Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Black theology'

Bibliography: leaves 225-250
This study seeks to investigate the use of the Bible in black theology in South Africa. It begins by judging the extent to which black theology's use of the Bible represents a clear theoretical break with white western theology. The use of concepts like the “Word of God", “the universality of the Universality of the Gospel", “the particularity of the Gospel”, “oppression and oppressors" and "the God of the Oppressed" in black theology, reveals a captivity to the ideological assumptions of white theology. It is argued that this captivity accounts for the current political impotence of black theology as a cultural weapon of struggle, especially in relation to the black working class struggle for iberation. Thus while it has been effective in fashioning a vision on liberation and providing a trenchant critique of white theology, it lacks the theoretical wherewithal to appropriate the Bible in a genuinely liberative way. This weakness is illustrated in the thesis with a critical appraisal of the biblical hermeneutics of especialiy two of the most outstanding and outspoken black theological activists in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr Allan Boesak. The fundamental weakness of the biblical hermeneutics of black theology is attributed to the social class position and commitments of black theologians. Occupying and committed to a petit bourgeois position within the racist capitalist social formation of South Africa, they share the idealist, theoretical framework dominant in this class. Thus in order for black theology to become an effective weapon of struggle for the majority of the oppressed black people, it must be rooted in the working class history and culture of these people. Such a base in the experiences of the oppressed necessitates the use of a materialist method that analyses the concrete struggles of human beings in black history and culture to produce and reproduce their lives within definite historical and material conditions. The thesis then undertakes such an analysis of the black struggle and of the struggles of biblical social communities. For this purpose a materialist analysis of the texts of Micah and Luke 1 and 2 and is undertaken. This is followed by an outline of a black biblical hermeneutical appropriation of the texts. It is concluded that the category of "struggle" is a fundamental hermeneutical tool in a materialist biblical hermeneutics of liberation. Using this category one can read the Bible backwards, investigating the questions of which its texts are answers, the problems of which its discourses are solutions. The point of a biblical hermeneutics of liberation is to uncover the struggles of which the texts are a product, a record, a site and a weapon. For black theology, the questions and concepts needed to interrogate the biblical texts in this way must be sought in the experiences of the most oppressed and exploited in black history and culture. What form such an exercise may take is illustrated by a study of the book of Micah and Luke 1 and 2. Two significant findings follow.The class and ideological contradictions of black history and culture necessitate the emergence of a plurality of black theologies of liberation. Similar contradictions in the Bible necessitate a plurality of contradictory hermeneutical appropriations of the same texts.

In a world still marked by the effects of colonial displacements, slavery's auction block, and the modern observatory stance, can Christian theology adequately imagine racial reconciliation? The thesis pursues this question by surveying several important new contributors to this discussion, comprising the Duke Divinity school of theological race theory. Willie James Jennings and J. Kameron Carter investigate the colonial genesis and Enlightenment maturation of the racial imagination to suggest a new path for Christian theology. The thesis' main project is mapping the theologies of Carter and Jennings in order subsequently to display the doctrinal positions they share. Chief among them is their insistence that supersessionism, which they understand as the various forms taken by the quest of Christians through the centuries to sunder themselves from the particularity of Israel, has been constitutive of a racialized hierarchy which continues to hold powerful sway over Christology, anthropology, and ecclesiology. Their shared theses are positioned between – and beyond – the poles of modern liberalism and “traditioned” orthodoxy. The Introduction to the thesis demonstrates the theological difficulties faced by contemporary pursuits of ecclesial reconciliation. Chapters One and Two investigate Carter's work, positioning his account between black liberationist thought, as exemplified by James Cone, and recuperations of scholastic orthodoxy, as exemplified by John Milbank. Chapters Three and Four interact with Jennings' work, positioning his thought between cultural studies, especially related to late medieval colonial theology, and contemporary virtue ethics, as refracted through Alisdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. Building upon Jennings' and Carter's Christological insights, the Conclusion proposes a sympathetic extension of their ecclesiology of joining. Drawing on the theological race theory presented in the thesis and contemporary experiments in racial reconciliation, the conclusion engages theological treatments of eating together in order to display the ecclesiological importance of this more robust theology of race.

Bibliography: leaves 150-158.
The Apartheid ideology and political system in South Africa has caused blacks to experience their blackness negatively. Being black is the reason for their pain and suffering. This is not merely a political problem but in its deepest sense it is a theological problem because it has caused doubt in the hearts and minds of blacks, as to whether they are created in the image and likeness of God. Apart from that Apartheid also presented itself as a command of God, and as such it is a pseudo- religion. In the thesis this problem is examined from a biblical-theological perspective. Chapter one looks at humans created in the image of God, the dignity which implies their right and their equality before God. After investigating the insight of a cross-section of theologians, it is clear that the dignity of all people irrespective of race and colour is beyond dispute. Chapter two examines the black experience against the biblical background. Despite the theoretical consensus regarding human dignity, blacks are experiencing their blackness in a negative sense. The reason for this is the negative anthropology of white theology. Chapter three discusses the emergence of the critical conscious- ness towards the negative anthropology. The Black Consciousness philosophy played a positive role in countering this negative anthropology. Black Theology used these insights to develop a positive anthropology. It brought awareness of human dignity, but it did not lead to action. Chapter four discusses the total liberation from all situations of oppression, exploitation and dehumanization. The basis for this liberation is found both in the Old and New Testaments. In this regard the Exodus Paradigm and the Nazareth manifesto play significant roles as biblical models for total liberation. From these paradigms it is concluded that Yahweh in the Old Testament is the Liberator of the oppressed, and that New Testament salvation in Christ, links up with the Exodus model in which God sides with the oppressed. Biblical liberation and salvation is not merely spiritual but involve the total human. Chapter five looks at the sources from which Black Theology draws in an attempt to define its positive anthropology. Apart from the already mentioned biblical sources and Black Consciousness ' it also draws from the black experience and the Traditional African Religions. The final conclusions are that black theology brought a new appreciation to the fact that blackness is a gift of God and not a curse. The liberation of humans, an important emphasis in black theology is firmly grounded in the scriptures and involves the total being. That black theology is not racism in reverse, nor is it an ideology, but a quest for humanity, firmly grounded in the biblical tradition.

