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Criteria for Decision-Making for Social Ethics in the Black Community
Full text linkBlack religious scholars have been searching for a new social ethic within the black community following Joseph Washington's challenge to Martin Luther King's nonviolent approach. Various approaches have emerged, with some emphasizing militancy, others focusing on social justice and reconciliation, and still others constructing a black communal ethic within Christianity. However, there is no consensus yet, and the need for a new ethical perspective is urgent, as evidenced by the struggles of organizations like S.C.L.C., the National Committee of Black Churchmen, and PUSH. The author proposes seven ethical criteria, including universalism, enlightened self-interest, tolerance, freedom of choice, mutuality, distinctions between claims and their implementation, and enlargement of justice, to guide decision-making in the black community and promote social change
Education as Liberation: An Analysis of Paulo Freire
Full text linkEducation as liberation is the interesting and provocative theme of Pedagogy of the Oppressed.1 This book, written by Dr. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian Social educator, insists that significant political-social change can be effected by educational methodolgy. A descriptive and analytical examination of Freier’s theory as presented in Pedagogy is the primary purpose of this presentation. This brief study is arranged in four sections. Section one is the introduction and consists of a brief biographical sketch of Freire, and a summary of the book’s main thesis. Section two is a presentation of Freire’s underlying philosophy and section three is an exposition of his theory of education. The final section discusses some problems that may be encountered during the implementation of such a theory
Black Theology: The Latter Day Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Full text linkA significant aspect of the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. more than six years after his death is to be found in the neoteric discipline known as Black theology. King is usually thought of as a civil rights activist and as a devotee of the philosophy of nonviolence. A few writers have taken King seriously as a theologian, but few indeed have noted the significance of his life and message in the emerging Black theology of the 1960’s and 70’s. The theologically oriented journal, The Christian Century, commenting on the continuing, though diminishing, influence of King in 1973, noted the political involvement of such followers ofKing as Andrew Young, Robert Brown, and Jesse Jackson as being consistent with King’s emphasis on grasping the levers of political power, but no connection was made between King and a young Black theologian like James H. Cone.1 A recent book devoted to an examination of King as a thinker makes no reference to Black theology and no suggestion that King’s thought was in any way relevant to this new intellectual movement.2 Yet there are very real ties that bind Blacktheology and King together. To be sure, Cone’s relationship with King is quite different from Young’s. Cone, who has been labeled a “radical” Black theologian, is no disciple of King, and yet he acknowledges that he found the basic principles of his theological system in the life and message of King. And the genius of King’s theology is not simply his dream of the beloved community, but also his commitment to Black liberation and his understanding of God as the divine Liberator
Blacks and Jews in Historical Interaction: The Biblical/African Experience
Full text linkThe subject before us for consideration is part of a larger one, in the light of which it must be studied and only in the light of which it can be understood. That larger subject is: “Blacks and Jews in Historical Interaction: The Biblical/Black Experience.” But having stated the larger subject of which the immediate one is only a part takes us short distance in dealing with it. Before real treatment can be given it is necessary first of all to establish a foundation upon which a superstructure can be erected. The foundation consists in confirming the existence of Black peoples in the Biblical world with whom Jews could have interacted; it cannot be taken for granted that there were. Once such a confirmation is made, then and then only may the presentation proceed. For this reason the paper consists of two parts, the foundation and the superstructure
Toward a New Introduction to Christian Theology: Telling the Story
Full text linkMany people feel that theology is a collection of fancy words and fat sentences that have little to do with the lives of people or the real meaning of Christian faith. Such an impression causes laypersons — and many preachers, too — to ask, “Why bother with theology?
Fishbowls, Foreign Devils and Authenticity: Religion and Ideology in the African Revolution
Full text linkThis paper examines the role ofreligion and ideology in social change in contemporary Africa. Part I offers a neutral definition ofideology as a cultural system (the road map image) and distinguishes this definition from two pejorative ones, viz., the interest theory (with its battlefield image) and the strain theory (with its medical analogy of sickness/health). Part II presents an ideological description of the social process, graphicaly represented as a series of super-imposed fishbowls. Part III suggests an ideological analysis of the cultural process (described as cultural domination by “foreign devils") by means of reference group theory. Part IV examines Zaire’s ideology ofauthenticity for insights into escape routes from the social and cultural impasses described in parts II and III. Whereas parts II and III are predominantly descriptive, part IV is consciously prescriptive, and suggests certain contributions of Christian theology to the African Revolution.
Conscientization and Social—Self-Realization: Paulo Freire and Theodore Brameld
Full text linkTheological reflection today is credible to the extent that it addresses the future. This is not to ignore either the validity of historicalinvestigations or accurate analyses of the present, but to underline the legitimate demands of humanity upon the theologian. God created men and women to be free and to exercise a stewardship over all the other gifts of His creation. Each one’s stewardship is exercised historically, and the Church and the theologian must be so in touch with history and contemporary events as to guarantee an enhanced free use of creatures that will lead to the salvation of every person. Modern theological reflection examines the problems of contemporary humanity to discover in what ways God’s speaking in history can reveal the possibilities of transformation and resolution of human problems in favor of personal and universal salvation
Father Peter Spencer: Portrait of an Unknown Pioneer African Methodist Leader
Full text linkAlthough Peter Spencer figured prominently in the rise of African Methodism in America, he has been virtually ignored by both black andwhite church historians. The unfortunate result of this is that we have very few reliable data on his life and work. Even more disturbing is the fact that Spencer has been overlooked in almost all of the sources which focus on the history of African Methodist movements. Such sources have traditionally focused on pivotal figures like Richard Allen, Morris Brown, Daniel Coker and James Varick, thereby creating the impression that Spencer was only secondary in importance to these men.1 The lack of attention given Spencer attests more to the abysmal ignorance of church historians concerning him than to his lack of importance as a church founder and leader. Spencer played a far more important role in furthering the cause of black ecclesiastical independence, particularly as it found expression in African Methodism, than is usually known or imagined. The complete story of African Methodism in America will not be known until he is considered on an equal level with Allen, Brown, Coker and Varick.
Race, Americanism, and the Ministry of the Churches in the ‘Eighties
Full text linkHuman history is too complex to remember in all its tangled details. Symbol always aids and shapes our real, living memories. If intellectuals have not learned that from theology and religion, they have had to perceive its actuality in the way we all talk about history, especially as wemove from the rhetoric of memory to the action of politics