A Black Theology Of Liberation Summary

A Black Theology of Liberation James H. Cone introduced “Black Liberation Theology” to the world five years after the assassination of Malcolm X, two years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, three years before America pulled out of Vietnam and four years before Nixon resigned as President of the United States. “A Black Theology of Liberation,” published in 1970, responded to the racial disparities suffered by Blacks since the inception of slavery. Cone’s premise demanded that in order for African Americans to mount a theological resistance to the ongoing oppression by the dominant culture, it would be necessary to view the work of God in the Bible from a perspective other than that proposed by white theologians. This new perspective required a look at the historical record of slavery and work of God historically. Although the use of black history as a theological foundation for liberation appeared to be constricted, it set the foundation for explaining how Africans shipped to America against their will were able to use a white theology to mount resistance against chattel slavery and continued oppression in America. Cone’s Christian theological treatise, described as a theology of liberation is defined as “a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of …show more content…
However, Cone came to understand that the use of God –language did not necessarily mean that white supremacy was referring to the God of the oppressed. Therefore, the divine of the oppressor was not the same God of the oppressed revealed in scriptures. Jesus was sent to release the captives and set the oppressed free from their oppressors solidifying Cone’s theological stance of Black Theology of Liberation. However, Cone’s stance did not evolve out of a vacuum. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were among the thousands murdered in seeking justice for African