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A Black Political Theology
How do black political needs and goals relate to black religious experience? What is the meaning of religion—and of Christ—in a racist society?
In this classic early articulation of Black theology, first published in 1974, J. Deotis Roberts argues that reconciliation is the essence of the good news, but it must be in conjunction with liberation. Ethnicity and theology, he contends, must meet in the specific black religious experience by recognizing the liberal, activist, and even revolutionary role of Christ in the cause of freedom. Discussing human nature and destiny in the black perspective, the nature of the gospel, and the black experience of community, Roberts presents the place of the black church as the main institution poised to implement the liberation of whole persons and a whole people.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
J. Deotis Roberts
21 books6 followersJ. Deotis Roberts was the fourth president of the Interdenominational Theological Center. Born July 12, 1927 in Spindale, North Carolina, he earned a Ph.D. in Philosophical Theology in 1957 and later received a Doctor of Letters Degree, both from the University of Edinburgh. Roberts also received degrees from Johnson C. Smith University (Bachelor of Arts), Shaw University Divinity School (Bachelor of Divinity), and Hartford Seminary (Master of Sacred Theology).
He was a pioneer of Black theological discourse in the late 1960’s known as the Black Theology movement, whose most notable public figure is James Cone. As a highly respected and first generation African American theologian, Roberts offered a critical response to the early works of James Cone, particularly Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power.
In addition to this work, Roberts has taught at several universities, training generations of scholars at educational institutions around the world including Howard University, Yale University, Duke University, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. Outside his role as ITC President, Roberts has held different administrative posts, most notably as the first and only Black president of the American Theological Society, also being one of its earliest African American members. J. Deotis Roberts has published numerous books and articles, including The Prophethood of Black Believers: An African American Political Theology for Ministry, Black Theology in Dialogue, and Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology, and A Black Political Theology. He served as the president of the Interdenominational Theological Center from 1980-1983.
He was a pioneer of Black theological discourse in the late 1960’s known as the Black Theology movement, whose most notable public figure is James Cone. As a highly respected and first generation African American theologian, Roberts offered a critical response to the early works of James Cone, particularly Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power.
In addition to this work, Roberts has taught at several universities, training generations of scholars at educational institutions around the world including Howard University, Yale University, Duke University, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. Outside his role as ITC President, Roberts has held different administrative posts, most notably as the first and only Black president of the American Theological Society, also being one of its earliest African American members. J. Deotis Roberts has published numerous books and articles, including The Prophethood of Black Believers: An African American Political Theology for Ministry, Black Theology in Dialogue, and Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology, and A Black Political Theology. He served as the president of the Interdenominational Theological Center from 1980-1983.
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July 4, 2024
AN EXAMINATION OF THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BLACK THEOLOGY
J. Deotis Roberts was Dean of the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary; previously he was a professor of theology at Howard University. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the original 238-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1974 book, “A book should have a perspective. The present work is a constructive attempt at theological interpretation within the perspective of black awareness. Many peoples today have a new consciousness. The writer is avowedly BLACK. The reader will note that the theological positions of neo-orthodoxy and the British postliberal theologians have shaped my thought. I have been aided in my thinking by existentialism and the theology of hope. To be honest, it would be well for me to mention how much classical Western philosophy and theology have impinged upon my mind and spirit. My study of Christian Platonism will always be in focus. The study or Eastern and African religions will be reflected from time to time, but I want to speak from the Christian faith claim in its healing and social dimensions. My purpose is to speak to the whole man, body and spirit, in solitude and in the encounter with other persons-in-community.” (Pg. 13)
