Black Liberation Theology Another Jesus Devine Racism James H ConeBlack theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love. [1]  This is a direct quote from when a Marxist ideology clothes itself with Christian terms.  The fruit is hate.

What is Black Theology?

It was this YouTube video I saw during the latest election with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright who pontificated this strange thing.  Black Theology and Dr. Cone.  I looked into it and was saddened to see the theology that was born out of centuries of oppression and hatred.  Much like the children of Israel were oppressed by Egypt and set free.  The children of Israel built up we verse them theology.  We could spend a long time building that case…but we won’t.
[bctt tweet=”What is Black Theology? A bizarre blend of Liberation Theology & Devine Racism. Come n see”]

It should be said here and now that our heavenly father chose the Jews as the race in which God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus was a Jew.  Not black or white.  No racial agenda!  Except for the sins of the entire human race.

Black Theology of Liberation

The primary focus is to boil away all the rhetoric and semantics that theologians use with great skill for good and evil.  Our task as Christians of all races is that Jesus is Lord, King of kings and He is Creator.  Scriptures indicate that we are all born of one blood.  We all descended from Adam and Eve.  Sin brings separation.  Separation in relationships, family, community, peoples, races, and nations.  Satan uses our God-given diversity to elevate our pride to think we are better than our brother.

Cain and Abel were the first two brothers and sin had caused Cain to kill his brother over religion.  This spirit is with us today and just another manifestation in Black Theology. -Amos37

Black Liberation Theology Another Jesus Devine Racism James H Cone

 

 

 

 

Dr. Cone the main proponent and in his own words preaches a hateful message of inverted racism that was imposed on the black community at large and still is today in many arenas.  However as Christians and this is my bone of contention with Black Theology is that is misses the basic tenant of Love , forgiveness, and restoration.  Instead it promotes destruction which is dogma of Satan tool.  “For he comes to steal to destroy and to kill.  Vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay…”

Our nation has many problems.  First, we must heal the past by forgiving each other the sins of our fathers.  Faith looks forward and bitterness looks back and causes us to stumble.  Enough of me.  In 2 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul gives us insight that as Cain and Abel the first murder was over religion.  Satan has his ministers of righteousness.  Religion is the devil’s playground.  He created Religion!  What we had in the garden of Eden was a Relationship with God.  That is what Christ restored at the cross where He gave us back access into Gods very presence in tearing down the middle wall of separation in His flesh.  Thanks be to God!

Some helpful links and articles below and and interview with Dr. Cone himself.  Pray for them.  Recall that scripture says that “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great [is] that darkness!”  Matthew 6:23

Pay real close attention to Dr. Cone and how he feels about the cross.  Wow.  If you are in this type of church.  Run!  Read your bible. Without the cross, their is no Christianity.  Having read and heard this it will help us to pray for our President.  That is also a command for believers regardless of what we may feel.

Dr. Cone & Black Theology

For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!... But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:4-15

Black Theology & Divine Racism

Black Liberation Theology of Hate False prophet James ConeBlack theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.[1]

1. See William R Jones, “Divine Racism: The Unacknowledged Threshold Issue for Black Theology”, in African-American Religious Thought: An Anthology, ed Cornel West and Eddie Glaube (Westminster John Knox Press).

Here is a link below:  Complete with an audio interview of Dr. Cone.Black Liberation Theology, in its Founder’s Words: NPR

 

Black Liberation Theology, in its Founder’s Words.

In a now-famous 2003 sermon, Wright charged that an ingrained, abiding racism in American society is at fault for many of the troubles African-Americans face, and he thundered, “No, no, no, not God bless America! God damn America — that’s in the Bible — for killing innocent people.”

Below an overview from Wikipedia.  Link Here: Black theology – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black theology is a form of liberation theology that has its center in the theme of oppression of black people by white people.[1] According to James H. Cone who developed what would be called Black liberation theology it came out of the “need for black people to define the scope and meaning of black existence in a white society”[citation needed], and emerged in the last two decades in the wave of liberation movements as an expression of “black consciousness”. Black theology is focused on the issues that blacks are confronted with on a daily basis.

