Black Theology & Black Power - Cone, James H. Review & Synopsis

 Synopsis

Newly updated and expanded, this classic work is a product of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in America during the 1960's. Black Theology & Black Power is James H. Cone's initial attempt to identify liberation as the heart of the Christian gospel, and blackness as the primary mode of God's presence. As he explains in an introduction written for this edition, "I wanted to speak on behalf of the voiceless black masses in the name of Jesus whose gospel I believed had been greatly distorted by the preaching and theology of white churches."

Review

James H. Cone is a Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York.

A Black Theology of Liberation

With the publication of his two early works, Black Theology & Black Power (1969) and A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), James Cone emerged as one of the most creative and provocative theological voices in North America. These books, which offered a searing indictment of white theology and society, introduced a radical reappraisal of the Christian message for our time. Combining the visions of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Cone radically reappraised Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed black community in North America. Forty years later, his work retains its original power, enhanced now by reflections on the evolution of his own thinking and of black theology and on the needs of the present moment.

These books, which offered a searing indictment of white theology and society, introduced a radical reappraisal of the Christian message for our time."

Black Theology and Black Power

First published in 1969, "Black Theology & Black Power" provided the first systematic presentation of black theology. Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundation for an original interpretation of Christianity that retains its urgency and challenge today.

Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundation for an original interpretation of Christianity that retains its urgency and challenge today."

Introducing Black Theology of Liberation

A book that reviews the principles of modern Black Theology, its roots and contributions to the Christian world. It also discusses what challenges Black theologians face in their minister and their religious communities.

A book that reviews the principles of modern Black Theology, its roots and contributions to the Christian world. It also discusses what challenges Black theologians face in their minister and their religious communities."

Black Theology, Slavery and Contemporary Christianity

Black Theology, Slavery and Contemporary Christianity explores the legacy of slavery in Black theological terms. Challenging the dominant approaches to the history and legacy of slavery in the British Empire, the contributors show that although the 1807 act abolished the slave trade, it did not end racism, notions of White supremacy, or the demonization of Blackness, Black people and Africa. This interdisciplinary study draws on biblical studies, history, missiology and Black theological reflection, exploring the strengths and limitations of faith as the framework for abolitionist rhetoric and action. This Black theological approach to the phenomenon of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery draws on contributions from Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Europe.

Black Theology, Slavery and Contemporary Christianity explores the legacy of slavery in Black theological terms."

The Cambridge Companion to Black Theology

A comprehensive look at black theology and its connection with major doctrinal themes within Christianity from a global perspective.

A comprehensive look at black theology and its connection with major doctrinal themes within Christianity from a global perspective."

For My People

Looks at the history of Black theology, discusses its relationship to white and liberation theology, and identifies new directions for Black churches to take in the eighties

Looks at the history of Black theology, discusses its relationship to white and liberation theology, and identifies new directions for Black churches to take in the eighties"

Black Theology in Britain

Black theology as a discipline emerged in 1960s America, growing out of the experiences of Black people of the African Diaspora as they sought to re-interpret the central ideas of Christianity in light of struggle and oppression. However, a form of Black theology has been present in Britain since the time of slavery. 'Black Theology in Britain' offers the first comprehensive survey of Black theology, tracing its development in Britain from the eighteenth century to today. The essays cover a wide range of topics: Black Liberation; drama as a medium for Black theology; the perspective of Black women; Black theology in the pulpit and pastoral care; and the work of Robert Beckford and Anthony Reddie. 'Black Theology in Britain' is a key resource for students of British history, cultural studies, Black theology, and religious studies.

The essays cover a wide range of topics: Black Liberation; drama as a medium for Black theology; the perspective of Black women; Black theology in the pulpit and pastoral care; and the work of Robert Beckford and Anthony Reddie."

T&T Clark Handbook of African American Theology

This handbook explores the central theme of Christian faith from various disciplinary approaches and different contexts of black experience in the United States. The central unifying theme is freedom; an important concept both in American culture and Christianity. African American theology represents a Christian understanding of God's freedom and the good news of God's call for all humankind to enter life-true human identity and moral responsibility-in genuine and just community. Contributors to the volume argue that African American theology highlights how racism and other intersecting forms of oppression complicate the human predicament; and that their eradication requires an expansion of salvation to include the liberation of persons who lack full participation in society and enjoyment of the good (and goods) made possible by that society. The essays in this handbook employ the tools of biblical criticism, history, cultural and social analysis, religious studies, philosophy, and systematic theology, in order to explore and assess the nature and impact of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, immigration, and cultural and moral pluralism in America-as well as the intersections between African American and African diasporan religious thought and life.

