Epistemological Issues in Latin American Liberation Theology

Abstract

This paper explores the epistemological questions about the Latin American Liberation Theology (LLT). This will lead us to investigate the starting point of this theology (the poor, the oppressed and the liberating practice); the method used by the LLT, closely linked to the latter Hermeneutics of Liberation; the relationship between the Marxism and the LLT, which is mostly linked to the recognition of impoverishing structures; the relationship it has with Social Sciences which is not of dependency, but of providing study tools; and finally, the ontological assumptions to identify how the poor and the reality that circumscribes them are observed and the axiological assumptions to determine the values and behaviors that the liberation theologian should possess towards the study.