This study develops a political theology for Black Pentecostal Churches in Britain. The Black Church as a part of Black Atlantic cultural and political traditions is influenced by a plethora of spiritual, political and social forces. These include histories of oppression and resistance. By taking seriously the traditions of resistance, the Black Church is provided with resources for developing a holistic theology that engages explicitly with the social and political world, that is, what I have called a liberating theological praxis. Such a political theology takes seriously the cultural, theological and political issues raised in African Caribbean resistance. One African Caribbean resistance tradition is the concept of dread in Rastafari. Traditions of resistance are exposed from within Black Pentecostalism by 'imposing' a reformed concept of dread upon aspects of Black Pentecostalism. This conjunction produces a theological paradigm called dread Pen tecostalism. Dread Pentecostalism as a theological system nurtures the theological sensibilities found within liberating theological praxis, that is, emancipation fulfilment. One product of dread Pentecostalism is its hermeneutical focus known as dread hermeneutics. Dreadhermeneutics is the basis for a political re-reading of the Bible from a Black Pentecostal context. This political focus is demonstrated in a reevaluation of Christology in order to construct a dread Christ.

The Black Christian Nationalists under the leadership of the Reverend Albert B. Cleage, Jr., the founder of the Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church, act as a separatist by seeking to establish their own separate black institutions in order to gain power with.in the. black community. Reverend Cleage asserts that the "traditional" black church has failed the black community by addressing only the spiritual -needs of its members. Although Reverend Cleage claims that the Shrine is the only black church meeting the needs of the black community, the majority of their institutions are designed primarily to aid only their members and not the entire community. The research is designed to address the question of whether the "traditional" black church has failed the black community while examining the political, social, and economic philosophy of the Shrine of the Black Madonna. Reverend Cleage's program of "institutional power" acts as a model for other black churches by combining poli tical philosophy with religious doctrine in order to aid the black community. The ideologies of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are also analyzed in order to examine their contributions to the black religious community. The methodology utilized in conducting the study involves the Descriptive Case Study Method and the Document Study, in addition to David Easton's systems theory as the dominant paradigm.

This thesis uses a practical theological approach to explore concerns regarding black young men (BYM) labelled ‘problematic’, involved in crime and gang-associated activities. Their over-representation in the criminal justice system, also their deaths at each other’s hands, has been the subject of studies and debates in the USA and the UK. Responses and interventions to these concerns have been numerous and varied. This work is rooted in the author’s role as a black Pentecostal pastor in Birmingham and offers a framework from which Black Majority Churches (BMCs) might be able to develop more effective responses to these concerns also exploring the interests and needs of BYM. It addresses the key question: how might the narratives of BYM influence BMCs in shaping more effective theological and pastoral responses to the situation of these men? The research question is explored using a version of the Pastoral Cycle (PC), allowing for the use of interdisciplinary approaches to understand the situation of BYM in Birmingham. Through literature review and empirical investigation of fourteen BYM regarding how they understand their situation and what would help them, conclusions were drawn. The study then explores possible responses of BMCs, using New Testament Church of God (NTCG) as a case study for discussion. It is from these sources that some theoretical, theological and practical prescriptions and conclusions emerge, suggesting that BYM and BMC leaders are prepared to engage in some initial dialogue about the situations facing BYM in Birmingham. This thesis provides new empirically based knowledge about BYM’s perceptions about themselves and their involvement in criminality, and also BMC’s response to their situation. It offers insights into practical theology, sociology and criminology regarding BYM within an urban context.

The theologies of Robert W. Jenson and James H. Cone have not been interpreted together. This thesis argues that the two theologians are profoundly similar. The study argues that Jenson's and Cone's theologies converge in such manner that they may be described as sharing a common task; namely, the development of a theology of revolution. 'Theology of revolution' denotes both a doctrine of God that is metaphysically revolutionary, and a theology that enables revolutionary politics. Specifically, both theologians diagnose a problem with Christian theology, and their diagnoses are finally the same: theology has inherited from Greek theology assumptions about deity that construe eternity and time as contradictory, resulting in an abstraction from historical life, and a denigration of historical particularity, contingency, and concreteness. In Cone's analysis, white supremacy, as well as a heretical Christology, emerges from this theological assumption; in Jenson's analysis, oppressive political ideologies and inadequately orthodox Christology emerges from this inherited Hellenistic assumption. For both theologians, at stake is Christian eschatology, which, for both, is determinative of political life. Jenson and Cone alike argue that the God of Jesus is the God of history, and is therefore the God of eschatological revolution who enables and inspires revolutionary politics in history. Cone's theology has extensively developed a politics of this eschatology, but has insufficiently developed its corresponding metaphysics; Jenson has devoted enormous energy to developing the revisionary metaphysics of the gospel, arguing that the gospel's God is revolutionary, but has only occasionally addressed politics, and has largely neglected the implications of his theology for the problem of white supremacy. This study argues that just as Jenson's and Cone's theological programmes converge, their theologies are also mutually corrective for one another, enabling one another to better articulate a theology of revolution. Chapter One will address the theological and political context out of which Cone's theology arises, clarifying the theological and political programmes to which Cone is reacting in order to identify the revolutionary intentions of his theology. Chapter Two argues that political concerns partially occasion Jenson's theology, and that his occasional political writings that propose a revolutionary politics are constitutive of his effort to develop a revisionary metaphysics. Chapter Three explicates Cone's eschatological doctrine of God, in which God is the eschatological revolution, by means of analysing Cone's Christology. Chapter Four develops Jenson's proposal for a revolutionary politics, analysing how this proposal arises from his eschatological doctrine of God. Chapter Five analyses how Cone's proposal for a revolutionary 'Black Power' politics is a broader proposal for a revolutionary eschatology, in which eternity is the revolutionary fulfilment of time in the future. Chapter Six elaborates Jenson's revisionary metaphysics by explicating his Christology, showing how this Christology results in a revolutionary, eschatological doctrine of God. The Conclusion of the study restates and clarifies the argument of the study, that Jenson and Cone have developed a mutually corrective theology of revolution.