He continues, “There is a need for a theology growing out of the experience of the black American. Whereas today there is much excitement over a revolutionary theology in general, and the theology of hope in particular, the unique problems of the black experience are not properly treated… Many of these programs in political theology are highly theoretical, ivory-tower pursuits indulged in by those far removed by race and space from the fray. There is an obvious need for empirical programs BY and FOR those engaged in the struggle for liberation… It is not the duty of a black theologian to speak for all ‘minorities’ and ‘ethnics.’ He should encourage these to speak for themselves, loud and clear, until they are heard. They alone know the depths of their sufferings and their hunger for liberation.” (Pg. 15-16)
He explains, “Indigenization is a key concept for black theology as it is for all socially conscious programs in theology… What we have in mind when we refer to ‘indigenization’ is … a deliberate and avowed acceptance of ‘context’ or ‘situation’ as the matrix of theological discourse. An indigenized theology takes us beyond the so-called national theologies of the past and the present… The black theologian must turn to the Third World, to Latin America, to Asia and Africa, to observe theological models of ‘indigenization’ worthy of this consideration. We have already referred to what some Latin-American theologians are doing to indigenize theology.” (Pg. 29-30)
He suggests, “In this time of black consciousness, the black man who rereads the Bible will be greatly rewarded. Its message to the black man is personal and social. The Bible… also addressed black people. For example, the bondage of Israel becomes their bondage and the deliverance of Israel their deliverance… the Bible holds to a ‘holistic’ view of man. Biblical anthropology conceives of man as a unified being---body, mind, and spirit. It follows that there is no way for an enslaved man to be free. The faulty theology---written into law---which asserted that a slave would remain chained in body and free in spirit is to be condemned as a demonic distortion of the Biblical message.” (Pg. 38-39)
He points out, “African peoples are not people of a Book. There is a strong reliance upon the spoken word and the continuity of kinship ties as a means of transmitting a religious tradition… A people of oral traditions is more dependent upon a culture-based approach to theology than is a people of a Book.” (Pg. 43) He continues, “Since black religious experience is mainly an oral tradition and since it is more intuitive than conceptual, we need a way of doing theology that is based primarily upon image-thinking… This makes religion a cohesive aspect of black culture. The arts, poetry, music, and the like, are closely associated with religion. Symbols emerging out of various forms of black expression can inform theology, since all theology is reflection upon religious experience.” (Pg. 46)
He explains, “A black political theology will seek a balance between the quest for meaning and protest against injustices. A life… must also be prepared to oppose the dehumanization and all threats to authentic existence if it is to be worth living.” (Pg. 58) Later, he adds, “It is a crucial consideration that love and justice be linked with power in black theology… Black theologians and churchmen must use all the power at their disposal to liberate and humanize life for black people. The black church is a slumbering giant. A black political theology is designed to awaken this most powerful black institution in the cause of the liberation of the whole man.” (Pg. 69-70) He continues, “Black power, correctly understood, is freedom for responsibility in the interest of a permanent state of liberation… Black theology and the black church must become strong allies in the cause of black liberation.” (Pg. 72-73)
He observes, “Our understanding of the gospel is political. Man in black theology is a being who exercises power on behalf of his authentic manhood… Blacks who have experienced America, often as a nightmare, have known all along that something is radically wrong with a society which remains so racist, inhuman, and unjust to the largest minority in the country because of the complexion of their skin.” (Pg. 94)
He notes, “Black theology cannot accept either the Jesus who preserves the American way of life or the Jesus of the counter culture. Jesus is not, for us, the world’s greatest business organizer, the chairman of the biggest board of all. He is not the bringer of wealth, peace of mind, or Consciousness III… He is not a super athlete. Neither is he a societal dropout, a political subversive, a guerilla fighter complete with submachine gun. In other words, Jesus must not be locked into a given cluster of political and cultural perceptions. We see a Christ ABOVE culture who is at the same time at work IN culture and history for redemptive ends---setting free the whole person, mind, soul, and body.” (Pg. 119)
