Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology

by J. Deotis Roberts

A classic early articulation of black history, "Liberation and Reconciliation" provides invaluable insights into the context and development of one of the most important movements in contemporary theology.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian, Religion

119 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1994

About the author

J. Deotis Roberts was the fourth president of the Interdenominational Theological Center. Born July 12, 1927 in Spindale, North Carolina, he earned a Ph.D. in Philosophical Theology in 1957 and later received a Doctor of Letters Degree, both from the University of Edinburgh. Roberts also received degrees from Johnson C. Smith University (Bachelor of Arts), Shaw University Divinity School (Bachelor of Divinity), and Hartford Seminary (Master of Sacred Theology).

He was a pioneer of Black theological discourse in the late 1960’s known as the Black Theology movement, whose most notable public figure is James Cone. As a highly respected and first generation African American theologian, Roberts offered a critical response to the early works of James Cone, particularly Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power.

In addition to this work, Roberts has taught at several universities, training generations of scholars at educational institutions around the world including Howard University, Yale University, Duke University, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. Outside his role as ITC President, Roberts has held different administrative posts, most notably as the first and only Black president of the American Theological Society, also being one of its earliest African American members. J. Deotis Roberts has published numerous books and articles, including The Prophethood of Black Believers: An African American Political Theology for Ministry, Black Theology in Dialogue, and Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology, and A Black Political Theology. He served as the president of the Interdenominational Theological Center from 1980-1983.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liberation and Reconciliation by J. Deotis Roberts is a work of black theology which attempts to be a constructive articulation of black theology. Black theology, in a word, is soul theology. No other word captures the black religious experience as well. Instead of merely saying what black theologians are against, they also need to work at creating a theology of who God is and what Christianity means for blacks. This book is a contextual work of theology written for black men and women. As such, I am reading this book as an outsider. The book is not written for me, but I am still able to profit from reading the book.

The book has eight chapters, the quality of which varies. Some are more dated and refer to older academic controversies which I was ignorant of. But others, such as The Black Messiah, were excellent and relevant to our current cultural moment.

The main theme throughout Liberation and Reconciliation is that God both liberates and reconciles us. The focus on liberation and reconciliation is repeated in every chapter and is emphasized strongly. “The gospel is a reconciling as well as a liberating gospel, and Christ is at once Liberator and Reconciler.” J. Deotis Roberts is concerned that some black theologians and leaders have neglected reconciliation as a goal. He does not deny the focus on liberation for blacks, but liberation must always work together with reconciliation. Blacks are to be liberated in order to be reconciled. Whites also must work for liberation in order to become reconciled with blacks. As he says “Reconciliation, between blacks and whites, is a two-way street. It depends as much upon what whites will do to make conditions in race relations better as it does upon what blacks will not do.” Whites have a calling, one they have too often neglected, to pursue liberation for blacks. Blacks have a calling to forgive and extend forgiveness. Both are hard words, and this book unfortunately feels like it could have been written today about the state of racial reconciliation in America. Whites still don’t want to make the sacrifices necessary to liberate blacks and blacks often don’t want to forgive.

Liberation and Reconciliation is a challenging book. The book is written for an academic audience and can be dry in parts. But the main reason the book is challenging is because of the subject matter. Black-white racial relations seem to have made little progress since he revised this book in 1994. I felt like I was often reading a mirror of our current struggles, and this is sobering to read. In one page he writes of a black community mourning over the death of a black teenager at the hands of a white cop, reflections written not in 2020 but 1994. How little progress has been made since the civil rights movement is humbling.

I didn’t agree with everything in the book. The book takes the idea that our society is racist as a fact, and while I agree with this answer, I’m not sure I agree entirely with his formulation of race. It aligns more closely with the oppressed/oppressor dynamics than I am comfortable with, though Roberts does provide more nuanced than simple Marxism. More problematic is how at times his attempt to create a contextual theology requires for God to be a certain way. For example, Roberts says "Reflection upon the black person's God must deal with creation, providence, power, love, justice, evil, and the like. The Christian understanding of God must develop out of the black presence in a white racist society, and out of an experience of oppression endured for almost four centuries." We cannot say God must from any cultural context. God is God and He must not conform to any of our understandings or requirements. To demand that God must is to try and make an idol of God. His understanding of race in this book is worth reflecting on even if I don’t agree completely with it.

