God Is Black
April 30, 2018 6:19 AM Subscribe
Theologian James Cone has died. The founder of black liberation theology, Cone sought to interpret Christianity through the lens of the black freedom struggle in America, showing that being true to the Gospel requires standing against racial oppression. Cone was the author of several books, including The Cross and the Lynching Tree and God of the Oppressed. A remembrance by Adelle Banks. From 2015, an introduction to Cone's work by Daniel José Camacho.
It is amazing to me that few theologians have even mentioned lynching in connection with the cross or said a public word against it when it was so widespread.
Christian apologetics has often emphasized the physical horror of death by crucifixion, as if Jesus ' death was a unique pinnacle of suffering. But it was a common means of execution in Rome - for slaves. This is the thing that, I believe, would have been most important to early Christians, not that God suffered torture, but that He occupied a position of disgrace and social outcast. The parallel with lynching, as a means of social control through terror, is very close.
posted by thelonius at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2018 [15 favorites]
Christian apologetics has often emphasized the physical horror of death by crucifixion, as if Jesus ' death was a unique pinnacle of suffering. But it was a common means of execution in Rome - for slaves. This is the thing that, I believe, would have been most important to early Christians, not that God suffered torture, but that He occupied a position of disgrace and social outcast. The parallel with lynching, as a means of social control through terror, is very close.
posted by thelonius at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2018 [15 favorites]
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The Cross and the Lynching Tree is the most important theological text I have read, bar none, and one of the most important explanatory texts of American politics I've read, to boot.
posted by duffell at 6:58 AM on April 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
The Cross and the Lynching Tree is the most important theological text I have read, bar none, and one of the most important explanatory texts of American politics I've read, to boot.
posted by duffell at 6:58 AM on April 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
Bumper sticker I saw, paraphrasing: "God is coming: She is a Black Woman and she is Pissed." Yes.
posted by mermayd at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mermayd at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Slavery was a fact of life in the Roman Empire and the New Testament lack of condemnation of slavery reflects that history. I admire those that can take the better biblical teachings and use them for moral insight.
posted by ShakeyJake at 7:59 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ShakeyJake at 7:59 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by hydropsyche at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2018
posted by hydropsyche at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2018
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posted by praemunire at 8:39 AM on April 30, 2018
posted by praemunire at 8:39 AM on April 30, 2018
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posted by Malingering Hector at 9:21 AM on April 30, 2018
posted by Malingering Hector at 9:21 AM on April 30, 2018
the New Testament lack of condemnation of slavery
I mean, this is super debatable especially depending on your definitions of and contrxt for "condemnation" and "slavery".
posted by windykites at 9:29 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
I mean, this is super debatable especially depending on your definitions of and contrxt for "condemnation" and "slavery".
posted by windykites at 9:29 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
I mean, this is super debatable especially depending on your definitions of and contrxt for "condemnation" and "slavery".
I could be wrong but the only thing that comes close to condemning slavery is 1 Timothy 1:10. The NIV incorrectly translates the Greek andrapodistais as slave traders when it's more accurate to say it's "men stealers" or kidnappers but for the likely purpose of slavery. When considered in the context of Paul's other writings it's hard to expect it to be a condemnation of owning slaves.
posted by ShakeyJake at 10:47 AM on April 30, 2018
I could be wrong but the only thing that comes close to condemning slavery is 1 Timothy 1:10. The NIV incorrectly translates the Greek andrapodistais as slave traders when it's more accurate to say it's "men stealers" or kidnappers but for the likely purpose of slavery. When considered in the context of Paul's other writings it's hard to expect it to be a condemnation of owning slaves.
posted by ShakeyJake at 10:47 AM on April 30, 2018
James Cone was a definite influence on me when I was in seminary in the mid-90's. Such an important, towering figure.
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posted by 4ster at 10:57 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by 4ster at 10:57 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by magstheaxe at 1:49 PM on April 30, 2018
posted by magstheaxe at 1:49 PM on April 30, 2018
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:40 PM on April 30, 2018
posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:40 PM on April 30, 2018
Dr. Cone would make sure that you know that slavery in Paul's time was not based on ethnicity and was not hereditary. Slaves were most commonly either prisoners of war or people in debt, and were frequently trained into highly skilled roles in society, like moneykeepers and doctors. All members of the household, including slaves and house servants who were not slaves, lived under the same (crowded) roof. Slaves could have more power and role in the household than servants who were not slaves. It was all very different from the European creation of chattel slavery 1500 years later.
Dr. Cone would also make sure that you know that the writings attributed to Paul that are most laudatory of slavery were almost definitely not written by the original Paul, who like Jesus' earlier followers largely rejected Roman patriarchal societal structure in favor of what we would call communal living, but by a letter writer often called The Pastor, who sought to restore Roman patriarchy to the early church.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:59 PM on April 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
Dr. Cone would also make sure that you know that the writings attributed to Paul that are most laudatory of slavery were almost definitely not written by the original Paul, who like Jesus' earlier followers largely rejected Roman patriarchal societal structure in favor of what we would call communal living, but by a letter writer often called The Pastor, who sought to restore Roman patriarchy to the early church.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:59 PM on April 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
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posted by reedcourtneyj at 5:52 PM on April 30, 2018
posted by reedcourtneyj at 5:52 PM on April 30, 2018
The Root: ‘If God Is White, Kill God’: Why Dr. James Cone Was Once the Most Hated Theologian in America
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:16 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:16 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
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From America, 2006: Theologians and White Supremacy: An interview with James H. Cone.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:24 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]