Theological Epistemologies from the Empowered Subjectivity of the Poor: A Dialogue with Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez and Gustavo Gutiérrez

Abstract

The Mexican theologian Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez engages in a critical and constructive dialogue with the Latin American theological tradition. He does so by recognizing its legacy and importance while, at the same time, consciously distancing himself from the issue of the poor as a point of departure, locating such a theological locus instead in the victims of modernity. Furthermore, drawing on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and philosophical ethics, he develops an approach to a subjectivity that has been trampled upon and violated, seeking from it—through a movement beyond resentment—a postmodern way of doing theology and of epistemologically rethinking Christianity. Prior to him, the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez conceived theology as a systematic act of liberation of the poor through contemplation and engagement with their world. This liberating process involves the conscientization and agency of the oppressed themselves in confronting every attitude of oppression and violence. Both thinkers and theological currents converge in their attempt to overcome any spiral of violence beginning with the oppressed themselves. Our proposal, therefore, is to present some of the fundamental concepts of these two theologians, offering a specific critique of Mendoza’s project concerning the possible invisibility of the poor within his epistemological perspective. By way of conclusion, we will point to the need to return to the poor as a path toward theological legitimation, based on an openness that incorporates the dimension of subjectivity without excluding the denunciation of the economic oppression that structures the face of violence.