Introduction

Why have liberation theologians found it so hard to define those whom they see as subjects of history and of theology? In this chapter I investigate what liberation theologians mean when they refer to the poor, by engaging with what some of its major representatives have to say on the topic.

In a dialogue organized between liberation theologians and the French cultural anthropologist and literary critic René Girard, Leonardo Boff offered the following assessment of liberation theology: “I think that the theology of liberation, on its strictly theological level, has two fundamental categories: the category poor, oppressed (and along with that, God of the poor, God of Life, etc.), and the category Kingdom of God.” Although the two categories are closely related, I will concentrate on the category poor. My aim in this chapter is to provide at least an overview of the different ways in which liberation theologians have understood the poor, in as far as possible using their own words. I have, however, sought to organize the material around a number of headings, which seem to me to encompass the different lines the attempts to portray and represent the poor have taken.

Thus, I begin with a brief summary of liberation theology accounts of the biblical record. This leads to an examination of the idea of God as God of the poor, the poor as icons of Christ, the Church as church of the poor, and finally a consideration of the option for the poor.