I also found his chapter on The Black Messiah to be enlightening. Not all who advocate for a black Jesus are doing so from black nationalism, and I appreciate his perspective. However, I am not completely convinced we should depict Jesus as black or any color. If we are going to depict Jesus at all visually, then why should we not use a middle eastern Jesus? More importantly, what about the second commandment’s prohibition on making graven images? Why wouldn’t this apply to Jesus as well? I am aware this is an issue complicated by Jesus himself taking flesh and letting us see him, but the second commandments prohibition is not engaged with in this book. One of the reasons why God prohibited the making of graven images is to restrict us from making God more like us. White Christianity has provided ample opportunities to show that making Jesus white resulted in an idol who looks like us, and as such, was a diminishment of the full revelation of God. I am not sure allowing Jesus to be any ethnicity solves the problem. As they stand, the arguments are interesting, but not persuasive.

The book is too short to engage in serious depth with any of the ideas. God is given one chapter as is Christ as is the black church, etc. The book was not attempting to be a thorough articulation of black theology. Due to the length of the book, certain aspects were going to be underdeveloped. One unfortunate aspect that suffered was that J. Deotis Robert’s didn’t engage with scripture as much as I would have liked. He understands well the culture and the black religious experience, but due to the length of the book did not engage with scripture as much. A longer book would have allowed more engagement with scripture, which would have given him a chance to strengthen some of his arguments.

Despite those criticisms I have, along with a few others, this is still a book well worth reading. His articulation of the need for liberation for black men and women along with the Christian need for reconciliation is pervasive and persuasive. He also provides a robust criticism and evaluation of the Black Power movement and the black Christian’s attempted justification for violent revolt. Violence always leads to violence and those in power (whites) will be able to use more violence on blacks anyways. Violence is not a Christian response, no matter how understandable it is. Roberts is consistent in the call for forgiveness by blacks for whites. He sees in the suffering of blacks a certain calling by God. Blacks have been chosen to suffer, which is an uncomfortable conclusion, but also gives blacks agency and a unique role in God’s work in the world. Roberts engages charitably, if critically, with a variety of different sources. He draws from existentialism, Marxism, and the thought of Sigmund Freud in this book. The different voices he engages with are different than those I normally read and being exposed to different thinkers is always a challenging exercise, but a needed one. Because Liberation and Reconciliation can feel more dated and is denser, I would not recommend it to everyone, but reading Liberation and Reconciliation has given me much to think about. I hope the church, both black and white, starts to pursue faithfully our roles in liberation and reconciliation as ambassadors of Christ.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL WORKS OF BLACK THEOLOGY

At the time this book was published in 1971, J. Deotis Roberts was a professor of theology at Howard University. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the original 205-page paperback edition.]

He wrote in the Preface of this 1971 book, “The present volume is an introduction to soul theology. 'Soul' sums up the black experience, whether religious or secular, better than any other term. Here we have attempted a Christian theological interpretation of the soul religious experience as we understand it as a Christian and as a theologian whose face is black. Soul theology is Black Theology… In the following pages much will be said about ‘black liberation.’ We are aware of the gospel of freedom to which Christ as Liberator has called us. But, as Christians, black and white, we surely know that separation, however rewarding to set the record straight, CANNOT be an ultimate Christian goal. Separation must give way to RECONCILIATION. The gospel is a reconciling as well as a liberating gospel and Christ is at once Liberator and Reconciler. At the same time that black Christians are set free they are called together with all other Christians to a ministry of reconciliation.

“Reconciliation, between blacks and whites, is a two-way street. It depends as much upon what whites WILL DO to make conditions in race relations better as it does upon what blacks WILL NOT DO… Reconciliation must be based upon a oneness in nature and grace between all people upon the principle of equity. EQUALITY belongs to the time of integration. It assumes that blacks must earn the right to be equal---to be accepted into the American mainstream. Equity, on the other hand, belongs to the time of Black Power, black pride, awareness, and self-determination. Equity assumes that all men are naturally equal. Human dignity is a birthright. Black Theology affirms this and goes on to root equity, as the only principle of black-white reconciliation, in the Christian understanding of creation and redemption.”

He begins the book by stating, "It is my view that liberation and reconciliation must be considered at the same time and in relation to each other. The all-or-nothing, victory-or-death approach to race relations appears to be more rhetoric than reality, even to those who hold it. The same may be said concerning the ‘black’ or ‘white’ conception of ethics. In the long run, ‘gray’ is more honest and realistic.” (Pg. 13-14) He adds, "Can there be a constructive interpretation of this new militancy which can be reinterpreted and even sponsored by the Christian faith with its revolutionary message? It is the opinion of this author that the latter is possible and that this is the proper mission of a Black Theology." (Pg. 17)

He notes that “Those of us who have black skin and who are conscious of our blackness, but who have passed through various stages of racial protest, face a problem of ‘internal communication’ with young, angry, militant black youth who have just discovered what it means to be black in a white racist society… Many blacks who are not Christians are associated with ‘the religion of Black Power.’ A black theologian who operates from the Christian faith has difficulty being heard in this company, however angry he may be… The present writer takes his stand within the Christian theological circle.” (Pg. 21)

