For readers interested in recent theological trends, three major movements in post-Vietnam god-talk stand out as worthy of attention: liberation theology, political theology and process theology.

“Liberation theology” started out as a sympathetic reinterpretation of Christianity from a marxist standpoint. Founded by Latin American theologians like Gustavo Gutierrez and the Boff brothers, liberation theology flowed from one central premise: God’s “preferential option” for the poor. The movement quickly moved beyond its early marxist trappings when it found sure footing in biblical narratives (there’s mythology again) and in Catholic social teaching. Liberation theologians sought to practice what they preached and stood in solidarity with the poor, living among them and incorporating their perspectives into their academic god-talk. Some liberation theologians were assasinated. However, the movement spread and reinvented itself in other cultural contexts, with their own notions of who “the poor” are. Examples include feminist theology, black theology, womanist theology, mujerista theology, gay theology, and minjung theology. The different movements, while sometimes critical of one another, are in basic harmony in their approach and commitments.

If liberation theology is a predominantly Third World god-talk, then “political theology” is a predominantly European god-talk. Political theology is written in response to the horrors of the Holocaust, which political theologians regard as a historically unique evil that the Christian churches bear much responsibility for. (Many political theologians came of age during World War II.) The movement seeks to diagnosis what it is in Christianity that consistently leads it to violent anti-Semitism and fix it. More social democratic than marxist, political theology seeks to prevent great social evils more than realize the kingdom of god on earth. Representative political theologians include Jurgen Moltmann and Dorothy Soelle. Political theology has no “disciples,” although Miroslav Volf could be considered to be carrying on the tradition.

“Process theology” comes from the philosphical reflections of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Harthshorne. Process theology solves the classic question of how a simultaneously all-good and all-powerful god can allow unjust suffering to take place: god isn’t all-powerful. For the process theologians, god is a process, and god is in process with the rest of the universe, sustaining the universe even as it effects and changes god. God continuously strives to pull the universe into its full potential for goodness, but until then god suffers alongside us when we suffer. In the end, they propose, god will succeed in pulling the universe into full goodness, but until then we should work alongside god to mend what is broken and create what is good. Process theology has made little impact outside a minority of mainline Protestant clergy, who often combine it with feminist theology. Current process theologians include Margaret Suchocki and the recently retired John Cobb, both of whom are based in Claremont, California.