This handbook explores the central theme of Christian faith from various disciplinary approaches and different contexts of black experience in the United States."

The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology

Based on a thematic and topical structure, this handbook provides scholars and advanced students detailed description, analysis, and constructive discussions concerning African American theology - in the forms of black and womanist theologies. This volume surveys the academic content of African American theology by highlighting its sources; doctrines; internal debates; current challenges; and future prospects, in order to present key topics related to the wider palette of black religion in a sustained scholarly format.

Based on a thematic and topical structure, this handbook provides scholars and advanced students detailed description, analysis, and constructive discussions concerning African American theology - in the forms of black and womanist ..."

Our Black Seminarians and Black Clergy Without a Black Theology

In Black Seminarians, Dr. Ben outlines sources of Black theology before Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, showing how their ideas, practices, and concepts were already old in Africa before Europe was born.

In Black Seminarians, Dr. Ben outlines sources of Black theology before Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, showing how their ideas, practices, and concepts were already old in Africa before Europe was born."

We Are One Voice

Black theology of liberation in the USA and South Africa (SA) both began from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. They carried the energy of the youth who were eager to change the world so that all peoples would enjoy life and live as neighbors. Legal racial laws still existed in parts of the US in the mid-1960s. And apartheid laws on separation of races were as normal and accepted as breathing air. Given the major racial divides and the presence of human differences in all of society, concerned individuals, in both countries, realized that religious practice or the study of religion could not be done separate from the everyday lives of ordinary people. In response to racial laws, blacks created a vibrant renaissance of black culture and organizations. Song, stories, histories, and coalitions flourished. Blacks of all classes became energized and participated in a rebirth of what it meant to be black. What was a true citizenship rooted in justice? In fact, it was a profound striving to produce a new vision of the US and South Africa. Deep and broad hope filled these communities and many throughout both countries. Black religious leaders and ordinary people of faith were heavily impacted by this bubbling and creative black renaissance. The founders of black liberation theology in both countries emerged out of this larger movement to redefine what is a healthy community with healthy individuals. In recent years, USA and SA have had their first black elected presidents (i.e., Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama). Such historic and amazing developments show strides in both countries across the Atlantic. Yet, the economic success after US legal segregation and SA apartheid seemed to have gone primarily to only the top 5 percent of black people. The republication of We Are One Voice is still needed today. Questions of poor and working people, women's rights, and the importance of connecting spiritualty and faith to culture, politics, and economics are even more pressing in the twenty-first century than they were in the last.

Yet, the economic success after US legal segregation and SA apartheid seemed to have gone primarily to only the top 5 percent of black people. The republication of We Are One Voice is still needed today."

The Rise and Demise of Black Theology

Black Theology emerged in the 1960s as a response to black consciousness. In South Africa it is a critique of power; in the UK it is a political theology of black culture. The dominant form of Black Theology has been in the USA, originally influenced by Black Power and the critique of white racism. Since then it claims to have broadened its perspective to include oppression on the grounds of race, gender and class. In this book the author contests this claim, especially by Womanist (black women) Theology. Black and Womanist Theologies present inadequate analyses of race and gender and no account at all of class (economic) oppression. With a few notable exceptions Black Theology in the USA repeats the mantras of the 1970s, the discourse of modernity. Content with American capitalism it fails to address the source of the impoverishment of black Americans at home. Content with a romantic imaginaire of Africa, this 'African-American' movement fails to defend contemporary Africa against predatory American global ambitions.

Since then it claims to have broadened its perspective to include oppression on the grounds of race, gender and class. In this book the author contests this claim, especially by Womanist (black women) Theology."

Indigenous Black Theology

This work is concerned with the way Black Christian formation, because of the acceptance of universal, absolute, and exclusive Christian doctrines, seems to justify and even encourage anti-African sentiment.

This work is concerned with the way Black Christian formation, because of the acceptance of universal, absolute, and exclusive Christian doctrines, seems to justify and even encourage anti-African sentiment."

Liberation and Reconciliation

First released in 1971, Liberation and Reconciliation presents a constructive statement that argues for a balance between the quest for liberation and the need for reconciliation in black-white relations. Examining biblical and theological themes from the perspectives of black experience, the book focuses on enlisting all humans of goodwill - black or white - in the cause of racial justice. Roberts concludes that nonviolent reconciliation is the best response to racial oppression. This groundbreaking work, now a classic in the field, is recognized as one of the first texts to move conversations within black theology beyond what black theologians were against toward what the movement sought to affirm.

