Liberation theology /

This remarkable study of liberation theology by a conservative Latin American Protestant is a sign of the current reawakening of social awareness in ``evangelical'' circles. The book is predictably critical of the liberation theologians' use of the Bible, but it is nevertheless open to their social concerns and quite free of the vilification that usually characterizes such treatments. Although this book was evidently written specifically for translation into English and publication in the US, its author is a Central American pastor and seminary professor who demonstrates accurate knowledge of liberation theology and the social situation of Latin America. Nunez provides a serviceable summary of the origins and development on liberation theology in both Catholic and Protestant circles, focusing particularly on christology, eccesiology, and hermeneutics. His critique centers of liberation theology's insistence that praxis precedes theology: Nunez replies that revelation precedes praxis. Specifically, he means the ``written revelation of God,'' i.e., the Bible-although he evades all historical-critical questions about the sources, editors, and histories of the canonical texts. Nevertheless, he remains open to the liberationist critiques of conservative theology, especially in christology. As a genuinely new contribution to the debate, this book will be of interest to collections in liberation theology and ``evangelical'' thought.-G.E. Paul, Gustavus Adolphus College