Black liberation theology

This theology maintains that African Americans must be liberated from multiple forms of bondage — social, political, economic and religious. This formulation views Christian theology as a theology of liberation -- "a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ," writes Cone. Black consciousness and the black experience of oppression orient black liberation theology -- i.e., one of victimization from oppression. This liberation involves empowerment and seeks the right of self-definition, self-affirmation and self-determination.

Development

Modern American origins of contemporary black liberation theology can be traced to July 31, 1966, when an ad hoc group of 51 black pastors, calling themselves the National Committee of Negro Churchmen (NCNC), bought a full page ad in the New York Times to publish their "Black Power Statement," which proposed a more aggressive approach to combating racism using the Bible for inspiration. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88552254&ft=1&f=1001 NPR A Closer Look at Black Liberation Theology by Barbara Bradley Hagerty] ]

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was introduced to black liberation theology at University of Chicago's Divinity School. Wright would cite the works of James Cone and Dwight Hopkins who are considered the leading theologians of this system of belief, although now there are many scholars who have contributed a great deal to the field. Wright built up Trinity United Church of Christ with a vision statement based on the theology laid out by James Cone [ [http://www.tucc.org/talking_points.htm TUCC Talking points] ] [ [http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1735809,00.html?imw=Y How Jeremiah Wright Found Religion] ] Asked in an interview which church most embodied his message, Cone replied "I would point to that church (Trinity) first. [ [www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/31079.html Obama's church pushes controversial doctrines By Margaret Talev McClatchy Newspapers March 20, 2008] ] Short clips of Wright's sermons which called for God to condemn America for its actions and credited the government for creating the AIDS virus would receive heavy criticism and became a major topic of presidential debates.

Wright claimed that criticism of his theology constituted an attack on the black church, although probably no more than a quarter of black pastors today would describe their theology as liberationist [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/weekinreview/04powell.html New York Times A Fiery Theology Under Fire] ] ] . Trinity United Church of Christ is one of the few that specifically incorporates black liberation theology into its vision statement [ [http://www.tucc.org/talking_points.htm TUCC Talking points] ] [ [http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/01/barack_obama_and_the_influence.html NPR: Barack Obama and the Influence of Jeremiah Wright] ] [ [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22black+liberation+theology+%22+%22vision+statement Trinity is only church which appears in search for vision statement.] ] The press reported that candidate Obama publicly rejected Wright, "decrying his...latest remarks as 'a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in the truth.'" [ [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080430.htm After twenty years of following his teachings, Obama Says he is now outraged By Wright's "Rants"] ]

James Cone and Black Liberation Theology

In the minds of many African-Americans, Christianity was long associated with slavery and segregation. [Terry Matthews, [http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html A Black Theology of Liberation] "RELIGION 166: Religious Life in the United States"] Although Southern Baptists had condemned racism in the past, it was not until June 20, 1995 that the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a formal "Declaration of Repentance". This resolution declared that they "unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin" and "lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest." The convention offered an apology to all African-Americans for "condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime" and repentance for "racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously. [David T. Moon, Jr., [http://jsr.as.wvu.edu/2002/Reviews/moon.htm] "Journal of Southern Religion" Reviews, 2002] [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n21_v112/ai_17332136 SBC renounces racist past - Southern Baptist Convention] "Christian Century", July 5, 1995]

James Cone first addressed this theology after Malcolm X’s proclamation in the 1950's against Christianity being taught as "a white man’s religion". [ [http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/james_cone.html This Far by Faith] from PBS] According to Black religion expert Jonathan Walton:
"James Cone believed that the New Testament revealed Jesus as one who identified with those suffering under oppression, the socially marginalized and the cultural outcasts. And since the socially constructed categories of race in America (i.e., whiteness and blackness) had come to culturally signify dominance (whiteness) and oppression (blackness), from a theological perspective, Cone argued that Jesus reveals himself as black in order to disrupt and dismantle white oppression." [ [http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/05/03/black_church/print.html Wright's theology not "new or radical"] "Salon.com", May 3, 2008]

Liberation theology, as it has expressed itself in the African-American community, seeks to find a way to make the gospel relevant to black people who must struggle daily under the alleged burden of white oppression. [ [http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html A Black Theology of Liberation ] ]

