The law in Roman Catholic liberation theology

Although Roman Catholic liberation theologians come out of an ecclesiastical tradition which accords great importance to the concepts of natural law, canon law, and civil law, their writings reflect a highly critical evaluation of all forms of law. This study is an investigation of the place of the law in the writings of six well known Roman Catholic liberation theologians. Their theologies are evaluated on the basis of the three classic functions of the law as elaborated in the writings of the protestant reformers and on the basis of the Grid/Group analysis developed by British anthropologist Mary Douglas.; This thesis argues that in spite of their rejection of traditional church teaching on the nature of the law, liberation theologians have reintroduced a strong emphasis on the law through their interpretation of the nature of the gospel and their emphasis on the imitation of Christ.