The purpose of this investigation is to discuss the relevance of Black theology in light of the emergence of reconstruction theology. It offers a critical survey of a range of contributions on this issue, questioning whether scholars who have used Black theology as a form of self description should shift emphasis, from the paradigm of liberation to reconstruction. The significance of this study has to be understood within the context of the proposal to redirect African theological initiatives from liberation theologies to reconstruction theology. The basis for this call was the end of apartheid in South Africa, which signalled the independence of all countries on the African continent.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The title of this study is . The Poor and the Public: An Exploration of Synergies between Black Theology and Public Theologies. In Chapter One, which is the introduction, the research question is posed namely, \What is the meaning and potential of Black Theology and Public Theologies for the calling of the church to address poverty in the world?. The chapter also outlines the structure of the study. In Chapter Two (Poverty . Some Conceptual Clarifications), an investigation of poverty was made. The investigation covered the meaning of poverty, the way poverty is determined, causes and effects of poverty, globalization and poverty, measures undertaken to eradicate poverty, and poverty and blackness. It is shown that poverty entails injustice, humiliation, helplessness, powerlessness, and insecurity. It is patently demonstrated that poverty is a reality to a greater majority of humanity, particularly, those who live in Africa. The majority of the poor are black people and many of them are wedged in a poverty trap. Globalization also affects the poor in both positive and negative ways. In the third chapter (A Cursory Overview of Biblical Perspectives on Poverty), it is argued that from the perspective of the Christian Scripture, poverty is an outrage and a form of oppression. Human selfishness is a hindrance to the eradication of poverty. However, God affirms and protects the poor. Therefore, the church must respond in such a manner as to make poverty history. Chapter Four (The Place and Priority of the Poor in Black Theological Discourses) investigates the role (the place and priority) of the poor in Black Theology. The sections examine the definition of Black Theology; the development of Black Theology in both the USA and South Africa; the methods of Black Theology, which include discussions on the sources of and approaches to Black Theology; the strengths and weaknesses of Black Theology, and contemporary trends in Black Theology. An analysis of Black Theology to establish the role that the poor play in its discourses is offered. It is shown that Black Theology gives priority to the poor. It recognizes that the triune God works with the poor, as the poor learn to love themselves enough to practice their total freedom and affirm their full humanity on earth just as heaven does. Black Theology, it is further argued, employs a robust approach of dealing with poverty through prophetic speaking in various modes. In the fifth chapter (The Place and Priority of the Poor in Public Theological Discourses), an investigation is made into the role, the place and priority of the poor in Public Theologies. The discussion includes the background of Public Theologies, i.e. origin and development of Public Theologies, its similarities and differences with other forms of theology, and some definitions of Public Theologies. This is then followed by a discussion of the sources of Public Theologies and the principles of Public Theologies, i.e. creation and liberation; vocation and covenant; moral law; sin and freedom; ecclesiology and Trinity; and Christology. An analysis is carried out of two approaches to Public Theologies namely the direct public involvement of churches and the public significance of congregational practices. Finally, the role of the poor y in Public Theology is examined. It is argued that the two approaches to Public Theologies complement each other, and that Public Theologies attend to the plight of the poor from both a perspective of the impact of congregational practices on poverty, and the more direct impact on poverty through appropriate technical analysis as well as the formulation and monitoring of public policies, which, sequentially, speak to situations of poverty. Chapter Six (Some Lessons for Black and Public Theological Discourses), the final chapter, brings Black Theology into dialogue with Public Theologies. Public Theologies become good news to the poor when it begins to use tools such as imaginative thinking, storytelling, naming the devil, technical analysis, and public policy matters. It is argued that Public Theologies can learn from Black Theology in the area of prophetic speaking on poverty especially with regard to criticism, envisioning, and storytelling. Conversely, Public Theologies could enrich Black Theology and all theological attempts to address poverty because they offer solutions in the area of technical analysis and policymaking. Since most of the poor people, globally, are black and live in Africa, Black and Public Theologies need to empower the church to respond to a legacy of despair in Africa, the dependency syndrome in Africa, Africa‘s indebtedness and Unfair Trade, and to encourage good governance in Africa. Some general remarks and recommendations to Black and Public Theologies are also offered. By speaking prophetically on poverty through the modes of criticism, envisioning, and storytelling as Black Theology does, by speaking prophetically through the modes of participation in technical analysis and policy making as Public Theologies do, and by exploring the potential of congregational practices for addressing poverty, both Black Theology and Public Theologies – in dialogue and partnership - become good news to the poor.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die titel van hierdie studie is – Die Armes en die Publieke: ‘n Ondersoek na die Sinergieë tussen Swart Teologie en Publieke Teologieë. Die navorsingsvraagstuk is – Wat is die betekenis en potensiaal van Swart Teologie en Publieke Teologieë vir die kerk se roeping om armoede in die wêreld te verlig? In hoofstuk 2 (Armoede – Konseptuele Verheldering) word armoede ondersoek aan die hand van die vraag wat armoede is, hoe armoede bepaal word, oorsake en gevolge van armoede, globalisasie en armoede, maatreëls wat geneem word om armoede uit te wis, en die verband tussen arm-wees en swart-wees. Daar word aangetoon dat armoede gelykstaande is aan ongeregtigheid, vernedering, hulpeloosheid, magteloosheid en onsekerheid. Hierdie hoofstuk toon duidelik dat armoede ‘n werklikheid is waarin die oorgrote meerderheid mense, veral dié in Afrika, hulle bevind. Die meeste armes is swart mense. Baie is vasgevang in die strik van armoede. Globalisasie beïnvloed die armes op positiewe sowel as negatiewe maniere. In hoofstuk 3 (‟n Beknopte Oorsig van Bybelse Perspektiewe op Armoede) word geargumenteer dat armoede, volgens die Christelike geskrifte, ‘n wandaad is. Dit is ‘n vorm van onderdrukking. Menslike selfsug belemmer die uitwissing van armoede. God erken en beskerm egter die armes. Gevolglik moet die kerk reageer op ‘n wyse wat armoede iets van die verlede sal maak. In hoofstuk 4 (Die Plek en Voorrang van die Armes in Swart-Teologiese diskoerse), word die rol (en die plek en voorrang) van die armes in Swart Teologie ondersoek. Die ondersoek is verdeel in afdelings oor die vraag wat Swart Teologie is; die ontwikkeling van Swart Teologie beide in die VSA en in Suid-Afrika; die metodes aangewend in Swart Teologie, wat insluit besprekings van die bronne van Swart Teologie en benaderings tot Swart Teologie; sterk en swak punte van Swart Teologie, asook hedendaagse tendense in Swart Teologie. ‘n Ontleding van Swart Teologie is gemaak ten einde vas te stel wat die rol is wat armes in die diskoerse daarvan speel. Daar word geargumenteer dat Swart Teologie die voorrang van die armes beklemtoon. Swart Teologie erken dat die drie-enige God met die armes werk namate die armes leer om lief genoeg vi vir hulleself te wees dat hulle hul volkome vryheid sal beoefen en hulle volle mensheid sal bevestig op aarde – net soos dit in die hemel is. Swart Teologie, so word geargumenteer, volg ‘n robuuste benadering tot die aanspreek van armoede deur profeties te spreek in verskillende modi. In hoofstuk 5 (Die Plek en Voorrang van die Armes in Publieke Teologie-diskoerse), is die rol, die plek en die voorrang van die armes in Publieke Teologieë ondersoek. Die ondersoek is verdeel in besprekings van die agtergrond van Publieke Teologieë, d.w.s. die oorsprong en ontwikkeling van Publieke Teologieë, die ooreenkomste en verskille wat dit vertoon met ander vorme van teologie, en ‘n aantal definisies van Publieke Teologieë. Dit word opgevolg deur ‘n bespreking van die bronne van Publieke Teologieë. Die beginsels van Publieke Teologieë word bespreek: skepping en bevryding; roeping en verbond; sedewet, sonde en vryheid; ekklesiologie en Triniteit, en Christologie. Hierop volg ‘n ontleding van twee benaderings tot Publieke Teologieë, naamlik die direkte openbare betrokkenheid van kerke en, tweedens, die publieke belang van gemeentelike praktyke. Ten slotte word die rol ondersoek wat die armes in Publieke Teologie speel. Daar word geargumenteer dat die twee benaderings tot Publieke Teologieë mekaar komplementeer en dat Publieke Teologieë op die lot van die armes ingestel is vanuit die perspektief van die impak van gemeentelike praktyke op armoede sowel as vanuit die meer direkte impak op armoede deur middel van gepaste tegniese ontleding en die formulering en monitering van openbare beleidsrigtings wat gevolglik tot omstandighede van armoede spreek. Hoofstuk 6 (Enkele Lesse vir Swart- en Publiek-Teologiese diskoerse) bied ‘n slotsom aan vir hierdie studie. Die voorgestelde lesse word uitgelig deur Swart Teologie met Publieke Teologieë in gesprek te laat tree. Daar word geargumenteer dat Publieke Teologieë goeie nuus vir die armes raak wanneer dit instrumente begin gebruik soos en deelneem aan verbeeldingryke denke, strorievertelling, die uitwys van die duiwel, tegniese ontleding en openbare beleidsaangeleenthede. Daar word verder aangevoer dat Publieke Teologieë by Swart Teologie kan leer oor profetiese spreke oor armoede, veral wat betref kritiek, visionering, en storievertelling. Publieke Teologieë, word geredeneer, verryk Swart Teologieë en alle teologiese pogings om armoede te verlig omdat dit hulle die dimensies van tegniese ontleding en beleidmaking bied. Omdat die meeste armes wêreldwyd swart Afrikane is, behoort Swart en Publieke Teologieë – so word geargumenteer – die kerk bemagtig om te reageer op ‘n vii nalatenskap van wanhoop in Afrika, ‘n afhanklikheidsindroom in Afrika, Afrika se skuldlas en onbillike handelspraktyke, en om goeie regering in Afrika aan te moedig. Enkele algemene opmerkings en aanbevelings word gemaak oor Swart en Publieke Teologië. Deur profeties te spreek oor armoede in die modi van kritiek, visioenering en storievertelling (soos Swart Teologie maak), en deur profeties te spreek in die modi van deelname aan tegniese ontleding en beleidmaking (soos Publieke Teologieë maak) en deur die potensiaal van gemeentelike praktyke om armoede aan te spreek, te ondersoek kan Swart Teologie en Publieke Teologieë – in dialoog en in vennootskap – goeie nuus vir die armes word.

