Faith Advisor to the Obama Campaign addresses Liberation Theology

Liberation theology. How applicable is it to Jesus’ world and to the world today? To answer this, the Office of Institutional Diversity invited Dr. Obery Hendricks to a lunch seminar at the Seminary, hours before he would offer his thoughts on race and politics in an evening lecture at the College on September 22, 2008.

Dr. Hendricks, a Faith Advisor to the Barack Obama presidential campaign, has been featured on international television and radio stations, including C-SPAN, NPR, al-Jazeera Television, and NHK Japan Television. Hendricks is a principal commentator in The Oxford Annotated Bible and has recently written the well-received book, The Politics of Jesus. A former Wall Street investment executive and past president of Payne Theological Seminary, he is now professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary.

“I don’t subscribe to ‘liberation theology’ because the words of the gospels themselves are about liberation.” Hendricks argues that the name itself downplays the strong evidence that this is not just a minoritative type of theology. Instead, Jesus’ constant consideration of and teachings to the poor strongly suggests that his mission was to serve and raise up the impoverished.

He also considered that Jesus’ church could have looked much different than Paul’s, focusing on mission and serving rather than watching a minister preach to the congregation. Through the words of Jesus, Hendricks believes “there is no need for ‘liberation theology,’ the need is to take a contextual look at the Gospel.”

— Sheila Sacks, Marketing & Communication