This Christmas season I was introduced to an alternative set of lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas Carols, Mary Did You Know.  I will post both the original and alternate below so you can compare them and see if what I am going to say is true.  I fear another Gospel, that of Marx, is being slipped in with the alternate words and we must be sure that we do not, “happily put up with whatever anyone tells [us], even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed (2Co 11:4, NLT).”

But before we do, let me set the stage.  I want to talk first about Liberation Theology.  Liberation Theology, “seeks to interpret the Christian faith from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed (Furguson and Packer 2000, 387).” It is the product of a post-Enlightenment skepticism that struggles with the supernatural in a natural world (Furguson and Packer 2000, 387).  “They, Liberation Theologians, ask, ‘Where is the God of truth in a world of science and technology (Furguson and Packer 2000, 388)?’”  This theology was born out of a Catholic Latin America in which new answers (communism and socialism [ Marx ]) for old problems were being explored (Furguson and Packer 2000, 388).  What Liberation Theologians began to adapt for theological use was the oppression and class struggle of Karl Marx (Furguson and Packer 2000, 389).

They get around their problem with the supernatural by claiming that a theology where ultimate meaning is found outside of the current here and now is idealistic and inconsistent with reality (Furguson and Packer 2000, 389).  What Liberation Theologians argue as ultimate reality is that of Marx, the idea of class struggle and the liberation of the oppressed (Furguson and Packer 2000, 389).  They see Jesus, the Christ, as, “a poor person, a laborer, who preferred the poor, surrounded himself with them, and identified with them” and focus on His kingdom message as material rather than spiritual (Furguson and Packer 2000, 390).  Jesus ultimately came to liberate the people of His historical and cultural context, “from hunger, grief, contempt, and so on (Furguson and Packer 2000, 390).”  According to this theology, Jesus’ death was the result of a diabolical plot by the oppressors of His time (Furguson and Packer 2000, 390).  Therefore, “human wholeness can be realized only through overcoming the alienating political and economic structures of society (Elwell 2001, 686).”  Liberation Theology is Karl Marx in Christian clothing devoid of the supernatural Christian Christ.

Now, that is a lot of academics for a theology blog, but it was necessary to establish that Liberation Theology is different from classic theology.  Most of us born in the western world are at least vaguely familiar with classical theology conversely many of us have never heard of Liberation Theology or would consider that it contained the principles of the atheist Karl Marx.  But lets talk about why it matters.

When Jesus began His ministry, He would teach in the local synagogue.  On one of those occasions the scroll of Isaiah was given to him.  “He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luk 4:17-21).”

The passage that Jesus quotes centers around three concepts; the poor, the captives, the blind, and those who are oppressed.  At first glance the teachings of Jesus fall right in line with the philosophy of Marx.  However, the poor who are being reference here are the same poor of the Beatitudes where we find, “blessed are the poor in spirit… (Mat 5:3).”  The person who is poor in spirit is the person who is, “deeply sensible of his spiritual poverty and wretchedness (Clarke 1810-1826, Mat 5:3).”  The poor being reference here is not poor in terms of his/her financial position but rather in terms of his spiritual position.

Likewise, the captive here is not a prisoner of an authority or cause but rather the one who is captive to the law of sin and death.  Paul writes that because of the work of Christ, “we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code (Rom 7:6)… There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:1-2).”

Who are the blind then?  When Jesus calls Paul to evangelize to the gentile world His instructions to Paul are, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Act 26:18).”  The blindness is a spiritual blindness to the truth that was lost and/or abandoned as man moved chronologically away from Eden.  Now it is true that Jesus restored sight to the physically blind.  However, these miracles were to point to the authenticity of the Messiah and the blindness referenced in Isaiah is much bigger than mere physical blindness.

Finally, those who are oppressed.  First, I found it interesting that of the eleven verses I found in the ESV New Testament that contained the word oppressed only three of them were not about demonic oppression.  One was the passage in Luke we are discussing above, one is referencing the time Moses killed the Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite (Act 7:24), and only one was about the oppression of the poor by the rich (Jas 2:6).  Classic Christian Theology recognizes the reality of oppression of the poor by the rich however, the oppression that Jesus came to bring liberty to is something more.  Paul writing to the Ephesians reminds them and us that, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).”  I am not denying that men oppress men.  What I am arguing is that the oppression we need liberty from is a much higher form of oppression.

Now, look at the two sets of lyrics.  Which one is pointing to Jesus and which one is pointing to Marx?  I may be reading too much into the alternative lyrics, I can’t know for certain the intent of the writer, and if that is the case then at least we have had the opportunity to discuss one of the false Gospels of our time.  “…the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared… (2Ti 4:1-2).”

To remove the supernatural from the Gospel is to remove the good news of the Gospel.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

Photo by Maximilian Scheffler on Unsplash

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible. Public Domain, 1810-1826.

Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Furguson, Sinclair B., and J. I. Packer. New Dictionary of Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

The resources can be found in the Faith, Hope, Love (Life) Store