It is difficult to make someone believe in something unprecedented, but the church was able to do it. It is difficult to keep the influx of non-believers, but the church was always doing so until the freedom of speech and thought, of course. Many simply believe, without even thinking about religion as such. Religion is a kind of reunion of the broken relationship with God, or lifestyle based on a belief in the supernatural power. Religious ideas, rules, basics are described in the sacred books, which allegedly have been dictated by God. Of course, no one can currently prove the existence of God. Generally, it is difficult to speculate about the veracity of the religions because it is quite controversial. Religion is used in a wide variety of purposes: the emergence of hostility and even wars, filling a special sense of life, as a means of therapy, the spread of culture, media and others. There exist many beliefs discussed by theologians.
According to Latin American theologian Leonardo Boff, Liberation Theology is a rather broad concept that combines different contextual theological directions, aims at understanding the Scriptures and traditions closely related to the immediate cultural and social context. Any liberation theology comes from the fact that, consciously or unconsciously, theology is always closer to any community (Keane, 2006).
For the liberation theologians God, first of all, is a historical personality in a special way: all the actions of Jesus Christ are considered from the socio-political perspective. This is different from the prevailing Christology, which, according to the liberation theology distorts the true figure of Jesus Christ and turns his personality into an icon. Christ acted in time, appeared in history of the humankind as the defender of the downtrodden. He did not come in the royal robes, and went down to the social ad to simple fishermen, tax collectors and sinners, and devoted His sermon to them.
Leonardo Boff suggests that the Church is a special institution. This form of the Church with a strict hierarchy was criticized by the supporters of liberation theology. Also hierarchy, according to supporters of liberation theology, puts pressure on the parishioners, turning them into an obedient flock to the powers with which the traditional priesthood aims at building links rather than following Jesus Christ (Keane, 2006).
Leonardo Boff discovered that the liberation theology has proposed new hermeneutic way of interpretation of biblical texts. The political hermeneutics is based on the methodology of the so-called hermeneutic circle: a response that is sought in the Bible and determined by how the question is asked. The question is, in turn, confirmed, extended or corrected by the response that generates a new question, and in such a way a circle or an infinite spiral is formed. Of course, the emphasis was made on the interpretation of texts in the social and political way. For the poor, it was important to find in the Bible the answers to their questions on the way to liberation from the fetters of their operation ties. Leonardo Boff called it questioning the Scripture from the perspective of the oppressed. The main features of such a hermeneutics of Leonardo Boff outline the following things: textual meaning is sought in the form of a sense of urgency, its interpretation should lead to a change of the society and the history, each text is placed in its historical context in order to get its interpretation from this context (Keane, 2006).
Individualism, of course, was rejected by the theologians of liberation. People, who wanted to build society, had to listen to each other and take into account each other's interests in decision-making process. It was important enough to sacrifice some of their interests for the sake of others (McAfee, 2009).
Leonardo Boff was trying to discuss what a sin meant in the liberation theology. A sin is the reason that causes poverty, misery, injustice, lack of love between people and their estrangement from each other, something that interferes in the construction of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Sin in the liberation understanding is not accepted as an individual or just personal inner reality that asserts the sufficiency of the spiritual reconciliation, which is not responsible for the order in which the humankind lives (McAfee, 2009). Sin is observed as a social, historical fact, the lack of brotherhood and love in human relations, breach of friendship with God and other people, and the internal and personal fault. When sin is considered from this perspective, the overall measurement of sin opens again. Thus, the liberation theology does not emphasize the fall of human morality, which should be corrected, but transmits the concept of sin in the social relations between people, the injustice of the existing social system (Fox, 2013).
According to Boff, liberation theology is a sincere and vivid manifestation of the convergence of Catholicism in the social hell (McAfee, 2009). It is certainly influenced by the politics and the social sphere, largely moving away from the classical theology, presenting its goals through improving the material conditions of the poor, overcoming social oppression with the help of Marxism taken as a tool.
If medieval theology can be described as the theology of love, and the theology of the Reformation - as a theology of faith, then the modern world should be characterized by the theology of hope that helps the mankind to understand on what to expect in times of uncertainty. Hope has become one of the main motives of Moltmann theology. The theology of hope was presupposed by Moltmann’s experience of suffering and hope in the war and postwar years, and his book is a literary expression of the principle of hope (Anderson, 2012).