He continues, “A Christian theologian is not an interpreter of the religion of Black Power. He, as black theologian, may be the interpreter of Afro-American Christianity… But he is attempting to understand the Christian faith in the light of his people’s experience… His theological task is a type of ministry to blacks and whites. It is a priestly ministry to blacks… The black theologian’s role is that of a prophet as well. His message will often be unwelcomed by blacks as well as by whites. But… he will need to speak of reconciliation beyond confrontation and liberation whatever the risk and whatever the personal cost.” (Pg. 21-22) He adds, “It is the goal of a worthy Black Theology to lead both blacks and whites to an authentic Christian existence… Authentic existence for blacks and whites can only be realized finally in reconciliation between equals in the body of Christ.” (Pg. 24-25)

He explains, “Liberation is revolutionary---for blacks it points to what ought to be. Black Christians desire radical and rapid social change in America as a matter of survival. Black Christian faith is avowedly revolutionary and, therefore, it may speak to this need with great force.” (Pg. 27)

He observes, “Many blacks are turned off by the idea that their suffering as a people may have some purpose… Whenever someone makes the suggestion that perhaps the clue to the black man’s chosenness is his suffering, my mind raises real question. The crucial question is representative. Is it necessary that such oppression and undeserved suffering continue in order that grace may abound? My suspicion is aroused further by the fact that the affirmative attitude toward human suffering comes from the side of the oppressor and not from the oppressed themselves. This leads me to suggest that whatever understanding of our chosenness emerges in a Black Theology must take under serious account the fact that the black man’s experience has been purged in the fires of suffering. But our interpretation of chosenness must at the same time hold up the promise of a better day. The uses of our past must be for the redemption of our future.” (Pg. 52-53)

Later, he notes, "The God of Moses, the God of the exodus, has been real to black people. This God is one of deliverance from bondage. The God who assures the Israelites constantly, 'as I was with Moses, even so I will be with thee' has comforted, strengthened, and brought great assurance to black Christians throughout all their years of oppression in this country. Thus the God of the exodus is the black man's God." (Pg. 99)

He acknowledges, “It appears to me that that black theologian has much to learn from existentialism as he seeks to develop a helpful understanding of human nature. When I refer to this self-reflective movement, I do not particularly have in mind nihilism or pessimism; neither do I cherish its preoccupation with the absurd, with death, or with rebellion. It is not the posture of existentialists who confront life WITHOUT GOD, but those who are conscious that man stands BEFORE GOD that is most attractive for the formulation of a Christian anthropology.” (Pg. 106)

He clarifies, “The black Messiah encounters the black Christian on the level of personal experience in the black church in its setting in the black community enabling black Christians to overcome their identity crisis---having been alienated, despised, and rejected by the larger community and even in so-called integrated congregations. I do not take the figure of a black Messiah in literal historical sense. It is rather the symbol or a myth with profound meaning for black people. It is, therefore, necessary to give some attention to what we mean by a symbol or a myth.” (Pg. 130) Later, he adds, “Since the black experience has been disregarded in other versions of Christology, there is a need to make Christ and his message speak directly to the black man.” (Pg. 136)

He states, “The black Christ participates in the black experience. In some sense Christ makes contact with what the black Christian is aware of in his unique history and personal experience. He ENCOUNTERS Christ IN that experience and is CONFRONTED by the claims of Christ also in his black experience. But at the same time, the confrontation of the black Christian with the black Messiah, who is also the UNIVERSAL Christ, points him beyond the mere symbolism is rooted in his experience. In other words, the universal Christ is particularized for the black Christian in the black experience of the black messiah, but the black Messiah is at the same time universalized in the Christ of the Gospels who meets all men in their situation. The black messiah liberates the black man. The universal Christ RECONCILES the black man with the rest of mankind.” (Pg. 139-140)

He concludes, “Blacks must not allow whites to salve their consciences through reparations. Too many whites are pleased to be rid of the black presence by funding some empowerment project in the black community. They are Christian colonizers who will use separatism to strengthen their racist program. Blacks in white churches must be ‘plagues on the houses’ of white racists who desire to be at ease in Zion while racial injustices continue. Our quest for a theological ethic must provide the ethical imperatives that will lead the church, black and white, to be the church---a liberating and reconciling church.” (Pg. 198)

This book, though nearly fifty years old, remains of great interest to contemporary students of theology.

[Tim Simpson]

Vital text for our present issues around injustice and the Christian witness.