Download or read book Black Divinity written by A L Saunders and published by . This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the days of ancient Egypt into the times of classical Greece the black people of Africa have been seen as divine and endowed with supernatural gifts and powers that separate them from other peoples. Their system of cleanliness, worship, ritual, family, education and organization, even though still tribal, allowed for huge advances in science, art and mysticism. However, due to a long succession of invasions, manipulations, captivity, slavery and colonization many of their ancient customs have been lost or corrupted and their simplicity exploited and interpreted as primitive. Within the course of time many new Afro-centric groups and organizations in the West sought to recapture some of the authentic African spirit behind the ancient cultures in an attempt to piece together the ancient African system that was lost. Among these groups arose the ever influential Nation of Islam. To their already fringe opinions and outlook was added the Nation of Gods and Earths as a fringe of the fringe. Taking the process all the more further is the godbody, or the street section of the Nation of Gods and Earths. Their outlook, style and operation is completely centred on that which could be called the godhood of the black man, or black divinity. This work exposes the intricate beauty and complexity of their street culture to allow those outside to see that those in the United States street culture actually do have a very respectable, while yet Afro-centric doctrinal system (including a sociology, pneumatology, eschatology, ethnology, anthropology, soteriology and ecclesiology) and how to apply it to the real world. It is also an attempt to fulfil the mission of the early Afro-centric movements and resurrect an Afro-chic culture that connects black people the world over with the souls of our ancient ancestors.
Download or read book Liberating Black Theology written by Anthony B. Bradley and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2010-02-03 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the beliefs of Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, assumed the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign, the influence of black liberation theology became hotly debated not just within theological circles but across cultural lines. How many of today's African-American congregations-and how many Americans in general-have been shaped by its view of blacks as perpetual victims of white oppression? In this interdisciplinary, biblical critique of the black experience in America, Anthony Bradley introduces audiences to black liberation theology and its spiritual and social impact. He starts with James Cone's proposition that the "victim" mind-set is inherent within black consciousness. Bradley then explores how such biblical misinterpretation has historically hindered black churches in addressing the diverse issues of their communities and prevented adherents from experiencing the freedoms of the gospel. Yet Liberating Black Theology does more than consider the ramifications of this belief system; it suggests an alternate approach to the black experience that can truly liberate all Christ-followers.
Download or read book Black Theology and Black Power written by Cone, James, H. and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2018 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The introduction to this edition by Cornel West was originally published in Dwight N. Hopkins, ed., Black Faith and Public Talk: Critical Essays on James H. Cone's Black Theology & Black Power (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999; reprinted 2007 by Baylor University Press)."
Download or read book The Divided Mind of the Black Church written by Raphael G. Warnock and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revealing look at the identity and mission of the Black church What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community’s fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States. For decades the Black church and Black theology have held each other at arm’s length. Black theology has emphasized the role of Christian faith in addressing racism and other forms of oppression, arguing that Jesus urged his disciples to seek the freedom of all peoples. Meanwhile, the Black church, even when focused on social concerns, has often emphasized personal piety rather than social protest. With the rising influence of white evangelicalism, biblical fundamentalism, and the prosperity gospel, the divide has become even more pronounced. In The Divided Mind of the Black Church, Raphael G. Warnock, Senior Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., traces the historical significance of the rise and development of Black theology as an important conversation partner for the Black church. Calling for honest dialogue between Black and womanist theologians and Black pastors, this fresh theological treatment demands a new look at the church’s essential mission.
Download or read book Methodologies of Black Theology written by Frederick L. Ware and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2008-02-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Introducing Black Theology written by Bruce L. Fields and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-07-11 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: —What is black theology? —What can black theology teach the evangelical church? —What is the future of black theology? These are the questions Bruce Fields addresses in Introducing Black Theology. Defining black theology as a theology of liberation offers insights into the history, future, and nature of black theology. Black theology developed in response to widespread racism and bigotry in the Christian church and seeks to understand the social and historical experiences of African Americans in light of their Christian confession. Fields discusses sources, hermeneutics, and implications of black theology and reflects upon the function and responsibilities of black theologians. This concise, accessible introduction to black theology draws upon history, hermeneutics, culture, and scripture and will create a dialogue of respect and reconciliation between blacks and whites within the evangelical church.
Download or read book Introducing Black Theology of Liberation written by Hopkins, Dwight N. and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2014-04-10 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Practical Theology for Black Churches written by Dale P. Andrews and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Cross and the Lynching Tree written by James H. Cone and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark in the conversation about race and religion in America. "They put him to death by hanging him on a tree." Acts 10:39 The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful new work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk. Both the cross and the lynching tree represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning. While the lynching tree symbolized white power and "black death," the cross symbolizes divine power and "black life" God overcoming the power of sin and death. For African Americans, the image of Jesus, hung on a tree to die, powerfully grounded their faith that God was with them, even in the suffering of the lynching era. In a work that spans social history, theology, and cultural studies, Cone explores the message of the spirituals and the power of the blues; the passion and of Emmet Till and the engaged vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.; he invokes the spirits of Billie Holliday and Langston Hughes, Fannie Lou Hamer and Ida B. Well, and the witness of black artists, writers, preachers, and fighters for justice. And he remembers the victims, especially the 5,000 who perished during the lynching period. Through their witness he contemplates the greatest challenge of any Christian theology to explain how life can be made meaningful in the face of death and injustice.
