Abstract
There is no such thing as security for any moment of life anywhere in any time or moment in human history. This pertains as much to a single human being as it does to whole tribes, cultures, nations or civilizations. If we think we are safe and free at this moment, then it is because of a probabilistic outcome by chance or luck from an unbounded set of possibilities to be, which knows no beneficence or good-will. And to assume that this alleged security emanating from this very present moment continues peacefully and unperturbed through the course of an entire life is tantamount to ignoring Hume's earth-shattering insight that destroyed any philosophical foundations for physical causality. We are mere creatures of habit whose sense, impressions or relations of ideas, despite our most strenuous efforts, never amount to matters of fact. So questions can arise-why was I not born into abject poverty, which can curtail a normal span of life? Why am I not wrongly imprisoned or facing a death sentence even though my innocence is true, but my guilty verdict is way 'beyond a shadow of doubt?' The contingency of our thrown existence into this world is not an easy subject to tackle. If that is so, then how do we begin to understand the relationship between those thrown in to poverty from birth and the task of those who preach some form of salvation to the poor? How does revelation from the Gospel occur, particularly the beatitudes' focus on the poor and those who suffer, and the redeeming light of the Word that is preached? Would an inquiry into this question help us with regard to policy and action when it comes to tackling global poverty? This article will examine Gutiérrez's revolutionary work in theology, namely, A Theology of Liberation (1971).1 We seek to explore Gutiérrez's critical analysis of dependency theory in light of his revolutionary call for a spiritual renewal and the creation of a new 'Indo-Latin American' identity that address issues of poverty alleviation and development.