Black Theology

Black theology is an approach to understanding the supreme deity that is rooted in African culture. It emerged in the 1960s as a viable alternative to white Christian theology. Black theology was principally articulated by African American preachers and theologians led by James Cone, a professor at the Union Theological Seminary. Cone reached into the past of black America's rich theological and spiritual heritage to highlight the role of religion in the life of black folk, and he laid the groundwork for those who have followed his steps to systematically record the history of theology in black America.

With the assistance of Gayraud Wilmore and others, Cone reached back to Africa to study how Africans had understood the concept of God. Wilmore's theological writing, particularly in his book Black Religion and Black Radicalism (1983), connected the present plight of black suffering with the African past. Wilmore and Charles Long encouraged Cone and other black radical theologians to read the writings of Africans. Cone read these writings and came to see Africa as the critical source for the development of a black theology based on black religion.

The radical theologians became even more determined to look to Africa as the source of African American theology when South African theologians started contrasting their theology with black theology. What Cone and other radical clergy and theologians were doing was systematically developing a theology of empowerment based on the African experience. According to Wilmore, this was the first time since Garveyism that black Christianity distinguished itself as something unique and different from white Christianity. Black theology further displayed its flexibility by searching its religious past in Africa, which was not rooted in Christianity. Moreover, because it looked to Africa as the place to pattern black theology in America, it freed itself from the orthodox dogmatism of Scripture alone. Thus Black theology continues as a designator, which distinguishes it from Euro-American theology.

According to black theology, it is necessary to go beyond the church experience to discover the source of theology. Thus, it can be found in black folklore, spirituals, and the blues. It is the function of the clergy and theologians to glean insight from these rich sources, findings that eventually will aid in the liberation of all oppressed people.

[Page 166]In the 1960s, a distinct consciousness of black theology began to emerge when nontraditional black clergy began to assess Christianity in relation to the struggle unique to black America. When black clergy began to evaluate Christianity in light of their struggle, they found Anglo racism at its core. Hence, many started to associate racism with the Antichrist. Cone critically analyzed the plight of African people in his first book, Black Theology and Black Power (1969). This was the work that laid the groundwork for black theology. In the book, he connected theology with the philosophy of black power, a decision clergy and theologians challenged. After all, this was the white man's religion, so what could it say to blacks? However, Cone took no time to address his critics, as he believed he was on a divine mission and therefore refused to be distracted from it.

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