This groundbreaking work, now a classic in the field, is recognized as one of the first texts to move conversations within black theology beyond what black theologians were against toward what the movement sought to affirm."

A Common Journey

A Common Journey provides the first comprehensive critical comparison of two of theology's most influential movements: Black theology in the United States (BTUSA) and Latin American liberation theology (LALT). The near-simultaneous emergence and growth of these two movements is only the most obvious of the similarities between them. More importantly, both have fostered a new theology from the perspective of the disenfranchised, the powerless, and the oppressed.

A Common Journey provides the first comprehensive critical comparison of two of theology's most influential movements: Black theology in the United States (BTUSA) and Latin American liberation theology (LALT)."

Black Theology--Essays on Global Perspectives

Since its start in 1966, black liberation theology in the United States has continually engaged international developments with Africa and the entire world. But after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, there has been an almost twenty-year break in books on black theology and international affairs. Black Theology--Essays on Global Perspectives bridges that post-1990 gap and makes a vital contact with Africa again. This book conceptualizes black theology to take on the global reconfigurations and opportunities brought about by the rapidly shrinking earth of fast-paced, worldwide contacts. In other words, in the specificity of the genealogy of black theology, we need to reforge ties with Africa. This claim is based on tradition. And in the generality of the larger worldwide intertwining of technologies and economics, we need a new type of black theological leadership for the twenty-first century. This claim is based on today's international challenges. The essays in this book draw on tradition and point forward in the midst of today's worldwide challenges and favorable possibilities, given the closeness of all nations and the varieties of cultures.

The essays in this book draw on tradition and point forward in the midst of today's worldwide challenges and favorable possibilities, given the closeness of all nations and the varieties of cultures."

Black Theology in Transatlantic Dialogue

In this book, Anthony G. Reddie creates a dynamic conversation between black theologies in the US and in the UK, comparing and highlighting divergences in the respective movements.

In this book, Anthony G. Reddie creates a dynamic conversation between black theologies in the US and in the UK, comparing and highlighting divergences in the respective movements."

Black Theology

An accessible introduction to Black Theology, helping readers understand the inherited legacy of 'race', ethnicity, difference and racism, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of this movement.

An accessible introduction to Black Theology, helping readers understand the inherited legacy of 'race', ethnicity, difference and racism, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of this movement."

The Decline of African American Theology

Thabiti Anyabwile argues that contemporary African American theology has fallen far from the tree of its early American antecedents. This book is a goldmine for any reader interested in the history of African American Christianity. With a foreword by Mark Noll.

Thabiti Anyabwile argues that contemporary African American theology has fallen far from the tree of its early American antecedents. This book is a goldmine for any reader interested in the history of African American Christianity."

Black Theology and Ideology

Combining the theological methods of Juan Luis Segundo and James H. Cone, Harry Singleton sheds new light on the impact of race on the origin and development of theology in America. In Black Theology and Ideology Singleton appropriates Segundo's method of deideologization to argue that relevant theological reflection must expose religio-political ideologies that justify human oppression in the name of God as a distortion of the gospel and counter them with new theological presuppositions rooted in liberation. Singleton then contextualizes Segundo's method by offering the theology of James Cone as the most viable example of such a theological perspective in America. Chapters are The Black Experience and the Emergence of Ideological Suspicion," "The Western Intellectual Tradition and Ideological Suspicion," "Hermeneutical Methodology and the Emergence of Exegetical Suspicion," "A New Hermeneutic," and "The Case for Indigenous Deideologization." Harry H. Singleton, III, Ph.D., is assistant professor of comparative religions and African American religion in the religion/philosophy department at Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina. "

In Black Theology and Ideology Singleton appropriates Segundo's method of deideologization to argue that relevant theological reflection must expose religio-political ideologies that justify human oppression in the name of God as a ..."

SCM Core Text Black Theology

An accessible introduction to Black Theology, helping readers understand the inherited legacy of ‘race’, ethnicity, difference and racism, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of this movement.

An accessible introduction to Black Theology, helping readers understand the inherited legacy of ‘race’, ethnicity, difference and racism, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of this movement."