Download or read book A Queering of Black Theology written by E. Kornegay and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-12-11 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book African American Theology written by Frederick L. Ware and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a substantial introduction to the major methodologies, figures, and themes within African American theology. Frederick L. Ware explores African American theology from its inception and places it within dual contexts: first, the African American struggle for dignity and full humanity; and second, the broader scope of Christian belief. Readers will appreciate Ware's demonstration of how black theology is expressed in a wide range of sources that includes not only scholarly publications but also African American sermons, music, news and editorials, biography, literature, popular periodicals, folklore, and philosophy. Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion and suggested resources for further study. Ware provides a seasoned perspective on where African American theology has been and where it is going, and he demonstrates its creativity within the chorus of Christian theology.
Download or read book My Soul Looks Back written by James H. Cone and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 1986 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What is the relationship," James Cone asks, "between my training as a theologian and the black struggle for freedom? For what reason has God allowed a poor black boy from Bearden to become a professional systematic theologian? As I struggled with these questions...I could not escape the overwhelming conviction that God's spirit was calling me to do what I could for the enhancement of justice in the world, especially on behalf of my people. 'My Soul Looks Back' chronicles the author's grappling with these questions, as well as his formulation of an answer--an answer that would lead to the development of a black theology of liberation. Firmly rooted in the black church tradition, James Cone relates the formative features of his faith journey, from his childhood experience in Bearden, Arkansas, and his father's steadfast resistance to racism, through racial discrimination in graduate school, to his controversial articulation of a faith that seeks to break the shackles of racial oppression. In describing his more recent encounters with feminist, Marxist, and Third World thinkers, James Cone provides a compelling description of liberation theology, and a vivid portrayal of what it means to profess "a faith that does justice". (Back cover).
Download or read book Down Up and Over written by Dwight N. Hopkins and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First reconstructs the culutral matrix of African American religion, a total way of life formed by Protestantism, American culture, and the institution of slavery (1619-1865). Whites from Europe and Blacks from Africa arrived with specific, differing views of God, faith, and humanity. Hopkins recreates their worldviews and shows how white theology sought to remake African Americans into naturally inferior beings divinely ordained into subservience. The counter voice of enslaved blacks is the birth of the Spirit of liberation." -- Back cover.
Download or read book The Black Church Studies Reader written by Alton B. Pollard and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Black Church Studies Reader addresses the depth and breadth of Black theological studies, from Biblical studies and ethics to homiletics and pastoral care. The book examines salient themes of social and religious significance such as gender, sexuality, race, social class, health care, and public policy. While the volume centers around African American experiences and studies, it also attends to broader African continental and Diasporan religious contexts. The contributors reflect an interdisciplinary blend of Black Church Studies scholars and practitioners from across the country. The text seeks to address the following fundamental questions: What constitutes Black Church Studies as a discipline or field of study? What is the significance of Black Church Studies for theological education? What is the relationship between Black Church Studies and the broader academic study of Black religions? What is the relationship between Black Church Studies and local congregations (as well as other faith-based entities)? The book's search for the answers to these questions is compelling and illuminating.
Download or read book Bonhoeffer s Black Jesus written by REGGIE L. WILLIAMS and published by . This book was released on 2021-09 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dietrich Bonhoeffer publicly confronted Nazism and anti-Semitic racism in Hitler's Germany. The Reich's political ideology, when mixed with theology of the German Christian movement, turned Jesus into a divine representation of the ideal, racially pure Aryan and allowed race-hate to become part of Germany's religious life. Bonhoeffer provided a Christian response to Nazi atrocities. In this book author Reggie L. Williams follows Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he encounters Harlem's black Jesus. The Christology Bonhoeffer learned in Harlem's churches featured a black Christ who suffered with African Americans in their struggle against systemic injustice and racial violence--and then resisted. In the pews of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, under the leadership of Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Bonhoeffer was captivated by Christianity in the Harlem Renaissance. This Christianity included a Jesus who stands with the oppressed, against oppressors, and a theology that challenges the way God is often used to underwrite harmful unions of race and religion. Now featuring a foreword from world-renowned Bonhoeffer scholar Ferdinand Schlingensiepen as well as multiple updates and additions, Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus argues that Dietrich Bonhoeffer's immersion within the black American narrative was a turning point for him, causing him to see anew the meaning of his claim that obedience to Jesus requires concrete historical action. This ethic of resistance not only indicted the church of the German Volk, but also continues to shape the nature of Christian discipleship today.
Download or read book A Black Theology of Liberation written by James H. Cone and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Theologizing in Black written by Celucien L. Joseph and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theologizing in Black is a creative and rigorous comparative study on black theological musings and liberative intellectual contemplations engaging the theological ethics and anthropology of both continental African theologians (Tanzania, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo) and black theologians in the African Diaspora (Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, United States). Using the pluralist approach to religion promoted by the philosopher of religion and theologian John Hick, the book is also an attempt to bridge an important gap in the comparative study of religion, Africana Studies, and Liberation theology, both in Africa and its diaspora. The book provides an analytical framework and intellectual critique of white Christian theologians who deliberately disengage with and exclude black and Africana theologians in their theological writings and conversations. From this vantage point, Africana critical theology is said to be a theology of contestation as it seeks to deconstruct white supremacy in the theological enterprise. This book not only articulates a rhetoric of protest about the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of the humanity of African and black people in white theological imagination; it also enunciates a positive image of black humanity and congruently promulgates a constructive representation of blackness. The paramount goal of Africana theological anthropology and ethics is the preservation of life and promotion of human dignity and the sheer acknowledgement that the African people and people of African descent are bearers of the image of God.