Black theology deals primarily with the African-American community, to make Christianity real for blacks. It explains Christianity as a matter of liberation here and now, rather than in an afterlife. The goal of black theology is not for special treatment. Instead, "All Black theologians are asking for is for freedom and justice. No more, and no less. In asking for this, the Black theologians, turn to scripture as the sanction for their demand. The Psalmist writes for instance, 'If God is going to see righteousness established in the land, he himself must be particularly active as 'the helper of the fatherless' [(Psalm 10:14)] to 'deliver the needy when he crieth; and the poor that hath no helper.' [(Psalm 72:12)] " [ [http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html A Black Theology of Liberation ] ]

On God and Jesus Christ

Cone based much of his liberationist theology on God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt in the book of Exodus. He compared the United States to Egypt, predicting that oppressed people will soon be led to a promised land. For Cone, the theme of Yahweh’s concern was for “the lack of social, economic, and political justice for those who are poor and unwanted in society.” [ James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (hereafter Liberation) (Philadelphia: J. P. Lippencott, 1970),19.] Cone also says that the same God is working for the oppressed blacks of the 20th century, and that “God is helping oppressed blacks and has identified with them, God Himself is spoken of as ‘black’.” [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/BlackTheology.html Black Theology (by Ron Rhodes) ] ]

Cone saw Christ from the aspect of oppression and liberation. Cone uses the Gospel of Luke to illustrate this point: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. [(Luke 7:22)] ” “‘In Christ,’ Cone argues, ‘God enters human affairs and takes sides with the oppressed. Their suffering becomes his; their despair, divine despair.’” [ [http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html "Black Theology, Black Power, and the Black Experience"] ]

Cone’s view is that Jesus was black, which he felt was a very important view of black people to see. "It's very important because you've got a lot of white images of Christ. In reality, Christ was not white, not European. That's important to the psychic and to the spiritual consciousness of black people who live in a ghetto and in a white society in which their lord and savior looks just like people who victimize them. God is whatever color God needs to be in order to let people know they're not nobodies, they're somebodies." [ James H. Cone, interviewed by Barbara Reynolds, USA Today, 8 November 1989, 11A]

tylistic differences in the Black religious community

Because of the differences in thought between the black and white community, most black religious leaders attempt to make their services more accessible to other African-Americans, who must identify with the faith in order to accept it.

Criticisms

Theologians such as theology scholar Dr. Robert A. Morley take a dim view of black theology. Morley's paper "The Goals Of Black Liberal Theology" is one widely quoted paper citing specific criticisms of black theology.

He states that black theology turns religion into sociology, and Jesus into a black Marxist rebel. While making statements against whites and Asians, it promotes a poor self-image among blacks, and describes the black man as a helpless victim of forces and people beyond his control. Black theology calls for political liberation instead of spiritual salvation.

Fundamentally, it is not Bible-based, Christ-honoring theology from this critical viewpoint. [ [http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/jon/080219 Looking at Obama and black liberation theology Marie Jon February 19, 2008] ] Anthony Bradley of the "Christian Post" interprets that the language of "economic parity" and references to "mal-distribution" as nothing more than channeling the views of Karl Marx.

He believes James Cone and Cornel West have worked to incorporate Marxist thought into the black church, forming an ethical framework predicated on a system of oppressor class versus a victim much like Marxism. [ [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080404/31801_The_Marxist_Roots_of_Black_Liberation_Theology.htm The Marxist roots of Black Liberation Theology] ]

Stanley Kurtz of the National Review criticizes black liberation theology, saying, "A scarcely concealed, Marxist-inspired indictment of American capitalism pervades contemporary 'black-liberation theology'...The black intellectual's goal, says Cone, is to "aid in the destruction of America as he knows it." Such destruction requires both black anger and white guilt. The black-power theologian's goal is to tell the story of American oppression so powerfully and precisely that white men will "tremble, curse, and go mad, because they will be drenched with the filth of their evil."

