Gustavo Gutiérrez Quotes

32 Sourced Quotes

The denunciation of injustice implies the rejection of the use of Christianity to legitimize the established order.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
A theology which has as its points of reference only "truths" which have been established once and for all—and not the Truth which is also the Way—can only be static and, in the long run, sterile.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Human history is in truth nothing but the history of the slow, uncertain, and surprising fulfillment of the Promise.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Christendom is not primarily a mental construct. It is above all a fact, indeed the longest historical experience the Church has had. Hence the deep impact it has made on its life and thought.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The building of a just society means overcoming every obstacle to the creation of authentic peace.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The imbalance between developed and underdeveloped countries - caused by the relationships of dependence - becomes more acute if the cultural point of view is taken into consideration.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The theologian... will be engaged where nations, social classes, people struggle to free themselves from domination and oppression by other nations, classes, and people.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
People are also more keenly and painfully aware that a large part of the Church is in one way or another linked to those who wield economic and political power in today's world.... Under these circumstances, can it honestly be said that the Church does not interfere in "the temporal sphere"? Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to a dictatorial and oppressive government?

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The future of history belongs to the poor and exploited.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Although until recently the Church was closely linked to the established order, it is beginning to take a different attitude regarding the exploitation, oppression, and alienation which prevails in Latin America. This has caused concern among the beneficiaries and defenders of capitalist society, who no longer can depend on what used to be - whether consciously or unconsciously - one of their mainstays.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The Christian community... is faced ever more clearly with the dilemma now confronting the whole continent: to be for or against the system, or more subtly, to be for reform or revolution.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Theology thus understood, that is to say as linked to praxis, fulfills a prophetic function insofar as it interprets historical events with the intention of revealing and proclaiming their profound meaning.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Through the persons who explicitly accept his Word, the Lord reveals the world to itself.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The Church cannot be a prophet in our day if she herself is not turned to Christ.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Theology must be man's critical reflection on himself, on his own basic principles. Only with this approach will theology be a serious discourse, aware of itself, in full possession of its conceptual elements.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The liberation of our continent means more than overcoming economic, social, and political dependence. It means, in a deeper sense, to see the becoming of mankind as a process of the emancipation of man in history. It is to see man in search of a qualitatively different society in which he will be free from all servitude, in which he will be the artisan of his own destiny.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
There are not two histories, one profane and one sacred, 'juxtaposed' or 'closely linked.' Rather there is only one human destiny.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
As we progress, various shades of meaning and deeper levels of understanding will complement this initial effort.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Faced with the urgency of the Latin American situation, the Church denounces as insufficient those partial and limited measures which amount only to palliatives and in the long run actually consolidate an exploitative system.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
We take it for granted that Jesus was not interested in political life: his mission was purely religious. Indeed we have witnessed... the 'iconization' of the life of Jesus: 'This is a Jesus of hieratic, stereotyped gestures, all representing theological themes. In this way, the life of Jesus is no longer a human life, submerged in history, but a theological life — an icon.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
About the twelfth century the possibility of sharing contemplation by means of preaching and other forms of apostolic activity began to be considered. This point of view was exemplified in the mixed life (contemplative and active) of the mendicant orders and was expressed in the formula: contemplata aliis tradere ("to transmit to others the fruits of contemplation").

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Reason has, especially today, many other manifestations than philosophical ones.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Theology as critical reflection thus fulfills a liberating function for man and the Christian community, preserving them from fetishism and idolatry, as well as from a pernicious and belittling narcissism.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The complete encounter with the Lord will mark an end to history, but it will take place in history.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The God of Exodus is the God of history and of political liberation more than he is the God of nature.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
By keeping historical events in their proper perspective, theology helps safeguard society and the Church from regarding as permanent what is only temporary. Critical reflection thus always plays the inverse role of an ideology which rationalizes and justifies a given social and ecclesial order.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
To hope does not mean to know the future, but rather to be open, in an attitude of spiritual childhood, to accepting it as a gift.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
Liberation from every form of exploitation, the possibility of a more human and dignified life, the creation of a new humankind - all pass through this struggle.

Gustavo Gutiérrez
The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet.

Gustavo Gutiérrez