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Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation and Black Theology
This book is split into two parts. The first discusses Cone's view of BLACK THEOLOGY AS LIBERATION THEOLOGY and part 2 discusses THE BLACK CHURCH, ECUMENISM, AND THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE according to Cone. James H. Cone, a leading African American theologian and an advocate of black theology, authored Speaking the Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology. He is a distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York City.
- GenresChristianityTheology
154 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
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About the author
James H. Cone
42 books342 followersJames Hal Cone was an advocate of Black liberation theology, a theology grounded in the experience of African Americans, and related to other Christian liberation theologies. In 1969, his book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to articulate the distinctiveness of theology in the black Church. James Cone’s work was influential and political from the time of his first publication, and remains so to this day. His work has been both utilized and critiqued inside and outside of the African American theological community.
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October 31, 2017
This is my first time reading a full book of Cone's and it will take a while to process fully. This is a collection of his older essays and lectures and it is amazing (and a little sad) how relevant and prophetic his words still are.
July 4, 2024
VARIOUS ESSAYS WRITTEN FROM 1975-1985
James Hal Cone (born 1938) is an American theologian who is Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1970. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 154-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the Preface to this 1986 book, “Faith is a commitment, a deeply felt experience of being called by the Spirit of Christ to bear witness to God’s coming liberation by fighting for the freedom of the poor NOW. Theology is the critical side of faith. It exposes what passes for faith but is actually faith’s opposite… These essays represent my attempt to ‘speak the truth’ to African-American Christians in particular and to all Christians generally… they were written during the ten-year period 1975-85 and were presented to various audiences---churches and community groups, seminaries and universities, conferences and theological societies. Some have been published in theological journals, encyclopedias, and edited collections, while others are published here for the first time… I do hope that I have said an important word about the gospel for the time and place in which the essays were written. I also hope that they will provide some helpful insights for those Christians throughout the world who are trying to speak the truth with love, courage, and care for the poor and voiceless people of the land.”
In the first essay, he explains, “The purpose of this essay is to examine the theological presuppositions that underlie the claim that Christian theology is language about God’s liberation of the victim from social and political oppression. My contention that Christian theology is language about God’s liberating activity for the poor is based upon the assumption that Scripture is the primary source of theological speech… My contention that Scripture is the story of God’s liberation of the poor also applies to the New Testament, where the story is carried to universal dimensions.” (Pg. 4-5)
In a later essay, he states, “Black religion is by definition the opposite of white religion because the former was born in the black people’s political struggle to liberate themselves from oppression in the white church and the society it justifies. Even when black slaves could not actualize their experience of salvation in revolutionary struggle, they often verbalized the distinction between black and white religion.” (Pg. 32-33)
In another essay, he says, “Whatever else Christian theology might be, it must take sides with the victims who are economically and politically oppressed. If theology does not side with the victims of economic injustice, it cannot represent THE VICTIM, Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified because he was a threat to the political and religious structures of his time. That insight impressed itself on our consciousness to such a degree that we began to speak of a black theology of liberation. Our central concern was to show that the Christian faith, as lived by oppressed people generally, and oppressed black people in particular, has been---and more importantly CAN BE---an instrument of economic and political freedom.” (Pg. 39)
He asks, “Why are most Catholics, many of whom say they are concerned about justice, so uninformed about the struggle for justice in black history and culture? What does this ignorance mean when there are more than one million blacks in the Catholic Church and nearly thirty million in the United States? Do white Catholics think that they can have a genuine concern for justice independent of a concern for the elimination of racism in the churches and the world? Do they think that they can develop a method for the elimination of injustice without a keen knowledge of the history and culture of blacks in the United States? Must not the victims of racial injustice have some input into the Catholic definition of justice and also in developing an adequate method for establishing it?” (Pg. 51)
