Liberation theology is one of the major theological schools of the twentieth century. However, such theological developments do not occur in a vacuum, and if such theological developments are true to the gospel from which they spring, one will be able to look back into the past and see evidence of such thinking and acting among people of the past. Such is the case with Reginald Davis' treatment of the figure Frederick Douglass, a powerful embodiment of much of what came to be part of liberation theology in century after his death.
As Davis states in the preface, 'We label Douglass a liberation thinker not because he constructed a systemic theology, but because in his speeches, writings and actions he hit upon parallel patterns of thought of liberation theology. Moreover, Douglass lived his theology. His life was a prime example of what the oppressed can do to gain and secure freedom.' Douglass rose from slavery and obscurity to being both hailed and hated as a constant agitator for freedom. His agitation, however, was no simple act of civil disobedience, nor was it a violent fight against what was admittedly a violent form of oppression. Rather, his was a carefully considered and philosophically (and theologically) sound programme of argument and action in crying out for emancipation.
Douglass drew much of his inspiration from the spirit of the American Revolution. The principles of the Declaration of Independence and the overall spirit of the Constitution called for a society in which all were free and equal under the law, yet in practice there were varying levels of oppression (Douglass did not neglect the fact that women were also not treated as equal), the worst of which was slavery.
Douglass began thinking theologically from an early age, when he could not reconcile the idea of a just God in command of all things with the idea that some classes of people were predestined by God to be in subordinate and slave roles. Douglass also learned early that education and freedom were related (because of the disapproval of his master Thomas Auld at Douglass' growing literacy), and determined to gain this education on his own. Falling upon hard times with a cruel master, Douglass began to formulate the idea that his liberation could not be left to chance or miracle, but rather, it was something that he, as an oppressed person, must take for himself. This would be a very significant insight, for it is part of this insight that forms the foundation of liberation theology; Davis quotes Paulo Freire to this point as well.
When Douglass escaped to the North, it was not smooth sailing from there. Douglass encountered racism in the North, even among abolitionists, who decried the institution of slavery but still discounted equality of all human beings. This would form another element of Douglass' thinking that is parallel to the ideas of liberation theology - the recognition of the intrinsic worth of all human beings. In this setting, Douglass also learned the very human limitations of the institutional church, as often caught up in a preservation of the status quo as it is in proclaiming the gospel - like many liberation theologians and other prophetic voices, he found working within the framework of the institutional church problematic.
Douglass had criticism for the mainline denominations of the time, who seemed to have their institutional needs wrapped up in the preservation of the system, as well as criticism for those free-church and evangelical types who proclaimed a more eschatological brand of freedom, one that comes in heaven or the millennium or some such teaching. 'Douglass asserted that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a postponement of justice and the release of the captives for an eschatological salvation. The gospel of Jesus Christ speaks of salvation in terms of a present reality.' This again links to liberation theology, that sees liberation and justice in this world as a necessary task, not one to be ignored in favour of a more 'spiritual' or theoretical goal.
Davis devotes a chapter each to 'Douglass and the Making of Liberation Theology', as well as 'Interpretation of Douglass as a Liberation Thinker.' Davis draws in a number of the major theological developments from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century in looking at different ways in which theology has grown, with a particular emphasis on the varying strands of liberation theology and the kinds of interpretative paradigms they have instituted. This is a somewhat controversial stand, given that some theologians distrust using the term 'theology' to Douglass - his criticism and mistrust of Christianity has sometimes been interpreted as being anti-theological or anti-religious in total. Davis argues that there is a more subtle issue at work - given the experience that Douglass had at the hands of those who either espoused or justified their actions in the name of religion (and Christianity in particular), it is no surprise the Douglass would come to mistrust the situation.
There are elements of Douglass' life that I would have liked to have seen expanded upon, but every history is necessarily selective, and David has done a good job at sticking close to his original thesis while providing a reasonably full account of the context and life of Douglass himself, and the theological situation after Douglass that led into liberation theology.
This is a good work on a powerful figure.