Black Liberation Theology view of God

Intricate and largely philosophical views of God are largely ignored in preference for the concerns of the oppressed. White Christian concepts taught to black persons are to be disregarded or ignored. The aspects of God’s person, his power, and authority, as well as “subtle indications of God’s white maleness” are said not to relate to the black experience, to the extent of sometimes being antagonistic. While trinitarian theology is a big concern, Jesus is still considered to be God. The focus is given to God’s actions, and his delivering of the oppressed because of his righteousness.  Immanence is stressed over transcendence, and as a result, God is seen to be “in flux” or “always changing”. [1]

Black Liberation Theology on Christ

Black Jesus Armegeddon to White PeopleJesus is seen as a non-white, social liberator who focused on the emancipation of the poor and of the marginalized, and parallels are made with the emancipation efforts of black people in the United States. Christ’s message is interpreted as encouraging “black power” (Henry). His intrinsic nature and spiritual activity receive little or no attention. Some even deny his role as the atoning sacrifice for the world’s sins and provider of eternal life (Shrine).  Moving into circles of and gaining support for those who are given over to The Social Justice Gospel.

Black Liberation Theology on Revelation

Black theology is not bound to biblical liberalism but is of a more pragmatic nature. Only the experience of black oppression is the authoritative standard.

Black Liberation Theology on Salvation

Salvation is freedom from the oppression and pertains to blacks in this life. Proponents of black theology are concerned specifically with the political and theological aspects of salvation more than the spiritual. In other words, salvation is physically liberation from white oppression, or “The white enemy” (Cone) rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual person. Presenting heaven as a reward for following Christ is seen as an attempt to dissuade blacks from the goal of real liberation of their whole persons.

Black Liberation Theology on the Church

The church is the focus of social expression in the black community where the blacks can express freedom and equality (Cone). Thus the church and politics have formed a cohesion where the theological expression of the desire for social freedom is carried out.
Excerpt from Black Theology here:Black Theology (by Ron Rhodes)
James Cone: Theologian of Black Liberation

In assessing the theology of James Cone, it is critical to recognize that he sees black experience as the fundamental starting point for ascertaining theological truth. And his own writings are a reflection of his own “black experience” – that is, the discrimination he suffered while growing up as a child in Bearden, Arkansas.

What was it like in Bearden? “It meant attending ‘separate but equal’ schools, going to the balcony when attending a movie, and drinking water from a ‘colored’ fountain. It meant refusing to retaliate when called a nigger unless you were prepared to leave town at the precise moment of your rebellion. You had no name except for your first name of ‘boy.'”[14] Cone concedes that “my theological reflections are inseparable from the Bearden experience. What I write is urged out of my blood.”[15]

Cone says that “it is this common experience among black people in America that Black Theology elevates as the supreme test of truth. To put it simply, Black Theology knows no authority more binding than the experience of oppression itself. This alone must be the ultimate authority in religious matters.”[16]

From the above, one may immediately suspect that Cone has a deficient view of the authority of Scripture. Indeed, his view seems very close to the neo-orthodoxy of Karl Barth, as when Cone writes: “It is true that the Bible is not the revelation of God, only Christ is. But it is an indispensable witness to God’s revelation.”[17] Moreover, “we should not conclude that the Bible is an infallible witness.”[18] Cone believes the meaning of Scripture is not to be found in the words of Scripture as such, but only in its power to point beyond itself to the reality of God’s “revelation,” which – in America – takes place experientially in God’s liberating work among blacks.

