Building a church community free of Evangelicalism as well as oppressive theology to women is the future of the Black Church. As we continue to explore The DNA of the Black Church, we dive into theology wars. We’ll examine 3 different theologies that either have come through the Black Church or is being used. These theologies have shaped how the Black Church operates in the community it resides in and how it serves its members. While no one theology is perfect, we can continue to redefine as time goes on so that the church is nourishing the soul of its members. I believe that’s the point of Christianity. Or maybe it’s my wishful thinking that Christians are supposed to connect with the Bible on an intimate level without lies attached to the doctrine.
The themes of exile and deliverance influenced the theological orientation of the churches. And that’s what most still teach and preach.
Before theology was thought about in Black churches, there were already riffs on how to worship. Some Northerners, including AME Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, did not approve of the emotional worship style of their Southern counterparts; he stressed that “true” Christian worship meant proper decorum and attention to reading the Bible. Y’all this was in the 1800s. While style isn’t aligned with theology, to many Black churchgoers, it plays a vital role.
Now let’s learn about 3 different theologies that have shaped the Black Church one way or another over the past 60 years.
Black theology, or Black Liberation theology
It contextualizes Christianity in an attempt to help those of African descent overcome oppression. It especially focuses on the injustices committed against African Americans and black South Africans during American segregation and apartheid, respectively.
“Exodus, prophets and Jesus—these three—defined the meaning of liberation in black theology.”
Black theology seeks to liberate non-white people from multiple forms of political, social, economic, and religious subjugation and views Christian theology as a theology of liberation: “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”, writes James H. Cone.
Modern American origins of contemporary Black theology can be traced to July 31, 1966, when an ad hoc group of 51 concerned clergy, calling themselves the National Committee of Negro Churchmen, bought a full page ad in The New York Times to publish their “Black Power Statement”, which proposed a more aggressive approach to combating racism using the Bible for inspiration.
Black theology contends that dominant cultures have corrupted Christianity, and the result is a mainstream faith-based empire that serves its own interests, not God’s.
Source: Wikipedia
Listen to Dr. James Cone’s own words on how and why Black Liberation Theology was created.
The one thing I like about Black Liberation theology is showing how Black Americans can see themselves in the Bible. So many people who are against the church or left, feel that Christianity is a white man’s religion, and we were forced to believe it. Well, that’s a lie. And I wrote a 3 part series on the Lineage of the Black Church to prove that. As I did my research this theology once again shows how the needs of Black women are left out. The fullness of our womanhood and humanity is pushed aside as we are to support, uplift and propel Black men as the leaders in the Black church. Yes, Black people need a theology that helps us see ourselves in the Bible. But a theology that only speaks to half of a population isn’t really an in-depth theology at all.
Womanist theology
It is a religious conceptual framework which reconsiders and revises the traditions, practices, scriptures, and biblical interpretation with a special lens to empower and liberate African American women in America. The goals of Womanist theology include interrogating the social construction of Black womanhood in relation to the Black community and to assume a liberatory perspective so African American women can live emboldened lives within the African American community and within the larger society. The goal of the Womanist movement was not only to eliminate inequalities but to assist Black women in reconnecting with their roots in religion and culture and to reflect and improve on “self, community and society”.
Writer Alice Walker coined the term “womanist” in a short story, “Coming Apart”, in 1979. Womanist was then developed in 1983 in her collection of essays, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose.
Source: Wikipedia
These are two Womanist Theologians that have shared insight into what this theology means.
Jacquelyn Grant the author of Womanist Theology and White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response says, “Jesus is a “divine co-sufferer” who suffered in his time like Black women today”.
Delores Williams took the work of theologians such as Cone and Grant and expanded upon them. She suggested that Womanist theologians need to “search for the voices, actions, opinions, experience, and faith” of Black women in order to experience the God who “makes a way out of no way.” She defines Womanist in the following way:
Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help Black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith for determining the character of the Christian religion in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impeding Black women’s struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste.
Source: Wikipedia
Essentially it’s saying that Black women are putting the needs of everyone in the community as well as their own as a priority.
Theologian Jacquelyn Grant’s scholarship “distinguishes between the remote and heavenly Christ worshipped in mainline white churches and the immanent and intimate Jesus whom Black women recognize as their friend”. Grant illuminates how many Black women share a commitment in using their faith to avoid construction of stereotypes. Grant also examines how Black women are the vast majority of active participants in their churches and that their work tends to be undervalued.
Source: Wikipedia
Men commanded the pulpits of the Black church; they also dominated church power and politics. Denied the chance to preach, growing numbers of women, mostly middle class, found ways to participate in religious life. They organized social services, missionary societies, temperance associations and reading groups. They fought for suffrage and demanded social reform. They wrote for religious periodicals, promoting Victorian ideals of respectability and womanhood. So women have been fighting for a space in the Black church’s theology since the 1800s. Even if it was what they thought women should act like or be. As we see over time, our views as women has changed on how we should act, think, behave especially in the church.
Source: The Black Church
The one thing I like about the Womanist theology is how is puts Black women’s humanity on full display as it relates to the Bible. That we are and were seen. One thing that does bother me about women specific ideologies, in this case, theology is how it usually is hyped up by women of means. Even though they say it’s for all Black women, most often, certain groups don’t get the benefits of being seen through this theological lens.
Prosperity Theology
Gained its prominence in the 1950s. While its origins date back to the 1880s with the New Thought movement focusing on the mental and physical health, it quickly recentered around material success.
It is a religious belief among some Protestant Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one’s material wealth. Prosperity theology views the Bible as a contract between God and humans: if humans have faith in God, He will deliver security and prosperity.
This doctrine emphasizes the importance of personal empowerment, proposing that it is God’s will for His people to be blessed. The atonement (reconciliation with God) is interpreted to include the alleviation of sickness and poverty, which are viewed as curses to be broken by faith. This is believed to be achieved through donations of money, visualization, and positive confession.
Source: Wikipedia
This is the theology that has taken over Evangelicals. There is nothing wrong with money. But to center it as the main or only thing God can “bless” us with is absurd. It completely says that religion is transactional and paying for a trip to Heaven is an option. While I think the basis of helping people to think more positive is a good thing. That’s probably the only good thing I agree with from this theological perspective.
Theology is important because it’s the basis or foundation of what you’ll learn at your church. Knowing what your Pastor believes will help you understand what will be taught to you. What you learn in a theological environment will have a greater impact on you than you realize. While I didn’t go into detail about theologies related to Evangelicalism, know that many Black churches are still steeped in those beliefs.
With all that’s happening in 2020, are those beliefs aligned with our humanity?
I like to believe that a mix of Black Liberation theology and Womanist theology is what will meet the needs of the members at Black churches and rid our mindsets of theology that sets us in a limited perspective of who God is to us based on a whitewashed version that has been watered down and pushed upon us.
Sources
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/godinamerica-black-church/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Cone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womanist_theology
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89236116
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