Bibliography: leaves 188-197.
This thesis examines the framework for a Black Christology constructed by Takatso A.Mofokeng in The Crucified Among the Crossbearers (1983) and evaluates this work with the Christological assistance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The emergence of Black Theology in South Africa since the early 1970s is placed in the context of the black struggle for liberation and the philosophy of Black Consciousness. The result, theologically, is seen to be an anthropological concentration, an affirmative doctrine of oppressed humanity and a concern with human liberation. An identity with the suffering and liberative commitment of Jesus, together with a rejection of oppressive concepts of divinity, is shown to have led to a Black Christology based on engagement with the human history and struggles of Jesus. The message to whites is interpreted as a call to accept and repent of the guilt of the oppressors. Reflecting the early emphasis of Black Consciousness on the transformation of the black self-understanding, this is held to be Black Theology's first stage concerned with the perspective of the black oppressed as the privileged position from which to understand the Bible and the Christian faith. This biblical approach is seen to be common ground shared with most African Theologians, though some gave greater theological significance to the African experience. A second stage of Black Theology is then described, corresponding to a shift in the Black Consciousness movement towards critique of the material structures of society. Theologically the results of this shift are described as a more critical attitude to the biblical texts, in terms of their class interests, and the giving of greater weight to the black praxis of liberation as primary theological data. Bonhoeffer's Christology, unfolding in the context of the ethical demands made by his resistance activities, is then described to highlight the fact that in a situation of conflict and division, a Christological ethic reaches beyond solidarity to engage in vicarious action on behalf of others. Bonhoeffer is used to stress Black Theology's call to committed whites to stand in guilty solidarity with their people and repent on their behalf. It is then seen how Mofokeng draws on the work of J.Sobrino to engage contemporary liberation struggles with the history of Jesus and to give Christological significance to the struggles of those with whom Christ is in solidarity, as the work of his Spirit. It is also seen how Karl Barth is used to strengthen Mofokeng's concern with the birth of black people as acting subjects of their own history. With the insights of Bonhoeffer's Christological ethic it is concluded that Mofokeng overstates black solidarity, taking insufficient account of black divisions and conservatism. Mofokeng is seen not to apply his own historical methodology consistently, leading him to underestimate the theological importance of the failure of the poor to remain in solidarity with the dying Jesus, and the significance of the faithfulness of his women followers.

