A Black Theology of Liberation
A Black Theology of Liberation was a rare book of its kind and when it cameout in 1970, James Cone immediately became a household name for hisphilosophies and views expressed in the book took America by storm. For thefirst time, the concepts of black power and black domination were given astronger meaning and significance as Cone declared that Gospel or HolyScriptures needed to be read with a new perspective so that blacks couldrelate to it. In a high controversial book, Cone declared that Christ wasblack too: "The 'raceless' American Christ has a light skin, wavy brownhair, and sometimes - wonder of wonders - blue eyes. For whites to find himwith big lips and kinky hair is as offensive as it was for the Pharisees tofind him partying with tax collectors. But whether whites want to hear itor not, Christ is black... with all of the features which are so detestableThis was indeed a new concept and one that whites couldn't relate to sinceit changed the way they had perceived Gospel and Christ's messages. Conemaintains that man needs to re-examine the religious books and HolyScriptures because it needs to be more in tune with the experiences ofblack men. The oppression and injusti
Cone feelsthat the reason it was important to come up with a black interpretation oftheological concepts was because oppression was directly connected withrevelation and had there been no oppression; there would have been norevelation. "James Cone changed the way America viewed God and in fact came forth with aclearer and less ambiguous image of God. Cone advocated the use of a newmethod of studying the Gospel that would present Christ as a symbol ofliberation from all kind of oppression and injustice. To see the future of God, as revealed inhis resurrection in Christ, is to see also the contradiction of any earthlyinjustice with existence in Christ. The reason this book created a storm wasnot only because of its controversial nature but also because of the factthat this was the very first time that someone had come up with thediscovery that racism plagued Gospel and its interpretation too. He also argues that the reason white interpretation of religion doesn'tmake sense to blacks is because "unfortunately, American white theology hasnot been involved in the struggle for black liberation. Cone felt that racismwas not limited to the way whites treated blacks but extended to everyrealm of life including theology: "racism. Blackness is thus "an ontological symbol for all people who participate inthe liberation of man from oppression" while white is associated withoppression and injustice. Rather it is hope which focuses in order to make men refuse totolerate present inequalities. To present a white image of Jesus Christ was tobring racism to religion too and thus separate black people fromChristianity. A very interesting point made the author is that blackness orblack is not associated with race alone. " (22) And furthermaintains that, "There can be no theology of the Gospel that does not arisefrom an oppressed community.
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