Faith Fights Capitalism: 70s Theology
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- Leonardo Boff published Jesus Christ Liberator in 1972, reframing Christology as a call to structural justice.
- Jon Sobrino survived the 1989 massacre at the University of Central America in El Salvador, which killed six fellow Jesuits.
- James H. Cone's Black Theology and Black Power was published in 1969, paralleling Latin American liberation theology with Black Power activism.
- José Miranda's Communism in the Bible (1982) argued early Christian communities practiced economic communalism.
- The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith formally critiqued liberation theology in 1984 and 1986.
- Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs) — grassroots church groups — became the structural model for liberation theology's ecclesiology throughout Latin America.
Jesus Christ Liberator: Critical Christology of Our Time — Leonardo Boff
Boff's 1972 manifesto reframes Jesus as a political revolutionary, not a pacifist sage.
This is the text that got Boff summoned to the Vatican in 1985. He argues that Christ's Incarnation wasn't metaphysical window-dressing — it was God choosing solidarity with the oppressed as a structural commitment. The resurrection becomes a promise of historical liberation, not just individual salvation. Boff's prose is sharper than you'd expect from a Franciscan friar, and his exegesis pulls no punches: if your theology doesn't threaten power, it's not Gospel. Explore our current copy of Jesus Christ Liberator. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
Way of the Cross - Way of Justice — Leonardo Boff and J. Drury
Boff retrofits the Stations of the Cross as a meditation on systemic injustice.
Traditional Catholic devotion meets radical praxis. Each station — Christ falling, Veronica wiping his face, the nailing to the cross — becomes a lens for contemporary suffering: economic exploitation, state violence, imperial warfare. Boff's genius here is liturgical: he doesn't abandon the ritual, he radicalizes it. This is theology as consciousness-raising, devotion as pedagogy. The Drury translation keeps Boff's prophetic heat intact. Explore our current copy of Way of the Cross - Way of Justice. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
Theology of Christian Solidarity — Jon Sobrino, Juan Hernandez-Pico, and Phillip Berryman
Sobrino's Salvadoran context — death squads, US-funded militaries — isn't backdrop, it's theological method.
Sobrino writes from the University of Central America in San Salvador, where he taught alongside Ignacio Ellacuría (murdered by government troops in 1989; Sobrino survived because he was traveling). This isn't armchair radicalism. Solidarity here means concrete risk: standing with campesinos, naming state terror, reading the Beatitudes as a political program. Berryman's translation preserves the urgency. Hernandez-Pico's co-authorship grounds the theology in grassroots organizing. Explore our current copy of Theology of Christian Solidarity. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
Black Theology and Black Power — James H. Cone
Cone's 1969 debut argued that God is Black — not metaphorically, but as a theological necessity in a white supremacist society.
This is the North American parallel to Latin American liberation theology, rooted in Black Power activism and the long shadow of slavery. Cone's christology centers Jesus as a lynched Black man; salvation becomes liberation from racial capitalism. The prose is direct, the anger righteous. Cone taught at Union Theological Seminary for five decades, but this book — written at 31 — remains his sharpest provocation. Australian readers: this is the intellectual backbone of Reverend Barber, #BlackLivesMatter theology, and every sermon that refuses to separate faith from justice. Explore our current copy of Black Theology and Black Power. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
Communism in the Bible — José Miranda
Miranda's 1982 argument: the early Church practiced economic communalism, and private property is a post-biblical heresy.
Miranda was a Mexican Jesuit economist turned biblical scholar, and Communism in the Bible is his most incendiary work. He reads Acts 2 and 4 — "they had all things in common" — as a literal economic program, not pious rhetoric. Miranda's exegesis traces how Constantine's empire co-opted Christianity, replacing mutual aid with charity and structural change with personal piety. The scholarship is rigorous, the conclusions explosive. If you've ever suspected capitalism and the Gospel are incompatible, Miranda just handed you 200 pages of receipts. Explore our current copy of Communism in the Bible. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church — Leonardo Boff
Boff's 1977 treatise on base ecclesial communities (CEBs) as the future of Catholicism.
CEBs — small, lay-led groups reading Scripture and organizing for justice — emerged across Brazil and Central America in the 60s and 70s. Boff argues they're not a reform but a rebirth: ecclesiogenesis, the birth of a new Church from below. Vatican II cracked the door; liberation theology kicked it open. Boff's vision is democratic, decentralized, and accountable to the poor. The hierarchy hated it — hence his 1985 silencing. This edition captures the pre-silencing Boff at his most utopian. Explore our current copy of Ecclesiogenesis. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Cross — Jon Sobrino and Robert R. Barr
Sobrino's post-massacre theology: mercy isn't sentiment, it's the structural imperative to dismantle crucifixion.
This 1992 collection was written after Sobrino returned to a campus soaked in his colleagues' blood. "Crucified people" isn't metaphor — it's Salvadoran campesinos, Guatemalan refugees, anyone ground under imperial machinery. Sobrino's "principle of mercy" demands concrete action: taking bodies down from crosses, feeding the hungry, ending wars. Barr's translation is luminous. This is theology written in grief, fury, and an unshakeable commitment to resurrection as historical event. Explore our current copy of The Principle of Mercy. Browse more Religion & Theology books at Patina.
As of July 2026, Patina's religion and theology section includes rotating stock of liberation theology, political theology, and radical Christian thought. These texts aren't historical curiosities — they're living arguments about what faith demands when the world is on fire. Shop all Religion & Theology books at Patina Paperbacks →
What is liberation theology and why did it emerge in Latin America?
Liberation theology emerged in 1960s Latin America as Catholic intellectuals — influenced by Vatican II, Marxist analysis, and grassroots organizing — argued that faith required solidarity with the poor and structural justice, not charity. It challenged both Cold War capitalism and the Church's historical alliance with elites. Theologians like Leonardo Boff and Jon Sobrino reframed Jesus as a political liberator and the Gospel as a call to dismantle oppression.
Where can I buy secondhand liberation theology books in Sydney?
Patina Paperbacks stocks rotating preloved copies of key liberation theology texts, including works by Boff, Sobrino, Miranda, and Cone. We ship Australia-wide from our Sydney base, and orders over $29 qualify for free shipping. Browse our current Religion & Theology collection to see what's in stock.
How does James H. Cone's Black Theology relate to Latin American liberation theology?
Cone's Black Theology and Black Power (1969) developed parallel to Latin American liberation theology but centered Blackness and US racial capitalism. Both traditions argue that God sides with the oppressed and that theology must address structural injustice. Cone's work influenced global liberation movements and remains foundational to contemporary Black Christian activism.
Why did the Vatican silence Leonardo Boff?
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — led by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) — summoned Boff in 1985 and imposed a year of silence for his critiques of Church hierarchy in books like Church: Charism and Power. The Vatican feared liberation theology's Marxist influences and grassroots ecclesiology threatened institutional authority. Boff eventually left the priesthood in 1992.
What are base ecclesial communities and why do they matter?
Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs) are small, lay-led Catholic groups that emerged in 1960s Latin America. They read Scripture collectively, organize for justice, and operate outside traditional parish structures. Liberation theologians like Boff saw them as a democratic reimagining of the Church — ecclesiogenesis, or the birth of a new ecclesial form from below. They remain active in Brazil, Central America, and parts of Africa.