There is a dearth of Black male education success stories and a lack of documenting by some pastoral practitioners of their model of pastoral care. The absence of both my story and model was due to traumatic memories. As a Black male pastor and educator, seen as a role model, working to inspire Black young males disaffected in their education, the absence blocked my practice advancement. Therefore, I used this problem for a self-reflective study on my practice to put my record straight. First I revisited a snapshot of my educational past and contemporary practice using a Black metaphorical redemptive lens to see my study as a Black hero’s journey. Second, I imagined myself through a Johari Awareness Model in reflective conversation with myself, Jesus Christ, and others. Third, I located my work within a practical theological paradigm and used autoethnographic methodological approach and methods to gather and analyse my data. Finally, I subjected my findings to a discussion interpreted through my conceptual lens to see what would emerge. Hidden insights underpinning my practice were surfaced providing me with a new view of my life and way of being in my practice. Captured in the form of my autoethnography, this serves as a new Black cultural symbolic resource. This gives documented access to my education success story. It also models my pastoral practice which now enables me to share with others, through symbolic modelling, the current best knowledge and practices underpinning my work. My study is an innovative use of inner experiences for Black professional advancement from blocked traumatic memories. It provides a new model within the field of practical theology, by which others might see a theology by heart beyond the usage of text for professional development. My inquiry makes me more transparent and a better role model for student and colleagues.

There is a dearth of Black male education success stories and a lack of documenting by some pastoral practitioners of their model of pastoral care. The absence of both my story and model was due to traumatic memories. As a Black male pastor and educator, seen as a role model, working to inspire Black young males disaffected in their education, the absence blocked my practice advancement. Therefore, I used this problem for a self-reflective study on my practice to put my record straight. First I revisited a snapshot of my educational past and contemporary practice using a Black metaphorical redemptive lens to see my study as a Black hero’s journey. Second, I imagined myself through a Johari Awareness Model in reflective conversation with myself, Jesus Christ, and others. Third, I located my work within a practical theological paradigm and used autoethnographic methodological approach and methods to gather and analyse my data. Finally, I subjected my findings to a discussion interpreted through my conceptual lens to see what would emerge. Hidden insights underpinning my practice were surfaced providing me with a new view of my life and way of being in my practice. Captured in the form of my autoethnography, this serves as a new Black cultural symbolic resource. This gives documented access to my education success story. It also models my pastoral practice which now enables me to share with others, through symbolic modelling, the current best knowledge and practices underpinning my work. My study is an innovative use of inner experiences for Black professional advancement from blocked traumatic memories. It provides a new model within the field of practical theology, by which others might see a theology by heart beyond the usage of text for professional development. My inquiry makes me more transparent and a better role model for student and colleagues.

Contrary to popular belief, discussions of morality, spiritual sensibilities, and religion are major themes in the lyrics of rap music. The current study provides an exploratory content analysis of rap lyrics in an effort to better understand the ways in which rap artists and audiences thought and think about their spirituality. Results indicate that there existed a fervent and nuanced discourse around spirituality and its various forms during the rise of rap music between the mid 1990s and early millennium.

AAMSM (African American men who have sex with men) endure homophobia and racism in their political realities because of their identity. How do multiple oppressions impact the experiences of AAMSM participating within Black churches? Despite the Black church's legacy for liberating African Americans, AAMSM feel demonized and alienated while enduring religion-based homophobia espoused within many Black churches. In the church, AAMSM are pushed further down the hierarchy of oppression and privilege. In response to these observations, this thesis employs a sexual discourse of resistance. I engage this discourse with a literature review in order to discover links between homophobia and AAMSM in an interdisciplinary manner. Jungian psychology is then utilized to interpret internalized oppression. This leads to a discussion of social and religious justice for AAMSM in the Black church through the lens of liberation theology. While the oppressed have become oppressors within the Black church as regards AAMSM, liberation theology affirms all of humanity. Liberation theology provides a message of love for AAMSM and a source of Christian ethics for the Black church.
B.A.
Bachelors
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies

While the immediate origins of 20th century Pentecostalism are in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and in that form of Afro American Christianity which developed during slavery, some of its roots go back to West Africa. What began among a small black Christian group in Los Angeles in 1906 has now become a world-wide phenomenon which has spread to the Caribbean and from there to Britain. Black settlers primarily from rural Jamaica - arrived in urban England to face the racism and rejection, not only of the wider society but also of the white denominations. With them they brought types of Pentecostal ism which are similar to and in some ways quite different from, both the mainstream denominations and white indigenous Pentecostalism. Some of the black Pentecostal congregations established in the Borough of Wolverhampton remain tied to white North American headquarters while others are free from white control or influence with a concomitantly greater emphasis on certain black leitmotive.