He continues, “From the perspective of a black liberation theologian, the Catholic Church is a racist church, and even its most progressive people are seldom bothered by it. It is the failure of the Catholic Church to deal effectively with the problem of racism that causes me to question the quality of its commitment to justice in other areas… The racism about which I speak is easy for whites to ignore, because they are not its victims and because its dehumanizing consequences are less visible than the racist acts in Mississippi and Alabama during the 1960s or in present-day South Africa. Racism among white Catholics is similar to the racism among white Protestants; it is sophisticated in that it can best be defined by black invisibility in Catholic theology and history. There are very few white Catholic theologians, priests and sisters who think that knowledge of black history and culture is indispensable for an adequate understanding of justice in this society and the world.” (Pg. 54-55)
In another essay, he suggests, “As a black theologian, I offer some words of advice to white, black, and other middle-class Christians… Do not tell the victims of violence (i.e., the poor and the wretched of the earth) to be nonviolent and passive unless you are willing to share their lot and experience the depth of their suffering and deprivation. Middle-class white and black Christians, whose daily experience of injustice is minimal when compared to that of the poor, are in no moral position to tell poor people when to do about injustice. We earn our right to speak for the poor when we share their lot.” (Pg. 72)
In a different essay, he explains, “The significance of black theology for black religious thought is found at two points. First, black theology identified racism in the white churches as a Christian heresy, in contrast to the previous tendency to limits its critique to the ethical behavior of white Christians. Black theology claimed that the faith of white Christians was defective because of their indifference to and support of racism in their churches and the larger society. Second, by rejecting white theology as heresy, the proponents of black theology were also forced to create a new theology of the black poor, one that would empower them in their struggle for justice. Black theologians began to reread the Bible in the historical context of the black experience of struggle. From this new hermeneutical vantage point emerged the theological conviction and the God of Moses and the prophets and of Jesus and Paul is none other than the liberator of the poor and the downtrodden. With its articulation of this theological insight, black theology became known not only as the first expression of liberation theology in North America, but more importantly it located the chief meaning of liberation in the cross of Jesus…” (Pg. 110)
In another essay, he suggests, “I believe that whatever the Christian faith may be, it is never a reflection of then values of the dominant culture. That was why God elected Hebrew slaves and not Egyptian slavemasters as the covenant people. That was also why the prophets defined God’s justice as punishment of the oppressor and the liberation of the poor. In a similar vein but at a much deeper level, the birth, life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus mean that God turns the world’s value system upside down… If the white churches expect to be taken seriously about their claim to be of God, then the must begin to act against the social order and ecclesiastical structures that do not affirm the humanity of people of color.” (Pg. 120)
In a later essay, he points out, “Because slaves were able to make a radical epistemological distinction between the gospel of Jesus and the religion of whites, they also came to different theological conclusions about God. When African slaves heard the Old Testament story of Israel in Egypt, they identified themselves with the Hebrew slaves and identified white slaveholders with the Egyptians… As Israel was liberated from Egypt across the Red Sea, so blacks would also be set free… The theme of God as the Liberator is found throughout the history of black religion. It is found among black Protestants and Catholics. Black Christians have always known that the God of the biblical tradition and of their African heritage is the One whose righteousness is identical with the liberation of the weak and helpless. The theological conviction that the God of the Bible is the liberator of the poor and the downtrodden has been and is the important distinction between black and white religion.” (Pg. 138-139)
These essays give a good picture of what Cone’s single lectures/presentations were like (rather than the more elaborated, developing themes presented in his books).
James Hal Cone (born 1938) is an American theologian who is Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1970. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 154-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the Preface to this 1986 book, “Faith is a commitment, a deeply felt experience of being called by the Spirit of Christ to bear witness to God’s coming liberation by fighting for the freedom of the poor NOW. Theology is the critical side of faith. It exposes what passes for faith but is actually faith’s opposite… These essays represent my attempt to ‘speak the truth’ to African-American Christians in particular and to all Christians generally… they were written during the ten-year period 1975-85 and were presented to various audiences---churches and community groups, seminaries and universities, conferences and theological societies. Some have been published in theological journals, encyclopedias, and edited collections, while others are published here for the first time… I do hope that I have said an important word about the gospel for the time and place in which the essays were written. I also hope that they will provide some helpful insights for those Christians throughout the world who are trying to speak the truth with love, courage, and care for the poor and voiceless people of the land.”