As Moltmann notes, eschatology has been understood as the doctrine of the last things, that is, the doctrine about the events of the future that will come from outside and put an end to the history. These events include the coming of Christ in glory, the trial of the world, the coming of the Kingdom, the general resurrection and the new creation. But because of the grace period of these events, their meaning was mostly lost for the present reality, and for Christianity conduction. Eschatology has become a kind of attachment to the dogma which is connected poorly with the rest (Koskela, 2007).
According to Moltmann, eschatology is not a doctrine of the future. There can be no teaching of what people do not know and that is not deducible from human experience. Moltmann emphasizes the importance of the Old Testament studies that show that God reveals Himself through the promise and its fulfillment in history (Koskela, 2007). This means that theology must be focused on eschatology, on the implementation of the promises.
The key concept of eschatology is a hope. A Christian is embroiled in a struggle between his everyday experience and hope. This tension between the world of sin and the hope of eschatology should manifest its strength. It should not be otherworld, it must carry its message to the world of suffering, evil and death. Hope transforms human life and requires rethinking of reality (Koskela, 2007). Anyone who has a Christian hope thinks about the world in a different way. Therefore, faith has nothing to do with the flight from the world, submissive humility and empty pretenses. The eschatological orientation of theology does not mean falling into Futurism. The resurrection gives hope not for eternity in heaven. Christian hope is not the end of life, world, or history, but the beginning of true life, kingdom of God, new creation..
According to Moltmann, the history of Christian theology of hope is often spiritualized and individualized. It is considered in the context of personal salvation of soul. On the contrary, Moltmann writes that true hope must be universal because it embraces the future of healing in each individual and the whole world (Koskela, 2007). This means that the soul cannot be separated from the body, one creation separated from another one. Eschatology studies not only individuals, but the whole human creation.
There are three reasons for which, according to Moltmanu, there exists the need for total redemption. The first one consists in the idea that God is a faithful creature. This implies that His redemptive, eschatological act should be as broad as his creative act. If God redeems the universe only partially, He would cease to be Creator. Loyalty and consistency of God require a comprehensive new creation. If God allows someone to die, He would not have been true to Himself as Creator. The second reason presupposes that Christ died for all. This means that His resurrection means the salvation of everything. The resurrection of Christ gives the promise for all living things that Christ suffered for all in order all would live. The consequence of the theology of Christ can only be the restoration of all. The last reason lies in the fact that every creation is interconnected. Mankind and even the whole creation are connected by numerous ties that cannot be broken. God's purpose in creation is His integrity and He will save the creation. Death separates everything, but resurrection strengthens links between people, generations and all creatures (Koskela, 2007).
The idea of the comprehensive nature of the atonement of course raises the question of the reality and essence of hell. Moltmann notes that previously hell seemed as a place full of fire. Hellfire is already perceived simply as a metaphor for the distance from God, for the hopeless abandonment by God (Koskela, 2007). Hell is not already presented as a concentration camp from which there is no escape even after death. In other words, God respects human freedom, and if a person decides to be without God, God gives such an opportunity.
Moltmann believes that the hell logic is inhuman. It involves the destruction or even eternal torment of the myriad of people who do not make the right decision. Moltmann is especially resented by the fact that they can be dead infants, the mentally retarded or those who have not heard the Gospel at all. It turns out that most people will not be with God, they will go to the non-existence. For Moltmann this means the denial of the goodness of creation and the goodness of God (Koskela, 2007).
These two theologians are quite different in their points of view about religion and faith in God. Boff suggests that the church must be a profitable thing and protect the poor. On the contrary, Moltmann supports the ideas about human spirituality rather than materialistic values.
References
Anderson, K., (2012). 4 Reasons Jürgen Moltmann Stands Out. Web. 03 Sep. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://blog.logos.com/2012/08/4-reasons-jurgen-moltmann-stands-out/
Fox, T. C., (2013). Leonardo Boff: Major Pope Francis Supporter. Web. 03 Sep. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/leonardo-boff-major-pope-francis-supporter
Keane, E., (2006). Leonardo Boff and Liberation Theology. Web. 03 Sep. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6581
Koskela, D., (2007). Remembering the Future. Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Hope. Web. 03 Sep. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/spring2k8/features/remembering-the-future.asp
McAfee, B. R., (2009). Leonardo Boff: Theologian for All Christians. Web. 03 Sep. 2016. Retrieved from:
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1045