My dissertation explores the minimizing, and often dismissal, of the evangelical conservative tradition of African-American Christianity within African-American studies. I argue that the primary cause of this development derives from the hermeneutics and methodologies employed by contemporary Black theologians and “Afrocentric-liberationist” scholars. Generally, these hermeneutics and methodologies were originally proposed by secular Black Nationalist and Black Power advocates during the Civil Rights Movement. This is seen in three areas: First, there is an interpretation of “Whiteness,” or European-Americans as completely corrupt and unredeemable. Second, there are calls for “Blackness,” or African-Americans to racially and socially segregate from Whiteness. Last, there are concepts of an “Ideal-Blackness,” a renewed or transformed Blackness created independently from Whiteness. These and other principles were employed by many contemporary Black scholars to various degrees. Furthermore, I argue that these principles sustain influential Black Nationalist/Black Power historiographies, and shape the dominant trends within the discipline. I maintain that there are two conflicting traditions within African American culture: the religious tradition of conservative evangelicalism that was established during colonialism, and the secularist tradition of Black Nationalism and Black Power which originated during the civil rights movement. These traditions opposed one another during the civil rights movement. Later, this conflict was grafted into the academy, where it continues through the scholarship of many Black theologians and Afrocentric-liberationist scholars. Finally, I discuss the theology of Jupiter Hammon, an 18th century Christian slave, as a representative of the conservative tradition of African American Christianity. I argue that it is essential that scholars explore Hammon's theology, and the conservative tradition of African-American Christianity during colonialism, for a variety of reasons: first, it is important to understand this tradition, as it has shaped African-American Christianity and the Black church more than any other; second, exploring the conservative tradition during colonialism provides the constructive theologies, and alternative conservative historiographies, that complement the Black Nationalist/Black Power historiographies advocated by many contemporary Black scholars.

The current study seeks to insert African American Pentecostal theologies as a generative subject of examination for scholars of American and African Atlantic religious history and theology. By providing close and critical readings of newly-found sources of African American Pentecostal theology by four significant African American Pentecostal theologians, this study situates African American Pentecostal thought as a distinctive theological trajectory within both African Atlantic Christianity and North American religious thought. The writings of theologians Ozro Thurston Jones, Jr., Ithiel Conrad Clemmons, James Alexander Forbes, Jr., and William Clair Turner, Jr., will be explored to expose the contours of a distinctive African American Pentecostal theology. An examination of the writings of this cohort demonstrates that African American Pentecostal thought is contextual (marked by an openness to and engagement with various Christian and philosophical traditions) and liberationist (deeply committed to a revitalization of Christian witness in the pursuit of social justice). In this comparative analysis of their respective theological programs, with a focus on recurring theological ideas, values, and themes, this study provides a phenomenology of African American Pentecostal theology. Within the field of modern black theology, there has been a call by scholars for more attention to be paid to pneumatology, which has been generally neglected; while within the field of North American Pentecostalism, a glossocentric pneumatology has been the dominant theological framework. The four theologians examined in this study resist both limitations, and in the diversity of their methods and theological perspectives, these scholars participate in a broader, more generous theological enterprise. This project seeks to both unsettle and complexify anew various reductionist readings of African American Pentecostal theologies and to create space for a deepened exchange between the broader traditions of African Atlantic Christian theologies and African American religious thought. The methodologies employed in this study include biographical criticism, phenomenological analysis, and religious ethnography. Biographical criticism underscores the critical importance of social contexts in the formation of black religious consciousness. Phenomenological analysis allows for an examination of African American Pentecostalism as its own distinctive religious phenomenon. And critical religious ethnography is employed to assess the reception and impact of each theologian’s overall theological production. Given the growth and theological maturation of Pentecostalism, and the social, cultural and ecumenical impact it has exerted worldwide, this dissertation examines what the theology of the African American Pentecostal movement has contributed to contemporary Christian thought amidst the shifting theological contours of World Christianity and North American religious thought.

Classic Christian theology regards evil as the product of sin, the emphasis in traditional African religion and culture is on human sin as the result of evil forces. This thesis investigated the way in which African Christian theologians understand the relationship between sin and evil. The question, which was addressed was, does sin lead to evil or evil lead to sin.

