Black Theology

                                      Black Theology

Black theology is a phenomenon of the 1960s in North America.  And it is a theology of black liberation[1] on the political, social, and economic condition. Black theology also is a theology of ‘blackness.’ Blackness refers, as V. Cruz says, “In Cone’s word, ‘being black in America has very little to do with skin color. To be black means that your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body are where the dispossessed are.’”[2] And Frem also affirms, “Being reconciled to God does not mean that one’s skin is physically black. It essentially depends on the color of your heart, soul, and mind.”[3]Black theology even considers God as black, as Noel Erskine rightly affirms, “God is black because through identification with the oppressed, God has made the black condition God’s own.”[4]The concept of black theology is widely relevant to the tribal communities who are under oppressions of power and authority, for example to Naga tribe as Takatemjen also discerns, “It is necessary for us to welcome the Naga Jesus”[5] (Takatemjen, 25) and Chin tribal community in Myanmar also once discussed, “It is not a wrong idea to draw the picture of Jesus Christ in the Chin image and we need to recognize Him as he really is. This Chin Jesus should look like one of us and be attractive… For He came down to us to be identified with us.”[6]

Black theology is a theology that seeks God who lives among the black people and experiences their oppression, identifies himself as black and delivers them. In blacks’ minds, God is considered as the loving, forgiving, who can deliver slaves and punish their masters.  As Cone writes, “Black people have heard enough about God. What they want to know is what God has to say about the black condition, what is he doing about it?”[7]In this case, it also may be correct to say which Nicholls borrowed from James Cone, “When church theologians, from the time of Constantine to the present, fail to see the ethical impact of the biblical God for the liberation of the oppressed, that failure occurred because of defective theology…. They were wrong theologically because they failed to listen to the Bible.”[8] This can be the reason black theologians produce their own theology which gives the answers of the meaning of the Bible for the blacks.

Black theology presents Jesus as the oppressed one whose earthly existence was bound up with the oppressed of the land, and James H. Cone even argued that Jesus is the ‘Black Messiah’ and revelation of God.[9] Dean W. Frem also quotes from Cone in which he says, “To consider Christ as non-black in our time would be as wrong as to consider him as non-Jewish in the first century.”[10]At the same time, black theology considers Jesus Christ as God, as James H. Cone affirms, “Jesus Christ is God himself coming into the very depths of human existence for the sole purpose of striking off the chains of slavery, thereby freeing man from ungodly principalities and powers that hinder his relationship with God.”[11]They picture Jesus as their brother, savior, and also a fellow sufferer, who is still alive to tender help. For black theologians, the resurrection of the ‘Black Jesus’ is a real event symbolizes universal freedom for all who are bound spiritually as well as physically.

Black theology exposes that the cross of Christ was not merely an expression of suffering but a symbol of his rejection. Black people are able to identify with this Christ and cross because of the sense of rejection they have experienced from mainstream of American culture. As Erskine states, “Suffering becomes the essence of black theology. Since black people were forced during slavery to abandon their language and culture one of the consequences is having to constantly struggle with the meaning of identity.”[12]

For black theologians, as Vashum says, “Freedom must be experienced in the real physical world as well as in the spiritual life of the people,”[13] salvation is physical liberation from white oppression in this life rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual man. On other hand, in black theology, salvation is not just a future oriented hope in a heavenly compensation but for earthly sufferings.

After discussing about black theology, the writer comes to conclusion that black theology plays a vital role in the development of new self-consciousness and sense of identity for the black church and community. However, he also evaluates that black theology is a theology by black for blacks. In addition, black theology elevates experience to the status of norm for theology. Its norm is not universal human experience, but the specific experience of the black community describe in terms of oppression. And in black theology, salvation is physical liberation from white oppression in this life rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual man. As Cone says, in black theology, salvation is not just a future oriented hope in a heavenly compensation for earthly woes. Rather, it is a hope that focuses on the future in such a way that it prevents black from tolerating present inequalities.

Bibliography

Bik, Henry Nawl Thang.  A Study Logos Christology of John and Its Relevance to Chin Community in Myanmar. GFABS, Kerala: Unpublished M. Div. Thesis, 2011.

 

Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970.

 

____________. Black Theology and Black Power. New York: Seabury Press, 1969.

 

Cruz, V. “Black Theology.” In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Walter A Alwell, ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986.

 

Erskine, Noel. “Black Theology and Pedagogy.” In Moving Forms of Theology: Faith Talk’s Changing Contexts. Israel Selvanayagam, ed. Delhi: ISPCK, 2002.

 

Frem, Deane William. Contemporary American Theologies. New York: The Seabury Press, 1981.

 

Grenz, Stanley J. & Roger E. Olson. “The Renewal of Immanence in the Experience of Oppression: Liberation Theologies.” In 20^th Century Theology: God & the World in a Transitional Age. Andhra Praesh: OM Books, First Indian Edition, 2004.

 

Nicholls, Bruce J. “Hermeneutics, Theology, and Culture with Special Reference to Hindu Culture.” In The Bible & Theology in Asian Contex: An Evangelical Perspective on Asian Theology. Bong Ring Ro & Ruth Eshenaur, ed. Bangalore: Poonam Printery, 1988.

 

Takatemjen. Studies on Theology and Naga Culture. Mokokchung: Author, 1997.

 

Vashum, Yangkahao. “Religions’s Ambiance for Peace in Contemporary Tribal and Adivasi Communities.” In Journal of Tribal Studies. Vol. XV, No. 1, January—June, 2010.

 

End notes:

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[1] Stanley J. Grenz & Roger E. Olson, “The Renewal of Immanence in the Experience of Oppression: Liberation Theologies,” In 20^th Century Theology: God & the World in a Transitional Age (Andhra Praesh: OM Books, First Indian Edition, 2004), 202.

 

[2] V. Cruz, “Black Theology,” In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Walter A Alwell, ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986), 160-161.

 

[3] Deane William Frem, Contemporary American Theologies (New York: The Seabury Press, 1981), 45.

 

[4] Noel Erskine, “Black Theology and Pedagogy,” In Moving Forms of Theology: Faith Talk’s Changing Contexts (Israel Selvanayagam, ed. Delhi: ISPCK, 2002), 135.

 

[5] Takatemjen, Studies on Theology and Naga Culture (Mokokchung: Author, 1997), 25.

 

[6] Henry Nawl Thang Bik, A Study Logos Christology of John and Its Relevance to Chin Community in Myanmar (GFABS, Kerala: Unpublished M. Div. Thesis, 2011), 73.

 

           [7] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 77.

 

[8] Bruce J. Nicholls, “Hermeneutics, Theology, and Culture with Special Reference to Hindu Culture,” In The Bible & Theology in Asian Contex: An Evangelical Perspective on Asian Theology (Bong Ring Ro & Ruth Eshenaur, ed. Bangalore: Poonam Printery, 1988), 244.

 

[9] Stanley J. Grenz & Roger E. Olson, “The Renewal of Immanence in the Experience of Oppression: Liberation Theologies,” In 20^th Century Theology: God & the World in a Transitional Age., 208.

 

[10] Deane William Frem, Contemporary American Theologies., 44.

 

[11] James H. Cone, Black Theology and Black Power (New York: Seabury Press, 1969), 35.

 

[12] Noel Erskine, “Black Theology and Pedagogy,” In Moving Forms of Theology: Faith Talk’s Changing Contexts., 136.

 

[13]Yangkahao Vashum, “Religions’s Ambiance for Peace in Contemporary Tribal and Adivasi Communities,” In Journal of Tribal Studies, Vol. XV, No. 1, January—June, 2010), 13.