James Cone: Father of Black Theology - Christian Biographies

James Cone is often referred to as the father of Black Theology. Within his lifetime of work, the idea of Black Theology blossomed into what it is today. In this video, we look at the life of Cone and discuss what he means by Black Theology and three criticism that he has faced throughout his life.

Early Life: 0:46
College: 1:15
Black Theology and Black Power: 2:40
Academia and Writings: 4:42
What About Reconciliation: 7:14
What About Inclusiveness: 8:30
What About White Christians: 10:30
Legacy of James Cone: 11:46

James Cone was born into a segregated community in 1938. Raised by strong and proud parents, Cone grew up able to embrace his true self and began his journey of faith within the AME Church. Cone went into higher education, receiving a Bachelor of Divinity, a Master of Philosophy, and a Doctor of Philosophy. Although he would dabble with preaching, he would find his real purpose as a professor. His first major work after graduating was a book titled “Black Theology and Black Power.” This book is Cone’s most well-known book, and it is the foundation for the study of Black Theology.

Black Theology and Black Power are set within the civil rights and black power movement of the ’60s. Cone did not coin the phrase Black Theology, but he took it and expanded it into a hermeneutical lens to approach God. The goal for Cone in writing this book was to bring to light the contradictory nature of White Christianity and point out how theology was only understood within the context of the suffering Blacks were enduring. This book has some harsh language looking back on it, but this book must be understood in the context it was written in and what Blacks were enduring at that time.

Cone continued on in his work at Union Theological Seminary, which he would teach for over 50 years. He wrote many important books on Black theology, but he also helped shape the minds of thousands of students throughout his teaching career. But there are three criticism that I think help shape the evolution of Cone’s mindset of Black Theology.

What About Reconciliation? Cone is most often criticized for his seeming lack of reconciliation in his works, most notably his book Black Theology and Black Power. But Cone slowly embraced reconciliation as time went on, and certain issues could be discussed. Cone’s big reason for his seeming lack of reconciliation in his early career was that non-whites weren’t even treated as equal. How would reconciliation work if whites didn’t see blacks as equal? But as this barrier started to drop, Cone was able to write and teach about appropriate reconciliation.
What About Inclusiveness? It is plain to see that in the early years of Cone’s work, his main focus was on the empowerment of black males. Some criticize Cone for this because he often assumed that black males had it worst and believed that if things were to get better, it would have to start within that group. But Cone did not stay with this mindset for his entire life. By the end of his life, he would recognize that Black theology found its home situated within Liberation Theology. In this way, the struggle he speaks of is something all minorities can tap into. Because of that, the criticism of inclusiveness fell away as the years went on.

What About White Christians? If you’ve made it this far, you likely understand that Cone was not attempting to attack white people, but rather the harmful theology that had been built to attack Blacks. Cone could be described as hostile in his early years, but it was because he had endured so much from harmful white theology. Over the years, Cone opened his arms to all races and ethnicities but still held that whites must acknowledge that to truly know God, you must understand suffering, and it is through Blacks suffering that whites could come to know God on a deeper level. But Cone does not hate you because you are white, and as he said many times in his speeches, Cone considers Christians of all races and ethnicities as brothers and sisters in Christ.

So what is the Legacy Cone leaves? Cone laid the foundation for Black Theology and helped introduce this way of thinking to the masses. Liberation Theology would not be the same if Cone did not speak up about the need for this thinking. Both spiritual and secular thought owe a lot to Cone, and whether through his books or his teachings, Cone has reached millions of people to spread the word of Black Theology.

Resources:
https://utsnyc.edu/faculty/james-h-cone/
https://amzn.to/3i3jcdG (James Cone Books on Amazon)
https://bit.ly/3nATYEK (Lecture on The Cross and the Lynching Tree)
"The Journey of Modern Theology" Roger Olson: pages 515-524
https://bit.ly/3nG0ryx (James Cone: A Black Theologian's Reflection-by N'Kosi Oates)
https://amzn.to/3nxg9f9 (Direct link to "Black Theology and Black Power")