Black Theology & Black Power

Based on the preeminence of “black experience,” Cone defines theology as “a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ.”[19] Cone’s theology asks (and seeks to answer) the question, “What does the Christian gospel have to say to powerless black men whose existence is threatened daily by the insidious tentacles of white power?”[20]
In answering this pivotal question, Cone emphasizes that there is a very close relationship between black theology and what has been termed “black power.” Cone says that black power is a phrase that represents both black freedom and black self-determination “wherein black people no longer view themselves as without human dignity but as men, human beings with the ability to carve out their own destiny.”[21]

Cone says black theology is the religious counterpart of black power. “Black Theology is the theological arm of Black Power, and Black Power is the political arm of Black Theology.”[22] And, “while Black Power focuses on the political, social, and economic condition of black people, Black Theology puts black identity in a theological context.”[23]

We gain insights about what Cone means by “black theology” and “black power” by understanding what blackness means in his theology. Cone notes two aspects of blackness: the physiological and ontological. In the first sense, “black” indicates a physiological trait. It refers to “a particular black-skinned people in America.”[24]

In the second sense, “black” and “white” relate not to skin pigmentation but to “one’s attitude and action toward the liberation of the oppressed black people from white racism.”[25] Blackness is thus “an ontological symbol for all people who participate in the liberation of man from oppression.”[26] Seen in this light, “blackness” can be attributed to people who do not have black skin but who do work for liberation.

By contrast, “whiteness” in Cone’s thought symbolizes the ethnocentric activity of “madmen sick with their own self-concept” and thus blind to that which ails them and oppresses others. Whiteness symbolizes sickness and oppression. White theology is therefore viewed as a theological extension of that sickness and oppression.[27]

Having established that the black experience is the governing principle in Cone’s interpretation of Scripture, it is important to understand how this governing principle has affected his views of specific doctrines.

Black Liberation Theology on God

Cone bases much of his liberationist theology on God’s deliverance of Israel from oppression under the Egyptians. He says that the consistent theme in Israelite prophecy is Yahweh’s concern for “the lack of social, economic, and political justice for those who are poor and unwanted in the society.”[28]

This same God, Cone argues, is working for the deliverance of oppressed blacks in twentieth-century America. Because God is helping oppressed blacks and has identified with them, God Himself is spoken of as “black.”

Black theology’s dominant perspective on God is “God in action, delivering the oppressed because of His righteousness. He is to be seen, not in the transcendent way of Greek philosophy, but immanent, among His people.”[29] God is “immanent” in the sense that He is met in concrete historical situations of liberation.

This is very similar to the idea of the immanence of God in process theology. Indeed, process theologian David Ray Griffin, while recognizing important differences between process and black theology, has suggested that “process philosophy supports liberation theologians in locating the reality of God’s presence and creative activity in this world.”[30]

Who is Jesus Christ?

Cone’s intention is to stand in the Chalcedonian tradition in his understanding of Jesus Christ. The Chalcedonian creed (A.D. 451) affirmed that Christ is “truly God and truly man.” Cone agrees with this, but adds that the role of Jesus as God-Incarnate was to liberate the oppressed: Jesus Christ “is God himself coming into the very depths of human existence for the sole purpose of striking off the chains of slavery, thereby freeing man from ungodly principalities and powers that hinder his relationship with God.”[31]

One of the more controversial aspects of Cone’s Christology is his view that Jesus was (is) black: “The ‘raceless’ American Christ has a light skin, wavy brown hair, and sometimes – wonder of wonders – blue eyes. For whites to find him with big lips and kinky hair is as offensive as it was for the Pharisees to find him partying with tax-collectors. But whether whites want to hear it or not, Christ is black, baby, with all of the features which are so detestable to white society” (emphasis in original).[32]

Cone believes it is very important for black people to view Jesus as black: “It’s very important because you’ve got a lot of white images of Christ. In reality, Christ was not white, not European. That’s important to the psychic and to the spiritual consciousness of black people who live in a ghetto and in a white society in which their lord and savior looks just like people who victimize them. God is whatever color God needs to be in order to let people know they’re not nobodies, they’re somebodies.”[33]

For Cone, the Resurrection of the black Jesus – a real event – symbolizes universal freedom for all who are bound. It is not just a future-oriented hope in a heavenly compensation for earthly woes. Rather, it is a hope that focuses on the future in such a way that it prevents blacks from tolerating present inequities.[34] This is closely related to Cone’s understanding of eschatology (more on this shortly).
Sin and Salvation. In Cone’s view, sin is “a condition of human existence in which man denies the essence of God’s liberating activity as revealed in Jesus Christ.”[35] In this view, sin is anything that is contrary to the oppressed community or its liberation.