Methodologies of Black Theology

Frederick L. Ware provides a classification and criticism of methodological perspectives in the academic study, interpretation, and construction of black theology in the U.S. from 1969 to the present, and establishes and recognizes three different schools of academic black theology: The Black Hermeneutical School The Black Philosophical School The Human Sciences School Similarities and differences are delineated in the identification of each school's representative thinkers and their views on the tasks, content, sources, norm, method, and goals of black theology.

Frederick L. Ware provides a classification and criticism of methodological perspectives in the academic study, interpretation, and construction of black theology in the U.S. from 1969 to the present, and establishes and recognizes three ..."

Heart and Head

Faith, hope, and love embody the black theology of liberation, a movement created by a group of African- American pastors in the 1960s who felt that Christ's gospel held a special message of liberation for African- Americans, and for all oppressed people. Beginning with an intimate introduction, Hopkins writes of his mother's death, when he was nine, and reveals that his father's love for the poor influenced him to become a Minister and to pursue a life of service which required 'a compassionate intellect and an intellectual compassion. Hopkins asserts that in this post-Civil Rights, post-affirmative action era, that all people, regardless of race, must join together in forging a new common wealth. Offering a detailed perspective on a new racial, gender, and economic democracy in the United States, Hopkins illustrates that black theology can be the key to personal and global liberation.

Offering a detailed perspective on a new racial, gender, and economic democracy in the United States, Hopkins illustrates that black theology can be the key to personal and global liberation."

Working Against the Grain

Christianity has been both the cause of oppression among Black communities and a source of liberation. Black Christianity has sought solace in the redemptive figure of Christ in its struggle for human dignity and freedom. 'Working Against the Grain' addresses the displacement of Black theology in Diasporan African churches by charismatic and conservative neo-Pentecostalism. The essays present a radical Black theology that empowers disenfranchised Black people whilst challenging White power to see and act differently. 'Working Against the Grain' is an essential text for all those interested in the pursuit of racial justice and other forms of anti-oppressive practice, both inside the church and beyond it.

The essays present a radical Black theology that empowers disenfranchised Black people whilst challenging White power to see and act differently."

Black Theology Today

This text confronts key issues in the field of black theology.

This text confronts key issues in the field of black theology."

Living Stones in the Household of God

A full generation has passed since black theology burst onto the American religious scene, ignited by the powerful work of James H. Cone. Now an illustrious group of theologians takes the measure of black theology's legacy and explores the radically new context - ecclesial, social, global, and interreligious - that is setting the black theological agenda for tomorrow.

A full generation has passed since black theology burst onto the American religious scene, ignited by the powerful work of James H. Cone."

Black Faith and Public Talk

When Cone wrote Black Theology and Black Power, he signaled to the world that the American black faith tradition would no longer recognize the confines of the church walls as the extent of its purview in society. Cone liberated the Gospel of Christ from its institutionalized forms, unhinging it from oppressive and racist power structures in American society and releasing it to do its work in the public sphere. Black Faith and Public Talk continues Cone's theme of power in the public realm and examines the economic, political, cultural, gender, and theological implications of black faith and black theology.

Black Faith and Public Talk continues Cone's theme of power in the public realm and examines the economic, political, cultural, gender, and theological implications of black faith and black theology."

Practical Theology for Black Churches

Exploring the concept of church as refuge, offers a way to bridge the gap between black theology, with its social and political concerns, and black churches, with their emphases on pastoral care and piety.

Exploring the concept of church as refuge, offers a way to bridge the gap between black theology, with its social and political concerns, and black churches, with their emphases on pastoral care and piety."

Black Theology—Essays on Gender Perspectives

What do African American men have to do with gender? In this collection of riveting and wide-ranging essays, Dwight N. Hopkins draws on over thirty-five years of wrestling with these questions. Too often gender is seen as a "woman's only" discussion. But in reality, men have a gender too. Some say it is biological; others claim it has to do with socialization. Hopkins's career has focused on defining what a black American man is, and how he builds bridges of support and engagement with women. Hopkins's research as a theologian, and his experiences, substantiate that the importance of religious viewpoints, principled values, and future hope remain key to any successful creation of a new African American male and new healthy male-female interactions.

What do African American men have to do with gender? In this collection of riveting and wide-ranging essays, Dwight N. Hopkins draws on over thirty-five years of wrestling with these questions."