He offers some critiques of James Cone: “Cone does not see any relation between the teaching and example of Jesus and his so-called black Christ, who is involved in the black liberation struggle. We are not to raise the question, What would Jesus do? for his situation was so different from ours. To take this position is to leave the troops of the black liberation army, already confused, in a state of total moral confusion. To take this position is to leave the troops of the black liberation army, already confused, in a state of total moral confusion… where would this leave the black church, the only institutional giant at our disposal? The black church needs a theology of social change and political action… When black scholars read, analyze, and assess that is going on in their fields of specialization, they have a much more urgent task as they look at Jesus. The question… ‘What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ [is] at the center of our quest. Jesus means freedom. He is the Liberator. This indicates that we cannot abandon either the Jesus of history or the Christ of faith.” (Pg. 123-124)
He points out, “For blacks, Jesus is understood in a psychocultural sense. He leads us to a new self-understanding. He helps us to overcome the identity crisis triggered by white oppression of blacks… It is the assertion of our dignity, our manhood, our peoplehood. Jesus brings a message from a God who creates, redeems, and judges all men… We identify with the Jesus of the oppressed, who enters into life. Jesus who is the Emmanuel is the black Messiah. The ‘white Christ’ alienates us. He symbolizes the oppressor and intensifies our identity crises. The black Christ turns us on, so to speak. Jesus as the liberator confronts us in the symbol of ‘soul.’” (Pg. 137)
He states, “Black political theology is based upon an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of God to do far more than we ask or think. It is a theology of meaning, protest, and liberation. It is a theology that merges the secular and the sacred. It is a theology that combines the priestly and the prophetic---pietism and activism… It provides a gospel of power for the black church to undergird its thought, worship, and life. This gospel of power will enable black Christians to have a better self-understanding, to overcome the identity crisis caused by the black reality in America. It will liberate individual black Christians and black congregations as agents of black liberation.” (Pg. 152-153)
He suggests, “Both ethics and eschatology are essential to black political theology… One cannot see the present life in full focus without a look at the future life, but neither may one fully appreciate the future life apart from the present life… Eschatology can no longer be a mere addendum to black theology. It is at the center of any theology which endeavors to bring a meaningful hope to the weak and the powerless… Black theology has unique promise of ushering eternity into time without surrendering a grasp upon eternal hope. What we seek is not QUANTITY of existence but QUALITY.” (Pg. 179-180) Later, he adds, “A black political theology provides a theological foundation for an action-oriented people who are determined to be ‘black and free.’ This theology emerges out of the crucible of black suffering and out of the dark night of the black soul’s distress. We seek the deliverance of a people as well as personal liberation.” (Pg. 204)
He clarifies, “We must not ignore the differences in the contexts of liberation theology and black theology. The liberation theologians are in Latin America, where Roman Catholicism is predominant. They are in ‘developing countries,’ the governments are often totalitarian, and the masses are often influenced by some aspect of Marxism… Liberation movements are often violent, and the task is to overthrow the existing social order to make way for a more humane order. Looking now a black theology, we note that it is mainly Protestant… Black theologians live in a developed and pluralistic society… Ours is more of a race problem than a class problem. The suffering of the black poor is very widespread and intense, however. Between black Americans and the masses of people in Latin America is a fellowship of those who bear the mark of pain.” (Pg. 207)
He concludes, “The incorporation of reconciliation into a black theology needs no justification. Reconciliation is an integral part of the gospel… God in Christ is reconciling in the world and Christians are called to be agents of this reconciling gospel… Racism, by developing a cleavage between blacks and whites, renders the gospel of no effect. The gospel is only accepted fully where the ‘walls of partition’ are broken down between man and man. There are no exceptions. Reconciliation in our social climate includes a ‘cross’ for all Christians, black and white. The cross for whites is repentance based upon the full awareness of what ‘whiteness’ means in a society where whites are beneficiaries and blacks are victims… blacks race a real challenge when asked to extend the possibility of reconciliation to the oppressor. Our cross is forgiveness… For whites to expect blacks to be reconciled to them under oppressive conditions… is inhuman and unchristian. Reconciliation can only take place when blacks as well as whites are free to affirm their authentic selfhood and peoplehood… The only Christian way in race relations is a liberating experience of reconciliation for the white oppressor as well as for the black oppressed. This is what a black political theology is all about, and its message is to the whole church of Christ.” (Pg. 221-222)
Roberts is one of the major black theologians, and his books are “must reading” for anyone seriously studying the subject.
