The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology

Rating:
Summary: Excellent at what it's trying to do
Review: The reviewer above seems to attack this work baselessly, since he accuses it of trying to accomplish what it does not claim for itself. Cambridge Companions are just that - companions, meant to be read alongside the primary texts, informing and commenting upon them. This series never intended to be an introduction to a topic, but only a guide to a reader who is already committed to a given subject, committed to reading primary and other secondary sources. The series then offers some of the best academic authorities to help shape and guide the heuristic process.

As such, this Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology is on par with the other excellent editions in this wide-ranging series. Chris Rowland, currently a New Testament tutor at Oxford, is as good an editor as any, and this book helped me to understand current issues concerning liberation theology. Cambridge provides first-rate academic minds as in other disciplines, including, of course, scholars from the two-thirds world. Gutierrez rightly introduces the work, but then a compliation of essays helps the informed reader to understand the crucial concerns of contemporary scholarship. If it is 'dry,' as the previous reviewer perjoratively labeled it, then that's just because it's British - but hardly a source for criticism. I found it a helpful component of my informal study into liberation theology, as it helped to guide and complement my other reading. Probably doesn't need to be bought except by serious students of liberation theology; accessing the various essays in a library should be good enough for most.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent at what it's trying to do
Review: The reviewer above seems to attack this work baselessly, since he accuses it of trying to accomplish what it does not claim for itself. Cambridge Companions are just that - companions, meant to be read alongside the primary texts, informing and commenting upon them. This series never intended to be an introduction to a topic, but only a guide to a reader who is already committed to a given subject, committed to reading primary and other secondary sources. The series then offers some of the best academic authorities to help shape and guide the heuristic process.

As such, this Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology is on par with the other excellent editions in this wide-ranging series. Chris Rowland, currently a New Testament tutor at Oxford, is as good an editor as any, and this book helped me to understand current issues concerning liberation theology. Cambridge provides first-rate academic minds as in other disciplines, including, of course, scholars from the two-thirds world. Gutierrez rightly introduces the work, but then a compliation of essays helps the informed reader to understand the crucial concerns of contemporary scholarship. If it is 'dry,' as the previous reviewer perjoratively labeled it, then that's just because it's British - but hardly a source for criticism. I found it a helpful component of my informal study into liberation theology, as it helped to guide and complement my other reading. Probably doesn't need to be bought except by serious students of liberation theology; accessing the various essays in a library should be good enough for most.

Rating:
Summary: An Informative--But "Dry"--Companion To Liberation Theology
Review: This anthology has pieced together an assortment of scholars who have studied and written about different forms of Liberation Theology. The text is divided into three major parts that attempt to provide (1) an overview of the contemporary scene, (2) a description of specific aspects of the movement, and (3) an analysis and criticism of Liberation Theology. This book is adequately titled a "companion" to Liberation Theology, because it merely portrays the essays of scholars' opinions about the movement. Any student of this movement should view this text as only a commentary, while still pursuing the real "meat" of Liberation Theology by going to the works of the Liberation Theologians themselves-such as Leonardo Boff and Gustavo Gutierrez.

The "Cambridge Companion" is a series of mostly "dry", but nonetheless informative, essays that give the reader some insight into the Liberation movement. Certain areas of this collection stand out. For example, Bastiaan Wielenga's description of Liberation Theology in Korea and India are particularly interesting. Also informative is Edward Antonio's explanation of Black Theology as an important contributor to the Liberation movement (70). Finally, Rowland's "Epilogue: The Future of Liberation Theology" is of special interest in that it discusses the continued "grassroots" strength of the Liberation movement despite the fact that the academic or "ivory tower" concern over the topic has waned in recent years.

I would only recommend this anthology for the student who is seriously studying Liberation Theology, and not for the layperson who is merely interested in an overview of the movement.

Rating:
Summary: An Informative--But "Dry"--Companion To Liberation Theology
Review: This anthology has pieced together an assortment of scholars who have studied and written about different forms of Liberation Theology. The text is divided into three major parts that attempt to provide (1) an overview of the contemporary scene, (2) a description of specific aspects of the movement, and (3) an analysis and criticism of Liberation Theology. This book is adequately titled a "companion" to Liberation Theology, because it merely portrays the essays of scholars' opinions about the movement. Any student of this movement should view this text as only a commentary, while still pursuing the real "meat" of Liberation Theology by going to the works of the Liberation Theologians themselves-such as Leonardo Boff and Gustavo Gutierrez.

The "Cambridge Companion" is a series of mostly "dry", but nonetheless informative, essays that give the reader some insight into the Liberation movement. Certain areas of this collection stand out. For example, Bastiaan Wielenga's description of Liberation Theology in Korea and India are particularly interesting. Also informative is Edward Antonio's explanation of Black Theology as an important contributor to the Liberation movement (70). Finally, Rowland's "Epilogue: The Future of Liberation Theology" is of special interest in that it discusses the continued "grassroots" strength of the Liberation movement despite the fact that the academic or "ivory tower" concern over the topic has waned in recent years.

I would only recommend this anthology for the student who is seriously studying Liberation Theology, and not for the layperson who is merely interested in an overview of the movement.