Can Black Theology create New Black Men?
             Since the emergence of Black Theology in the 1960s, attempts have been made to characterise it in various ways, one approach seeks to characterise it in terms of its recent history, that is, of its origins in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960's. The second approach starts from the perspective of interpreting the various ways in which the African American slaves affirmed and reworked the scriptures and the Christian faith within the context of their experience of slavery.
             In this essay I want to add to the continuing discussion by considering the relationship between black theology and the creation of new black men. This I will do by first exploring the religious authority of Black Theology. I will draw upon the work of James Cone and James Evans as my main source of information. I will then explore the issue of black male identity by looking at the work of both Robert Beckford and Gareth Baker-Fletcher.
             Just over two thousand years ago, the biblical prophet Malachi spoke of the work and purpose of the coming messiah by declaring, "He will turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers back to the children." The implication of the prophet's statement appears to be that of the creation of new men who will become new fathers. But will these new black men need to create a new form of Black theology? Yes! according to Tony Sewell (the Voice) "Our children need to be plugged into a radical version of religion that gives them moral authority but at the same time questions the economic and social structures that govern our lives." Sewell continued his brief "reality check" of the black church by stating that, "his generation disillusionment with traditional Christianity was its inability to deal with the real needs of black people." Two questions are in order at this point: first, how do...