J. Deotis Roberts was Dean of the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary; previously he was a professor of theology at Howard University. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the original 238-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1974 book, “A book should have a perspective. The present work is a constructive attempt at theological interpretation within the perspective of black awareness. Many peoples today have a new consciousness. The writer is avowedly BLACK. The reader will note that the theological positions of neo-orthodoxy and the British postliberal theologians have shaped my thought. I have been aided in my thinking by existentialism and the theology of hope. To be honest, it would be well for me to mention how much classical Western philosophy and theology have impinged upon my mind and spirit. My study of Christian Platonism will always be in focus. The study or Eastern and African religions will be reflected from time to time, but I want to speak from the Christian faith claim in its healing and social dimensions. My purpose is to speak to the whole man, body and spirit, in solitude and in the encounter with other persons-in-community.” (Pg. 13)
He continues, “There is a need for a theology growing out of the experience of the black American. Whereas today there is much excitement over a revolutionary theology in general, and the theology of hope in particular, the unique problems of the black experience are not properly treated… Many of these programs in political theology are highly theoretical, ivory-tower pursuits indulged in by those far removed by race and space from the fray. There is an obvious need for empirical programs BY and FOR those engaged in the struggle for liberation… It is not the duty of a black theologian to speak for all ‘minorities’ and ‘ethnics.’ He should encourage these to speak for themselves, loud and clear, until they are heard. They alone know the depths of their sufferings and their hunger for liberation.” (Pg. 15-16)
He explains, “Indigenization is a key concept for black theology as it is for all socially conscious programs in theology… What we have in mind when we refer to ‘indigenization’ is … a deliberate and avowed acceptance of ‘context’ or ‘situation’ as the matrix of theological discourse. An indigenized theology takes us beyond the so-called national theologies of the past and the present… The black theologian must turn to the Third World, to Latin America, to Asia and Africa, to observe theological models of ‘indigenization’ worthy of this consideration. We have already referred to what some Latin-American theologians are doing to indigenize theology.” (Pg. 29-30)
He suggests, “In this time of black consciousness, the black man who rereads the Bible will be greatly rewarded. Its message to the black man is personal and social. The Bible… also addressed black people. For example, the bondage of Israel becomes their bondage and the deliverance of Israel their deliverance… the Bible holds to a ‘holistic’ view of man. Biblical anthropology conceives of man as a unified being---body, mind, and spirit. It follows that there is no way for an enslaved man to be free. The faulty theology---written into law---which asserted that a slave would remain chained in body and free in spirit is to be condemned as a demonic distortion of the Biblical message.” (Pg. 38-39)
He points out, “African peoples are not people of a Book. There is a strong reliance upon the spoken word and the continuity of kinship ties as a means of transmitting a religious tradition… A people of oral traditions is more dependent upon a culture-based approach to theology than is a people of a Book.” (Pg. 43) He continues, “Since black religious experience is mainly an oral tradition and since it is more intuitive than conceptual, we need a way of doing theology that is based primarily upon image-thinking… This makes religion a cohesive aspect of black culture. The arts, poetry, music, and the like, are closely associated with religion. Symbols emerging out of various forms of black expression can inform theology, since all theology is reflection upon religious experience.” (Pg. 46)
He explains, “A black political theology will seek a balance between the quest for meaning and protest against injustices. A life… must also be prepared to oppose the dehumanization and all threats to authentic existence if it is to be worth living.” (Pg. 58) Later, he adds, “It is a crucial consideration that love and justice be linked with power in black theology… Black theologians and churchmen must use all the power at their disposal to liberate and humanize life for black people. The black church is a slumbering giant. A black political theology is designed to awaken this most powerful black institution in the cause of the liberation of the whole man.” (Pg. 69-70) He continues, “Black power, correctly understood, is freedom for responsibility in the interest of a permanent state of liberation… Black theology and the black church must become strong allies in the cause of black liberation.” (Pg. 72-73)
He observes, “Our understanding of the gospel is political. Man in black theology is a being who exercises power on behalf of his authentic manhood… Blacks who have experienced America, often as a nightmare, have known all along that something is radically wrong with a society which remains so racist, inhuman, and unjust to the largest minority in the country because of the complexion of their skin.” (Pg. 94)
He notes, “Black theology cannot accept either the Jesus who preserves the American way of life or the Jesus of the counter culture. Jesus is not, for us, the world’s greatest business organizer, the chairman of the biggest board of all. He is not the bringer of wealth, peace of mind, or Consciousness III… He is not a super athlete. Neither is he a societal dropout, a political subversive, a guerilla fighter complete with submachine gun. In other words, Jesus must not be locked into a given cluster of political and cultural perceptions. We see a Christ ABOVE culture who is at the same time at work IN culture and history for redemptive ends---setting free the whole person, mind, soul, and body.” (Pg. 119)