Salvation for Cone primarily has to do with earthly reality, not heavenly hopes. “To see the salvation of God is to see this people [i.e., the blacks] rise up against their oppressors, demanding that justice become a reality now and not tomorrow.”[36] Hence, though Cone often speaks of Jesus as the Liberator, in practical terms he emphasizes the human work of self-liberation among blacks and downplays divine help.

The Black Church

Cone believes the black church has played an instrumental role in the religious and social life of black America. He says the black church was the creation of a black people “whose daily existence was an encounter with the overwhelming and brutalizing reality of white power. For the slaves it was the sole source of identity and the sense of community. The black church became the only sphere of black experience that was free of white power.”[37]

Still, Cone believes that – since the days of slavery – the black church has largely capitulated to the demands of a white racist society. He argues that in order to survive, the black churches have given up their freedom and dignity. After the Civil War, black churches became passive in the struggle for civil rights and freedom while currying favors from the white establishment. This condition, Cone says, has persisted up to the present day, rendering the black church “the lifeless pawn of the status quo.”[38]

Only faithfulness to the “pre-Civil War black church tradition” will issue in “an exclusive identification with black power,” Cone believes. He says that a continued emphasis on black power is “the only hope of the black church in America.”[39] (Though “black power” as a movement faded after the 1960s, the primary emphasis of the movement – the dignity, freedom, and self-determination of black people – has continued in Cone’s theological writings. It is this emphasis that Cone says has been missing in many black churches.)

Dr. Cone on Eschatology

Cone rejects what he terms the “white lie” that Christianity is primarily concerned with life in the next world: “If eschatology means that one believes that God is totally uninvolved in the suffering of man because he is preparing them for another world, then black theology is not eschatological. Black theology has hope for this life.”[40]

Cone asks what good there is in golden crowns, slippers, and white robes “if it means that we have to turn our backs on the pain and suffering of our own children? Unless the future can become present, thereby forcing us to make changes in this world, what significance could eschatology have for black people who believe that their self-determination must become a reality now?”[41]

Revolution and Violence Black Lives Matter

I would be remiss to close this discussion of James Cone without noting his views on revolution and violence. Cone defines liberation as the “emancipation of black people from white oppression by whatever means black people deem necessary.”[42] This definition would seem to allow for the use of violence.

A demonstrator raises his fist as police stand in formation as a store burns, Monday, April 27, 2015, during unrest following the funeral of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A demonstrator raises his fist as police stand in formation as a store burns, Monday, April 27, 2015, during unrest following the funeral of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Cone does not advocate armed revolution against white society. But some violence, he says, seems unavoidable. He points out that “the Christian does not decide between violence and nonviolence, evil and good. He decides between the lesser and the greater evil. He must ponder whether revolutionary violence is less or more deplorable than the violence perpetuated by the system.”[43] Injustice, slave labor, hunger, and exploitation are all violent forms that must be considered against the cost of revolutionary violence.

As final note, the theology of a man who is full of hate has not for one second understood the message of the cross.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We see in this short excerpt from the what the Lord Jesus taught us to pray is wrapped in forgiveness.  No one contends that many peoples of all ages and races have been abused by Godless men.  No, love and the forgiveness comes in Christ Jesus selfless act of great love for all who will believe.

 

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

>But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  Matthew 6:10-15

Forgiveness is the key to healing.  Having said that, it is not our nature to forgive.  We need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to grant us and those around us grace.  Grace people!  Love is the measure of true believers.  Jesus said…

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  John 13:34-35.

Note it is a command from our precious Lord who forgave us far more than we know.  Peace!

YouTube – Black Liberation Theology

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