God. In the article Theology and Poverty, Gutiérrez recalls that this option should lead to three well-defined actions, with the preferential option for the poor unfolding as a fundamental axis of the Christian life on three levels: The announcement and testimony of the reign of God denounces poverty. The intelligence of faith reveals essential aspects of God and provides a perspective for theological work. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus, otherwise known as spirituality, is, on the deepest level, the basis on which everything else rests. The main biblical foundation for this praxis lies in the kenotic incarnation of Christ. To Gutiérrez, the ministry of Christ among the rejected and despised of his time is a clear example for the contemporary Church. Furthermore, "the incarnation is an act of love. Christ becomes man, dies and rises to liberate us, and makes us enjoy freedom. To die and be resurrected with Christ is to overcome death and enter into a new life. The cross and the resurrection seal our freedom." The freedom of Christ is seen by Gutiérrez as the source of spiritual and economic freedom. Theological reflection on liberation is not just a simple discourse without practical and concrete implications. Reflection on the situation of the poor leads to what liberation theologians call "liberating praxis", where they attempt to rectify the process by which the faith of the Church builds the economic, spiritual and intellectual liberation of socially oppressed peoples as fulfillment of the kingdom of God. The liberating praxis, then, has its basis in the love that God manifests for us and in the sense of solidarity and fellowship that should exist in interpersonal relationships among the children of God. These are concepts that Gutiérrez developed in concert with education activist/philosopher Paulo Freire, whose 1971 seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed explored the concept of praxis and a preferential option for the poor. Legacy Gutiérrez is an influential figure within 20th century theology as a whole, and responses to his work have been polarized. Arthur McGovern identifies liberation theology as an anomaly within theologian fields, arguing that theology discourse is generally limited to academic circles. He argues that Gutiérrez's theories, however, have considerable and tangible impacts on the Latin America's socio-economic conditions. Liberation theology was intended as a call to all believers in Latin America to act on the biblical commitment to the poor. Gutiérrez's message on material and