Oppression, Exploitation and Injustice in the Old Testament: The View from Liberation Theology

Illustrates and explicates the proposition that the critique of exploitation and injustice found in contemporary Liberation Theology is theologically grounded, in that these phenomena are rebuked as discordant with God′s will, as revealed by textual re‐examination of the Bible, notably the Old Testament, not merely as socially undesirable, by examination of four central themes: (1) the Old Testament characterization of God as hater of exploitation, lover of justice, and Liberator of the oppressed;(2) the Biblical depiction of the character and methods of oppression and exploitation and the identification of oppressors and oppressed;(3) the Old Testament model of stages in the liberative process and vision of a future society characterized by peace, freedom, justice,equality, community, and prosperity; (4) significant elements of continuity between Old and New Testament on these issues.