African American Studies
Ph.D.
While examining the theology of Black Liberation and its contemporary relevance there are several questions that must be explained. Is there still a need for Black Liberation Theology within Christianity? What makes Black Liberation theology different from other Christian theologies? In recent years Christianity has had to dispute the notion that it is the "White Man's religion" and that Black People cannot benefit from the faith. How is this so if the majority of Black people in the United States identify Christianity as their faith? How have Black people benefited from this religion in the past and present? My research is two-fold. The first part of my research will focus on the history of Black Liberation Theology, its concepts and the historical and contemporary relevance. Black Liberation Theology, as an intellectual enterprise began in the late 1960's. Many credit James Cone with bringing a theology of Black Liberation into the forefront of intellectual discussions at educational institutions. Black Liberation theology seeks to answer the question "What does it mean to be Black and Christian in America?" James Cone posed the question and attempted to answer it in his first two books, Black Theology and Black Power, (1969), and A Black Theology of Liberation, (1970). Although Cone is often times seen as one of the pioneers of the Black Theology of Liberation, in actuality this movement has a very long history and its beginnings can be found in the freedom acts of Black people and the Black Religious experience in America from the time of enslavement (David Walker, Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser to name a few), through the abolitionist movements (James Forten, Henry Highland Garnett, William Wells Brown, Harriet Tubman, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones), continuing through the early to mid 1900's (Noble Drew Ali of the Moorish Science Temple, Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X of the Muslim Mosque Incorporated), the Civil Rights Era (Martin Luther King, Vernon Jones, Fred Shuttlesworth, Pastors of Baptist Churches in the American South), the Black Power/Black Arts Movements (Albert Cleage, Jr. of the Shrine of the Black Madonna). It stills functions in contemporary times with the recent resurgence of interest in the subject matter through the media's emphasis on the rhetoric of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his congregation at Trinity United Church of Christ in the south side of Chicago, whose remarks were seen as controversial and almost jeopardized the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama to the Presidency. Black Liberation Theology holds the position that one's faith should encourage one to fight injustice and oppression on behalf of those who are oppressed and downtrodden. Christianity must be examined holistically which means that the religion carries a socio-political component as well as a spiritual one. Black Liberation Theologians believe that one cannot be concerned with reaching a "heavenly ever after" if he/she has not worked to heal his/her society from the social ills that exist. Working toward freedom and liberation is Christian work. These two must be seen as one and the same; you can't have one without the other. The second part of this study aims to examine a church that has made claims to preaching and putting Black Liberation Theology into practice. The Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC) is a Christian denomination that seeks to utilize its religious institution as a tool to implement social change. Followers of this denomination believe the Black Church must utilize its resources and take advantage of its independent position, in order to bring forth freedom and liberation for people of African descent, and they attempt to do this within their place of worship. Dr. Martin Luther King best summarized the mission of the PAOCC best when he stated: [A]ny religion that professes concern for the souls of men and is not equally concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion only waiting for the day to be buried. It well has been said: "A religion that ends with the individual ends (Clayborne, 18). My research aims to indicate that there is still a need for a theology of Black Liberation in the United States. Through careful analysis of Black Liberation Theology and the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC) this research will demonstrate how Black Liberation Theology has been the way that most men and women of African descent have traditionally accepted Christianity on those terms until two important events in African American history occurred: the end of the institution of enslavement; and the end of the Civil Rights Era. My research demonstrates how the PAOCC exemplifies a Black Liberation Theology. Lastly my research will also show that it is possible to be Christian and Afrocentric, which goes against the prevailing dictation of Afrocentric thought. There are Afrocentric scholars who make the claim that one cannot be both Afrocentric and Christian. My research ultimately intends to state that Afrocentricity should not antagonize the faith, but the Western practice of Christianity and its dominant theology as well as its practice.
Temple University--Theses

This study attempts to analyze Mormon justifications for the religion’s policy of denying priesthood authority to black men from both before and after the policy’s removal in 1978. Through a close reading of primary sources released by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this study attempts to understand how this paradigm shift is understood in the context of Mormon faith traditions. It is revealed that many official statements from the Church contradict one another to such a degree that a simple or coherent explanation is practically impossible.

In a time when Black millennials lead statistical data in imprisonment and other negative data, millennials are overlooked in positive data that allows for better financial stewardship and ministry approaches. The purpose of this research is to hear the voice of Black millennials on faith and the Black church. The Black church cannot sustain itself if it loses this generation due to lack of communication, understanding, and relationship. Using mixed method ethnographic research, data was collected using the snowball method of surveying, small group conversations, and interviews. This created a multidimensional depiction of millennials, not as a monolith but as a biological generation with a collective sense of ideals and understanding that do not define the generation but penetrates the culture. The data embodies men and women born between 1981 and 1996, representing more than thirty-six states, of different sexuality, familial backgrounds, education, socioeconomic levels, faith backgrounds, and incarceration experiences. There were 1,117 participants surveyed, four small groups engaged, and four interviews. The results were clear. Millennials want to be valued and engaged. Black churches represent relationship for millennials in unique ways of surrogacy for some and accountability for others. Millennials have hope for Black churches, since they are able to connect them to outreach opportunities that benefit them and their communities in a spiritual experience that accepts responsibilities of the Black churches of old. Communication between Black churches and millennials is restricted and superficial. Churches have made more assumptions than inquiries, leaving them programming blindly. If churches are willing to ask questions, listen, and act with authenticity in mind as opposed to numerical bragging and the creation of Stepford Christians, they will benefit from unique gifts and souls that will not only sustain the church but catapult it into a trailblazing institution whose product matches the brand.

The structure of this study is a complex inter-relationship of a variety of sources in a theological work, namely, personal experience, African social and politico-economic context, philosophical reflection, wisdom traditions and Christian theology. These sources form a coherent inter-relationship which is foundational for an African theology of wisdom. The introduction gives an overview of my moral and theological formation. This is intended to provide a perspective through which the issue of moral orientation in African context has been approached. It is therefore entitled: Moral formation and the shaping of a theological mind. The first chapter answers the question: Why is Africa in need of a wisdom theology that addresses the issue of moral regeneration? This question is posed in the broader context of the current African Renaissance debates. The links between the Italian (European) and African Renaissance indicate that moral regeneration is a crucial part of the socio-political, intellectual and economic re-birth of Africa. This “socio-historical” source gives the context and urgency of a wisdom theology. It is therefore entitled: A contextual analysis: The European and African Renaissance. The second chapter re-asserts the rise of virtue ethics as an alternative ethical theory to the predominant deontological and utilitarian traditions. This is achieved through analysing Alisdair MacIntyre’s earlier work, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (1981), set in the context of Iris Murdoch and Elizabeth Anscombe, the modern initiators of a virtue ethic. This “philosophical” source gives the theoretical framework that addresses the question of moral formation. It is therefore entitled: A philosophical analysis: The rise of virtue ethics as alternative ethical theory. The third chapter is devoted to two related “wisdom” themes: Firstly, the seven traditional virtues are briefly described highlighting the virtue of wisdom as foundational. Secondly, the idea of wisdom is further developed via three wisdom traditions, namely: wisdom in the Hellenistic, Judeo-Christian and African traditions. This “sapiential” source gives this African theology of wisdom its most important building blocks. This chapter is therefore entitled: A sapiential analysis: Wisdom as foundation for virtue ethics in Africa. The last chapter brings the previous sources together under a specific theological perspective. It draws on aspects of recent African theologians’ work, notably: Kwame Gyekye and Benezet Bujo who engage with and bring together Western and African theological traditions. I answer a pertinent question, “What does such a ‘theological’ perspective entail?” I draw on Scripture and its Trinitarian tradition to demonstrate how African wisdom, reinforced by the framework of virtue theory, and developed in the context of present-day Africa by an African student of theology, has the potential to contribute to the moral transformation of Africa. This more overt “theological” source is the distinctive Christian enterprise of an African wisdom theology. The chapter title is aligned with the overall title of this study: A theological analysis: Toward an African virtue ethics? To this end, this study achieves its attempt to construct an inter-related framework from which an African theology of wisdom may emerge.