Religion of the Field Negro

Black theology has lost its direction. To reclaim its original power and to advance racial justice struggles today black theology must fully embrace blackness and theology. But multiculturalism and religious pluralism have boxed in black theology, forcing it to speak in terms dictated by a power structure founded on white supremacy. In Religion of the Field Negro, Vincent W. Lloyd advances and develops black theology immodestly, privileging the perspective of African Americans and employing a distinctively theological analysis. As Lloyd argues, secularism is entangled with the disciplining impulses of modernity, with neoliberal economics, and with Western imperialism – but it also contaminates and castrates black theology. Inspired by critics of secularism in other fields, Religion of the Field Negro probes the subtle ways in which religion is excluded and managed in black culture. Using Barack Obama, Huey Newton, and Steve Biko as case studies, it shows how the criticism of secularism is the prerequisite of all criticism, and it shows how criticism and grassroots organizing must go hand in hand. But scholars of secularism too often ignore race, and scholars of race too often ignore secularism. Scholars of black theology too often ignore the theoretical insights of secular black studies scholars, and race theorists too often ignore the critical insights of religious thinkers. Religion of the Field Negro brings together vibrant scholarly conversations that have remained at a distance from each other until now. Weaving theological sources, critical theory, and cultural analysis, this book offers new answers to pressing questions about race and justice, love and hope, theorizing and organizing, and the role of whites in black struggle. The insights of James Cone are developed together with those of James Baldwin, Sylvia Wynter, and Achille Mbembe, all in the service of developing a political-theological vision that motivates us to challenge the racist paradigms of white supremacy.

Weaving theological sources, critical theory, and cultural analysis, this book offers new answers to pressing questions about race and justice, love and hope, theorizing and organizing, and the role of whites in black struggle."

A Queering of Black Theology

Kornegay's brilliant and insightful use of James Baldwin's literary genius offers a way forward that promises to overcome the divide between religion and sexuality that is of crucial importance not only for black church and theology but for socio-political-religious and theological discourse generally.

Kornegay's brilliant and insightful use of James Baldwin's literary genius offers a way forward that promises to overcome the divide between religion and sexuality that is of crucial importance not only for black church and theology but for ..."

Black Theology and Pedagogy

This project proposes to look at the emergence of Black theology as a discipline within the academy and how Black theology may serve as a resource for excellence in teaching.

This project proposes to look at the emergence of Black theology as a discipline within the academy and how Black theology may serve as a resource for excellence in teaching."

Speaking the Truth

"Black theology and its relationship to other Christian theologies (especially liberation theology) and secular ideologies is addressed in this collection of essays first published in 1986"--"

Black Liberation Theology

This book discusses Black Theology, or Black Liberation Theology, relates to a religious viewpoint that arose amongst African-American seminarians and philosophers, individual black churches in the United States, and later in other areas of the world. Black theology aims to liberate non-white citizens from various types of political, societal, economic, and theological subjugation and sees Christian theology as a salvation theology: "a logical analysis of the being of God in the universe in the existential condition of the oppressed group, connecting the powers of liberation to the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ," Cone says. Black theology combines Christianity with civil rights concerns, especially those posed by the Black Power revolution and the Black Consciousness Movement. Current American origins in contemporary black theology can be traced back to July 31, 1966, when the ad hoc party of 51 clergies involved, dubbed the National Committee of Black Churchmen, purchased a full-page ad in The New York Times to print their "Black Power Declaration," which advocated a more aggressive approach to fighting injustice by using the Bible as an inspiration. Black Religion works mainly with the African-American culture in attempts to render Christianity possible for black citizens. Black religion is also differentiated from African theology on the African plateau. While not confined to the British background, the scholarly journal Black Theology, published by Anthony G. Reddie, was the gateway to the debate on black theology in Britain.

This book discusses Black Theology, or Black Liberation Theology, relates to a religious viewpoint that arose amongst African-American seminarians and philosophers, individual black churches in the United States, and later in other areas of ..."

Black Theology: 1980-1992

Volume II brings the development of Black Theology up to date, covering the relevance of Black Theology to pastoral ministry, Black biblical interpretation, womanist theology, and the increased dialogue with other third-world theologies.

Volume II brings the development of Black Theology up to date, covering the relevance of Black Theology to pastoral ministry, Black biblical interpretation, womanist theology, and the increased dialogue with other third-world theologies."

Black Theology USA and South Africa

"Black theology continually poses a challenge to Christian witness and faith. Through a critical analysis of leading religious thinkers, Dwight N. Hopkins explores the fundamental differences and similarities between black theology in the United States and black theology in South Africa and asks: What is the common denominator between the two?" --

Through a critical analysis of leading religious thinkers, Dwight N. Hopkins explores the fundamental differences and similarities between black theology in the United States and black theology in South Africa and asks: What is the common ..."