole system and becomes a subversive formula.
Universal love comes down from the level of abstractions and becomes concrete and effective by becoming incarnate in the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“In liberation theology the way to rational talk of God is located within a broader and more challenging course of action: the following of Jesus.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

“Faith proclaims that the fellowship which is sought through the abolition of exploitation is something possible, that efforts to bring it about are not in vain, that God calls us to it and assures us of its complete fulfillment, and that the definitive reality is being built on what is transitory. Faith reveals to us the deep meaning of the history which we fashion with our own hands: it teaches us that every human act which is oriented towards the construction of a more just society has value in terms of communion with God—in terms of salvation; inversely it teaches that all injustice is a breach with God.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“Freire is right when he says that in today’s world only the oppressed person, only the oppressed class, only oppressed peoples, can denounce and announce.122 Only they are capable of working out revolutionary utopias and not conservative or reformist ideologies. The oppressive system’s only future is to maintain its present of affluence.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“His testimony and his message acquire this political dimension precisely because of the radicalness of their salvific character: to preach the universal love of the Father is inevitably to go against all injustice, privilege, oppression, or narrow nationalism.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“God’s temple is human history; the “sacred” transcends the narrow limits of the places of worship.38 We find the Lord in our encounters with others, especially the poor, marginated, and exploited ones. An act of love towards them is an act of love towards God. This is why Congar speaks of “the sacrament of our neighbor,” who as a visible reality reveals to us and allows us to welcome the Lord: “But there is one thing that is privileged to be a paradoxical sign of God, in relation to which men are able to manifest their deepest commitment—our Neighbor. The sacrament of our Neighbor!”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“It is not enough to say that love of God is inseparable from the love of one’s neighbor. It must be added that love for God is unavoidably expressed through love of one’s neighbor.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“The neighbor was the Samaritan who approached the wounded man and made him his neighbor. The neighbor, as has been said, is not the one whom I find in my path, but rather the one in whose path I place myself, the one whom I approach and actively seek.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition

“To abstain from serving is to refuse to love; to fail to act for another is as culpable as expressly refusing to do it.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation 50th Anniversary Edition