Black Theology Quotes

"To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people!" [Black Theology and Black Power, Pages 139-140] . (Referring to Jews as not being the only 'chosen people'.) [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"It is important to make a further distinction here among black hatred, black racism, and Black Power. Black hatred is the black man's strong aversion to white society. No black man living in white America can escape it...But the charge of black racism cannot be reconciled with the facts. While it is true that blacks do hate whites, black hatred is not racism. Racism, according to Webster, is 'the assumption that psychocultural traits and capacities are determined by biological race and that races differ decisively from one another, which is usually coupled with a belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race and its rights to dominance over others.' Where are the examples among blacks in which they sought to assert their right to dominance over others because of a belief in black superiority?...Black Power is an affirmation of the humanity of blacks in spite of white racism. It says that only blacks really know the extent of white oppression, and thus only blacks are prepared to risk all to be free." [Black Theology and Black Power, Pages 14-16] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"We cannot solve ethical questions of the twentieth century by looking at what Jesus did in the first. Our choices are not the same as his. Being Christians does not mean following 'in his steps.'" [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 139] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"Therefore, simply to say that Jesus did not use violence is no evidence relevant to the condition of black people as they decide on what to do about white oppression." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 140] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"The Christian does not decide between violence and nonviolence, evil and good. He decides between the less and the greater evil." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 143] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"'People should love each other' sounds like Riis Park at sundown. It has very little meaning to the world at large." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 135] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"All white men are responsible for white oppression. It is much too easy to say, "Racism is not my fault," or "I am not responsible for the country's inhumanity to the black man...But insofar as white do-gooders tolerate and sponsor racism in their educational institutions, their political, economic and social structures, their churches, and in every other aspect of American life, they are directly responsible for racism...Racism is possible because whites are indifferent to suffering and patient with cruelty. Karl Jaspers' description of metaphysical guilt is pertinent here. 'There exists among men, because they are men, a solidarity through which each shares responsibility for every injustice and every wrong committed in the world, and especially for crimes that are committed in his presence or of which he cannot be ignorant.'" [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 24] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"For the gospel proclaims that God is with us now, actively fighting the forces which would make man captive. And it is the task of theology and the Church to know where God is at work so that we can join him in this fight against evil. In America we know where the evil is. We know that men are shot and lynched. We know that men are crammed into ghettos...There is a constant battle between Christ and Satan, and it is going on now. If we make this message contemporaneous with our own life situation, what does Christ's defeat of Satan mean for us?...The demonic forces of racism are real for the black man. Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man "the devil." The white structure of this American society, personified in every racist, must be at least part of what the New Testament meant by the demonic forces." [Black Theology and Black Power, Pages 39-41] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"Racism is a complete denial of the Incarnation and thus of Christianity...If there is any contemporary meaning of the Antichrist (or "the principalities and powers"), the white church seems to be a manifestation of it. It was the white "Christian" church which took the lead in establishing slavery as an institution and segregation as a pattern in society by sanctioning all-white congregations." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 73] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"Whether the American system is beyond redemption we will have to wait and see. But we can be certain that black patience has run out, and unless white America responds positively to the theory and activity of Black Power, then a bloody, protracted civil war is inevitable." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 143] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"The revolution which Black Theology advocates … [means] confronting white racists and saying: 'If it's a fight you want, I am prepared to oblige you.' This is what the black revolution means." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 136] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

"Black Power seeks not understanding but conflict; addresses blacks and not whites; seeks to develop black support, but not white good will." [Black Theology and Black Power, Page 16] [http://rapidshare.com/files/146182828/James_Cone_-_Black_Theology_and_Black_Power.zip]

Theology of Thought

"The black theologian must reject any conception of God which stifles black self-determination by picturing God as a God of all peoples. Either God is identified with the oppressed to the point that their experience becomes God's experience, or God is a God of racism...The blackness of God means that God has made the oppressed condition God's own condition. This is the essence of the Biblical revelation. By electing Israelite slaves as the people of God and by becoming the Oppressed One in Jesus Christ, the human race is made to understand that God is known where human beings experience humiliation and suffering...Liberation is not an afterthought, but the very essence of divine activity." [A Black Theology of Liberation, pp. 63-64]

"Black theology cannot accept a view of God which does not represent God as being for oppressed blacks and thus against white oppressors. Living in a world of white oppressors, blacks have no time for a neutral God. The brutalities are too great and the pain too severe, and this means we must know where God is and what God is doing in the revolution. There is no use for a God who loves white oppressors the same as oppressed blacks. We have had too much of white love, the love that tells blacks to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power, which is the power of blacks to destroy their oppressors, here and now, by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject God's love." [A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 70]

Notes

References

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External links

* [http://www.theologyinafrica.com Theology in Africa]
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/march/37.77.html Black Theology Revisited]
* [http://plymouthbrethren.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/black-liberation-theology-kenneth-hampton/ Another Perspective by Pastor Kenneth Hampton]