Depuis quelques décennies, la science moderne a permis a l'humanité de répondre à plusieurs de ses aspirations les plus profondes. Grâce à ses performances, elle a, certes, réussi à comprendre la vie, son développement et sa dégénérescence. Elle peut meme lui apporter des modifications importantes. Mais, ces diverses maîtrises donnent parfois lieu à des manipulations inquiétantes, qui soulèvent de sérieuses questions, et qui mettent au défi l'éthique chrétienne ou simplement toute culture en tant qu'instance référentielle de base pour la cohésion d'un peuple. C'est ce que vivent l'Afrique, l'Amérique, l'Asie, l'Europe et l'Océanie, même si, dans chacun des cas, l'accent peut etre différent. Pire encore, les recommandations qui sont retenues et les projets de lois qui sont proposés, présentent souvent des divergences d'appréciation et, cela, même a l'intérieur d'une même sphère géographique, culturelle ou politique. Un tel défi exige que l'humanité prenne ses responsabilités, qu'elle trouve des moyens susceptibles de l'aider a assumer de manière responsable ses potentialités, et qu'elle parvienne a s'auto-responsabiliser face au système scientifique et technique dans la mesure ou celui-ci, source de défi, est devenu inévitable en tant que patrimoine de notre monde moderne. Malheureusement, à travers ce qui a été dit pour l'Afrique à ce sujet, la question bioéthique apparait aussi bien comme un luxe pour les riches que comme quelque chose pour lequel l'Afrique---parce que pauvre et compte tenu de son bas niveau d'éducation---n'a aucun moyen de prendre ses responsabilités. Il y a lieu ici de desesperer. Le présent travail est une réflexion fondamentale sur la logique de l'action telle qu'elle peut etre dégagée de l'oeuvre de Jean Ladrière. En cherchant comment assumer de manière responsable les progrès de la science, les pistes proposées dans ce travail permettent de réfléchir de façon pertinente et, aussi, de produire un discours d'espoir face au defi biomédical moderne. Comme discours théologique, la logique de l'action présentée dans ce travail a un double avantage: elle apporte un soutien inesperé au discours de la foi sérieusement éssoufflé par le défi biomédical moderne et, chemin faisant, permet en quelque sorte de le clarifier. En plus, elle offre particulièrement aux négro-africains, confrontés au même défi, une occasion d'espérer. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The understanding and practice of leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa, in all spheres, is at the heart beat of this work. Questions and concerns over the quality of leadership in most countries in this particular region are reasons which have led to revisit and investigate the formative training of the current cohort of African leadership with a special focus on the ethical aspect of leadership. It is an assumption, in this thesis, that the contemporary cohort of African leadership received their formative training especially in the 1960s and 1970s and that they were deeply influenced by the black consciousness movement and, in association with that, by the emergence of black theology. In this respect, this research project explores the notions of ethics and leadership with a view to determine ways in which an appropriate leadership ethos was portrayed and articulated in the writings of selected exponents of the black theology movement, namely ML King (Jr), Desmond Tutu and Allan Boesak. The purpose of this work is therefore mainly descriptive: to map discourse on a leadership ethos in the context especially of black theology.

The last half of the twentieth century has seen the development of several significant Christian theologies of liberation. These have emerged out of historical contexts of race, class and gender oppression and have been initiated by Christian communities and individuals who seek to respond to their social, economic and political contexts through the medium of their Christian faith. This study seeks firstly to explore the central criteria for the creation of such theologies and then to use these criteria as a means of exploring the ways in which the Black Led Church has been able to engage with the concept and material realities of liberation within its own British context. The exploration begins with an analysis of five key developmental themes which have had a significant impact on the Church's relationship to both its theology and its manifestation of liberation. These themes are then further developed through six essential criteria for liberation which are applied to its contemporary interaction in British society. The study argues that the syncretistic foundation of the Church stands as both a source and a limitation to full theological liberation. Nonetheless, a holistic and contextual liberational spirituality does exist and provides an essential energy for both passive and radical change. The methodological emphasis is contextual. Therefore the study draws heavily from transcripts of interviews and services and also utilises, as much as possible, works produced by Church and network organisations in addition to the observation carried out at five key denominations in Birmingham. The study's emphasis on a contextual understanding of theological liberation is important in that it firmly aligns the Church with meaningful liberation in Britain - not only for its members, but also for wider Black communities. In so doing it highlights the often unacknowledged role of the Church in the cultural and political mobilisation of Black people in British society.

This thesis interrogates the historical, philosophical, and existential implications of the Black Arts Movement and its major artists on the recurring themes of social injustice, Western hegemony, and the fight for aesthetic authenticity to reimagine fairy tales for the youth Black Aesthetic. As a personal reflection and foundational document for a larger project, this work weaves these implications through the practical application of the varied stages of program development for youth artists. This project also is a handbook that encompasses scholarly research, reflective analysis and anecdotal journal evidence. The subsequent chapters explore the theological and theatre pedagogical educational influences that informed the phases of inception through completion of the 2015 Courage Summer Workshop (a six-week devised theatre workshop for middle school students) to include its two-year program history, curriculum design, and weekly program overviews.