He offers some critiques of James Cone: “Cone does not see any relation between the teaching and example of Jesus and his so-called black Christ, who is involved in the black liberation struggle. We are not to raise the question, What would Jesus do? for his situation was so different from ours. To take this position is to leave the troops of the black liberation army, already confused, in a state of total moral confusion. To take this position is to leave the troops of the black liberation army, already confused, in a state of total moral confusion… where would this leave the black church, the only institutional giant at our disposal? The black church needs a theology of social change and political action… When black scholars read, analyze, and assess that is going on in their fields of specialization, they have a much more urgent task as they look at Jesus. The question… ‘What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ [is] at the center of our quest. Jesus means freedom. He is the Liberator. This indicates that we cannot abandon either the Jesus of history or the Christ of faith.” (Pg. 123-124)
He points out, “For blacks, Jesus is understood in a psychocultural sense. He leads us to a new self-understanding. He helps us to overcome the identity crisis triggered by white oppression of blacks… It is the assertion of our dignity, our manhood, our peoplehood. Jesus brings a message from a God who creates, redeems, and judges all men… We identify with the Jesus of the oppressed, who enters into life. Jesus who is the Emmanuel is the black Messiah. The ‘white Christ’ alienates us. He symbolizes the oppressor and intensifies our identity crises. The black Christ turns us on, so to speak. Jesus as the liberator confronts us in the symbol of ‘soul.’” (Pg. 137)
He states, “Black political theology is based upon an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of God to do far more than we ask or think. It is a theology of meaning, protest, and liberation. It is a theology that merges the secular and the sacred. It is a theology that combines the priestly and the prophetic---pietism and activism… It provides a gospel of power for the black church to undergird its thought, worship, and life. This gospel of power will enable black Christians to have a better self-understanding, to overcome the identity crisis caused by the black reality in America. It will liberate individual black Christians and black congregations as agents of black liberation.” (Pg. 152-153)
He suggests, “Both ethics and eschatology are essential to black political theology… One cannot see the present life in full focus without a look at the future life, but neither may one fully appreciate the future life apart from the present life… Eschatology can no longer be a mere addendum to black theology. It is at the center of any theology which endeavors to bring a meaningful hope to the weak and the powerless… Black theology has unique promise of ushering eternity into time without surrendering a grasp upon eternal hope. What we seek is not QUANTITY of existence but QUALITY.” (Pg. 179-180) Later, he adds, “A black political theology provides a theological foundation for an action-oriented people who are determined to be ‘black and free.’ This theology emerges out of the crucible of black suffering and out of the dark night of the black soul’s distress. We seek the deliverance of a people as well as personal liberation.” (Pg. 204)
He clarifies, “We must not ignore the differences in the contexts of liberation theology and black theology. The liberation theologians are in Latin America, where Roman Catholicism is predominant. They are in ‘developing countries,’ the governments are often totalitarian, and the masses are often influenced by some aspect of Marxism… Liberation movements are often violent, and the task is to overthrow the existing social order to make way for a more humane order. Looking now a black theology, we note that it is mainly Protestant… Black theologians live in a developed and pluralistic society… Ours is more of a race problem than a class problem. The suffering of the black poor is very widespread and intense, however. Between black Americans and the masses of people in Latin America is a fellowship of those who bear the mark of pain.” (Pg. 207)
He concludes, “The incorporation of reconciliation into a black theology needs no justification. Reconciliation is an integral part of the gospel… God in Christ is reconciling in the world and Christians are called to be agents of this reconciling gospel… Racism, by developing a cleavage between blacks and whites, renders the gospel of no effect. The gospel is only accepted fully where the ‘walls of partition’ are broken down between man and man. There are no exceptions. Reconciliation in our social climate includes a ‘cross’ for all Christians, black and white. The cross for whites is repentance based upon the full awareness of what ‘whiteness’ means in a society where whites are beneficiaries and blacks are victims… blacks race a real challenge when asked to extend the possibility of reconciliation to the oppressor. Our cross is forgiveness… For whites to expect blacks to be reconciled to them under oppressive conditions… is inhuman and unchristian. Reconciliation can only take place when blacks as well as whites are free to affirm their authentic selfhood and peoplehood… The only Christian way in race relations is a liberating experience of reconciliation for the white oppressor as well as for the black oppressed. This is what a black political theology is all about, and its message is to the whole church of Christ.” (Pg. 221-222)
Roberts is one of the major black theologians, and his books are “must reading” for anyone seriously studying the subject.
June 12, 2019
Does a nice job of not only laying out a theological strategy that separates itself from the dominant religious/theological tradition in Western Christianity. JDR also pays careful attention to the sociopolitical factors that inform the theology. In doing that, the author doesn't presuppose that one particular theological perspective is universal or absolute.
April 25, 2016
This work was much more cohesive than Roberts' Liberation & Reconciliation--better incorporating historical racism and ideas of power.
Currently reading
August 5, 2011read this 30 years ago and a rereading is still relevant and pertinent
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews