Books, Black Theology and Revelation

I am in the midst of research and buried in books. I wrote about two African American Churches one in the United Church of Christ and one in the Presbyterian Church USA. That posting was Jesus Christ or Culture but not both! The subject matter is connected to ‘Black Liberation theology’ and ‘Black Power.’ I was and am concerned about the results of a revelation founded in culture rather than Jesus Christ as he is revealed in Holy Scripture.

In an e-mail from Pastor Mark Lomax of the First African Presbyterian, Church in Lithonia Georgia, who I wrote about in that posting, I received several suggestions of books to read on the subject, including African Religions and Philosophy by John S Mbiti and Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of African Americans by Gayraud S. Wilmore. I have about ten pages left of Wilmore’s book and I’m halfway through another book which uses a great deal of Mbiti’s book, that is, The Spirituality of African Peoples: the search for a common moral discourse, by Peter J. Paris.

In what I am sure is God’s providence, Hans Cornelder placed an article, Out of Africa about a book concerned with Christian origins in Africa on Presbyweb. The book is, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity by Thomas C. Oden. Ordering that book turned up several other good books; one I have been reading along side Wilmore’s book. That book is The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity, by Pastor Thabiri M. Anyabwile. The other is On Being Black and Reformed: A New Perspective on the African-American Christian Experience, by Anthony J. Carter.

I have other books on this subject; as I said I am buried in books, and, of course, still reading. But several items jumped out at me as I was reading tonight so I thought I would share them. One of them is the intentional push toward grounding Black theology in Black cultural concerns as shown in Wilmore’s book, Black Religion and Black Radicalism.

The other, a quote which resounds with clear biblical sounds, is from “The Decline of African American Theology” and is totally different. The author is an African Pastor from the Cayman Islands. Anyabwile writes:

“…does Christian theology, black or white, really leave room for an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ attitude toward the doctrine of Christ? Is one left to simply choose or fashion an understanding of Jesus’ life, ministry and being as one chooses? Are there no consequences for what position a person takes? Moreover, can any source for developing a Christology be used as if it is equal with or determinative of the meaning of any other source?

While all people are equal, made in the image of God, and therefore of infinite worth, not all ideas are true or worth believing. And, if, as Jesus teaches, the critical question is ‘Who do you say that I am?’ then the stakes for answering correctly are extremely high. In the High Priestly prayer of John 17, Jesus defines eternal life as knowledge of God the Father and of himself, whom the Father sent (Jn 17:3). Moreover, in his discussion with the Samarian woman at the well, Jesus makes it plain that accuracy in our knowledge of God is one of two determining factors in God-satisfying worship. The Father seeks those who will worship him in Spirit and in truth (Jn 4:21-24). All other worship violates the first and second commandments, which prohibit both the carving and mental fabrication of idols to worship.” (168-169)

The quote covers all of the idolatrous theologies being formulated today. And the author doesn't just look at Liberation theology but also at some Pentecostal heresies such as Oneness Pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel. There is much more ahead and I will eventually put together a much larger article on this subject.