An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

theology. It is no accident that this has been driven by radical Black and Latin Americantheologians from oppressed ethnic minorities, comparing liberation from transatlanticslavery with Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt, as indeed abolitionists did in the 19 thcentury. Tugwell et al (1976) lind this to Pentecostalism with a plea for a „servant‟theology that is recognised as an agent of salvation that liberates; one that recognises whatthe theologian does not know and what he cannot know. Although Black Christians havesometimes aimed to use Christianity as a means of liberation, this has not manifested itselfin liberation any more than the abolition of slavery implied total liberation of black people.Lamont (1989) argued that Black-White conflict, in South Africa, like that previously inthe US, was fuelled by the conflict between the church and the state. In other words thechurch did not form easy alliances with the state and like every other political state religionand politics are difficult to reconcile. It is this conflict between the church and the state thatled to the origination of liberation theology where some theologians in Latin Americaadvocated that all Christian doctrine should come from the perspective of liberation (c.f.Richardson 1999, McGrath 1995).The main lines of liberation theology are laid out by Gottwald (1989) who contrasted itwith traditional theologians who avoided linking Marxism with liberation and oppressionand therefore missed the opportunity to “analyze the biblical strands of oppression andliberation” in the context of political action. Gottwald suggests Blacberation theologyhas similarities to feminist theology. Hayter (1987) and Langley (1987) discuss in detailarguments over the ordination of women, which raise many of the same arguments oversubordination that appear in liberation theology. Kee (2006) adds to the discourse onliberation in the chapter on Womanist Theology where he compares Black women in atheological context to White women in a male domination theological context.38