In the first essay, he explains, “The purpose of this essay is to examine the theological presuppositions that underlie the claim that Christian theology is language about God’s liberation of the victim from social and political oppression. My contention that Christian theology is language about God’s liberating activity for the poor is based upon the assumption that Scripture is the primary source of theological speech… My contention that Scripture is the story of God’s liberation of the poor also applies to the New Testament, where the story is carried to universal dimensions.” (Pg. 4-5)
In a later essay, he states, “Black religion is by definition the opposite of white religion because the former was born in the black people’s political struggle to liberate themselves from oppression in the white church and the society it justifies. Even when black slaves could not actualize their experience of salvation in revolutionary struggle, they often verbalized the distinction between black and white religion.” (Pg. 32-33)
In another essay, he says, “Whatever else Christian theology might be, it must take sides with the victims who are economically and politically oppressed. If theology does not side with the victims of economic injustice, it cannot represent THE VICTIM, Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified because he was a threat to the political and religious structures of his time. That insight impressed itself on our consciousness to such a degree that we began to speak of a black theology of liberation. Our central concern was to show that the Christian faith, as lived by oppressed people generally, and oppressed black people in particular, has been---and more importantly CAN BE---an instrument of economic and political freedom.” (Pg. 39)
He asks, “Why are most Catholics, many of whom say they are concerned about justice, so uninformed about the struggle for justice in black history and culture? What does this ignorance mean when there are more than one million blacks in the Catholic Church and nearly thirty million in the United States? Do white Catholics think that they can have a genuine concern for justice independent of a concern for the elimination of racism in the churches and the world? Do they think that they can develop a method for the elimination of injustice without a keen knowledge of the history and culture of blacks in the United States? Must not the victims of racial injustice have some input into the Catholic definition of justice and also in developing an adequate method for establishing it?” (Pg. 51)
He continues, “From the perspective of a black liberation theologian, the Catholic Church is a racist church, and even its most progressive people are seldom bothered by it. It is the failure of the Catholic Church to deal effectively with the problem of racism that causes me to question the quality of its commitment to justice in other areas… The racism about which I speak is easy for whites to ignore, because they are not its victims and because its dehumanizing consequences are less visible than the racist acts in Mississippi and Alabama during the 1960s or in present-day South Africa. Racism among white Catholics is similar to the racism among white Protestants; it is sophisticated in that it can best be defined by black invisibility in Catholic theology and history. There are very few white Catholic theologians, priests and sisters who think that knowledge of black history and culture is indispensable for an adequate understanding of justice in this society and the world.” (Pg. 54-55)
In another essay, he suggests, “As a black theologian, I offer some words of advice to white, black, and other middle-class Christians… Do not tell the victims of violence (i.e., the poor and the wretched of the earth) to be nonviolent and passive unless you are willing to share their lot and experience the depth of their suffering and deprivation. Middle-class white and black Christians, whose daily experience of injustice is minimal when compared to that of the poor, are in no moral position to tell poor people when to do about injustice. We earn our right to speak for the poor when we share their lot.” (Pg. 72)
In a different essay, he explains, “The significance of black theology for black religious thought is found at two points. First, black theology identified racism in the white churches as a Christian heresy, in contrast to the previous tendency to limits its critique to the ethical behavior of white Christians. Black theology claimed that the faith of white Christians was defective because of their indifference to and support of racism in their churches and the larger society. Second, by rejecting white theology as heresy, the proponents of black theology were also forced to create a new theology of the black poor, one that would empower them in their struggle for justice. Black theologians began to reread the Bible in the historical context of the black experience of struggle. From this new hermeneutical vantage point emerged the theological conviction and the God of Moses and the prophets and of Jesus and Paul is none other than the liberator of the poor and the downtrodden. With its articulation of this theological insight, black theology became known not only as the first expression of liberation theology in North America, but more importantly it located the chief meaning of liberation in the cross of Jesus…” (Pg. 110)
In another essay, he suggests, “I believe that whatever the Christian faith may be, it is never a reflection of then values of the dominant culture. That was why God elected Hebrew slaves and not Egyptian slavemasters as the covenant people. That was also why the prophets defined God’s justice as punishment of the oppressor and the liberation of the poor. In a similar vein but at a much deeper level, the birth, life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus mean that God turns the world’s value system upside down… If the white churches expect to be taken seriously about their claim to be of God, then the must begin to act against the social order and ecclesiastical structures that do not affirm the humanity of people of color.” (Pg. 120)
In a later essay, he points out, “Because slaves were able to make a radical epistemological distinction between the gospel of Jesus and the religion of whites, they also came to different theological conclusions about God. When African slaves heard the Old Testament story of Israel in Egypt, they identified themselves with the Hebrew slaves and identified white slaveholders with the Egyptians… As Israel was liberated from Egypt across the Red Sea, so blacks would also be set free… The theme of God as the Liberator is found throughout the history of black religion. It is found among black Protestants and Catholics. Black Christians have always known that the God of the biblical tradition and of their African heritage is the One whose righteousness is identical with the liberation of the weak and helpless. The theological conviction that the God of the Bible is the liberator of the poor and the downtrodden has been and is the important distinction between black and white religion.” (Pg. 138-139)
These essays give a good picture of what Cone’s single lectures/presentations were like (rather than the more elaborated, developing themes presented in his books).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews