Analysis Of Dr. James Cone's Black Liberation Theology

Liberation theology refers to the liberation of oppressive regimes through Christianity. For instance, liberation theology was used to combat the military government in El Salvador. This is important because it shines the light on how theology played a fundamental role in the liberation of the Salvadoran Civil War. Furthermore, there are many branches to liberation theology for example biblical, pastoral, theological and revolutionary. These branches are unique in how they carry out their action, but the objective is still the same. In other words, these different branches all have the same objective. For example, biblical theology emphasis social justice through the scriptures of the Bible. On the other hand, revolutionary theology emphasized

Gustavo Gutierrez coined the term “liberation theology” and its roots come from Latin America. According to the dictionary, liberation theology is defined as “a 20th-century Christian theology, emphasizing the Biblical and doctrinal theme of liberation from oppression, whether racial, sexual, economic, or political” (dictionary). Liberation theology arose principally as a moral reaction to the poverty and social justice in Latin America. This particular reason is why Gustavo Gutierrez adapts this method and relies on it heavily because of his

Kelly Brown Douglas begins by posing a series of questions, including, “Who is the Black Christ?” and “Is the Black Christ Enough?” (6-7) For Douglas, the Black Christ, “…represents God’s urgent movement in human history to set Black captives free from the demons of White racism” (3). The question of “Who is the Black Christ?” is addressed in Chapter 3. The question of “Is the Black Christ enough?” is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5, as Douglas critically examines the relationship of the Black Christ to the Black community and ends with addressing what womanist theology is and why there is a need for it in understanding the Black Christ.

Clearly the learning process Cone puts his readers through is based on “building blocks.” He begins at a certain point and builds on it till Black Theology is understood. This creates for many reoccurring themes that cannot go unnoticed. The themes of liberation, suffering and scripture are the themes that seem to cover all that Cone has discussed in his literary teaching. The three continuously overlap so discussing the three together is only logical. To Christianity scripture is obviously crucial, but for Black Theology it is everything. The Old Testament book of Exodus is crucial in understanding Black Theology, because it gives a historical account of God helping a special oppressed group survive and liberate. Blacks in America were oppressed just as the Israelites, so they believe that God will liberate them. While

idea that theology is not universal, but tied to specific historical contexts. In A Black Theology of

In African-American history, "the church" has been the center of Black communities and has been established as the greatest source for African American religious enrichment and development. The term, "the Black Church” represents many details of racial and religious lifestyles unique to Black history. By 1700, most Protestant and Catholic slave owners came to a conclusion, that if a slave had a soul, conversion to Christianity had no effect on them being a slave. Some slave owners searched for passages in the Bible that made it sound as if the Bible approved the enslavement of black men and woman. During the 1730s, the "Great Awakening" movement brought about a demand for the use of livelier music called hymns in worship service. This new

The first essay is about James Baldwin's personal perspective of being black in racist America. The second essay goes on to how religion and Christianity allowed the segregation and oppression of blacks to grow between both whites and blacks of the United States (Baldwin, 1963). Christianity in the United States can be easily be compared to the opiate of the masses. Religion controlled the lives of the whites and forced the blacks to live under the oppressive rule of the whites.

For almost eight decades, enslaved African-Americans living in the Antebellum South, achieved their freedom in various ways—one being religion—before the demise of the institution of slavery. It was “freedom, rather than slavery, [that] proved the greatest force for conversion among African Americans in the South” (94). Starting with the Great Awakening and continuing long after the abolition of slavery, after decades of debate, scholars conceptualized the importance of religion for enslaved African-Americans as a means of escaping the brutalities of daily life. Overall, Christianity helped enslaved African American resist the degradation

James H. Cone’s God of the Oppressed is his examination of the origin, development, and significance of black theology as it relates to how he and the black Christian community view God. For Cone, in an America seemingly dominated by white theology and the white Christian community’s views of God, it is imperative to acknowledge and attentively listen to the voices of the theologies of other races and what God means to them, especially that of the black community. Cone asserts without hesitation that the God that is referred to in the Bible and black religion is a Deliver of those held captive by the bondage of oppression. Cone not only asserts this viewpoint of God as the Freer of oppressed people, but he validates this assertion through the use of Scripture, the black experience, history, and tradition. Overall, the central theme of this book is that a plethora of factors continually shape and construct a people’s theology and how that theology is significant in regards to how they see God, the world, and themselves.

Correspondingly, as a means of freedom, Black theology views Salvation as a claims of reclamation for the things that were once stripped from the oppressed. According to James Cone, Salvation primarily has to do with earthly reality, not heavenly hopes. "To see the salvation of God is to see His people

Cone tells us that blacks would rather die than surrender to some other value. “When the black man rebels at the risk of death, he is forcing white society to look at him, to recognize him, to take his being into account, to admit that he is.” Black Power is really an attitude, an inward affirmation of essential worth of blackness.

Black Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with god in their struggle to end oppression. It sees god as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, the reflection of God for blacks came in the struggle for freedom by blacks. Although the term black liberation theology is a fairly new, becoming popular in the early 1960’s with Black Theology and Black Power, a book written by James H. Cone, its

One of the first things that attracted the African American slaves to Christianity was a way of obtaining the salvation of theirs souls based on the Christian’s idea of a future reward in heaven or punishment in hell, which did not exist in their primary religion. The religious principles inherited from Africa sought purely physical salvation and excluded the salvation of the soul. However, they did believe in one supreme God, which made it easier for them to assimilate Christianity.

During a most dark and dismal time in our nations history, we find that the Africans who endured horrible circumstances during slavery, found ways of peace and hope in their religious beliefs. During slavery, African's where able to survive unbearable conditions by focusing on their spirituality.

The idea of Black Theology was to redefine the meaning and role of church and religion in the lives of Black people. The theology of Blacks came to be because of racism, injustice, inhumanity, and inequality. Black Theology was created out of a liberal struggle for political freedom and of the development by the black religious experience.