description: "This seminal work by the noted economist Franz Hinkelammert demonstrates that liberation theology is above all a theology of life which struggles against the marketplace reductionism of capitalist metaphysics .... Franz's analysis of Marx's theory of fetishism and of Christian materialism inverts traditional understandings of Marx's critique of religion and Christian understandings of Marx. The end result is a challenge from Latin America to both our reading of Marx and of Christianity which must not go unheard." Robert H. Craig, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts "This book is demanding-but rewarding-reading. There are many points on which various readers, Marxists and theologians, will differ with Hinkelammert, but there is a rigorous presentation which coherently makes sense of our social reality and how to reflect on and change it. "The Ideological Weapons of Death should be read widely and understood not as part of some Christian-Marxist dialogue, but as an important, emergent tendency within liberation theology of a Marxist-Christian synthesis." William K. Tabb, Professor of Economics and Sociology, City University of New York"Fortunately or unfortunately, in order to think, pray, or love one must at least be alive. In order to be alive one must eat. In order to eat, one (or at least some) must work. But to discover the relation between the way we work and eat and the way we think, pray, and love is not so simple. Franz Hinkelammert, Latin American by adoption and merit, economist by profession and vocation, theologian by vocation and passion, has explored this relation and has shown that what we often take for granted as 'objective economic facts' hide and consecrate a whole understanding of human life and social reality-a 'spirituality' of life ora 'spirituality' of death. "This book 'is complex and illuminating, cogent and provocative. The economist will be challenged to acknowledge the 'religion' underlying his/her economic theories; the theologian, to discover the economic relations hidden in her/his theological musings. Theologians or economists who aspire to be serious and honest about their work cannot dodge the challenge represented by this book." José Míguez Bonino, Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics, Instituto Superior Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos, Buenos Aires, Argentina "Franz Hinkelammert has been in the forefront of developing an understanding of liberation theology as a process of concretely transcending the alienations of capitalist domination. This book is a fine introduction to his readings of Marx and the New Testament, as well as to his cogent rhetorical critiques of Max Weber, Milton Friedman, and two main voices of Catholic reaction in Latin America, Pierre Bigo and López Trujillo." Matthew Lamb, Professor of Theology, Boston College "... probably the deepest, most serious and significant critique of capitalism that has been written so far." Otto Maduro, Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies, Caracas, Venezuela
language: English
title: The Ideological Weapons of Death: A Theological Critique of Capitalism
titlecomplete: The Ideological Weapons of Death: A Theological Critique of Capitalism
genres: Economics, Theology
ratings_count: 5
publisher: Orbis Books