Where We Headed Now?

  • Anthony G. Reddie
Part of the Black Religion / Womanist Thought / Social Justice book series (BRWT)

Abstract

In this, the final chapter of this study, I want to outline a number of possibilities for the development of black theology, within the United States and in Britain. By definition, given that I am not a clairvoyant, this chapter will be much more speculative than the ones that precede it. There is a sense that every black theologian could mount an impassioned claim for what they feel should be the essential priorities to which black theology should attend if it is to progress in the future. In that respect, I am no less opinionated and biased in my assertions than are my many peers. So, this assessment about where we are headed now is very much my own idiosyncratic take on what black theology should be doing and in which direction it should be moving.

Keywords

Black People Christian Faith Black Church Youth Culture Black Culture 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. 2.
    See James H. Cone A Black Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990).Google Scholar
  2. 3.
    See J. Deotis Roberts Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, rev. edn, 1994).Google Scholar
  3. 4.
    Gayraud S. Wilmore Black Religion and Black Radicalism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983).Google Scholar
  4. 5.
    See also Jacquelyn Grant White Women’s Christand Black Women’s Jesus (Atlanta: Scholar’s Press, 1989).Google Scholar
  5. 6.
    Katie Geneva Canon Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community (New York: Continuum, 1995).Google Scholar
  6. 7.
    Emile M. Townes M. Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope (Atlanta, GA, Scholars Press, 1993).Google Scholar
  7. 15.
    See Robert Beckford God of the Rahtid (London: DLT, 2001), pp. 113–118, Jesus DubTheology, Music and Social Change (London: Routlege, 2006).Google Scholar
  8. 17.
    See Anthony G. Reddie “An Interactive Odyssey: Black Experiential Preaching.” Geoffrey Stevenson(ed.) Pulpit Journeys (London: DLT, 2006).Google Scholar
  9. 22.
    Anthony B. Pinn Terror and Triumph: The Nature of Black Religion (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), pp. 1–80.Google Scholar
  10. 23.
    See Ashley Kahn A Love Supreme: The Creation of John Coltrane’?s Classic Album (London: Granta Books, 2002).Google Scholar
  11. 25.
    See George Cole The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis 1980–1991 (London: Equinox Publishing, 2005).Google Scholar
  12. 26.
    See Coleridge Goode and Roger Cotterell Bass Line: A Life Jazz (London: Northway Publications, 2002), pp. 114–134.Google Scholar
  13. 28.
    Bruce J. Malina The Social Gospel of Jesus: The Kingdom of God in Mediterranean Perspective (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001), pp. 13–140.Google Scholar
  14. 31.
    Dwight N. Hopkins Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005), pp. 81–117.Google Scholar
  15. 32.
    See Gay L. Byron Symbolic Blackness and Ethnic Difference in Early Christian Literature (New York: Routledge, 2002) whose excellent book looks at the struggles within early Christian communities to define the boundaries and limits regarding what it meant to be part of the Body of Christ.Google Scholar
  16. 35.
    See James H. Harris The Word Made Plain (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004), pp. 1–50.Google Scholar
  17. 36.
    See Henry H. Mitchell BlackBelief (New York: Harper and Row, 1975).Google Scholar
  18. 37.
    William A, Jones Jr, “Confronting the System. ” Gayraud Wilmore(ed.) African American Religious Studies: An Interdisciplinary Anthology (London: Duke University Press, 1989), pp. 429–457.Google Scholar
  19. 38.
    Grant S. Shockley “From Emancipation, to Transformation to Consummation.” Marlene Mayr(ed.) Does the Church Really Want Religious Education? (Birmingham, AA: Religious Education Press, 1988), pp. 234–236.Google Scholar
  20. 39.
    Theophus H. Smith Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 4–6.Google Scholar
  21. 40.
    See Dale P. Andrews Practical Theology For Black Churches (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002).Google Scholar
  22. 41.
    James H. Cone The Spirituals and the Blues (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1972).Google Scholar
  23. 42.
    Carlyle Fielding Stewart, III Black Spirituality and Black Consciousness (Trenton, NY: Africa World Press, 1999), pp. 105–120.Google Scholar
  24. 44.
    Carol Tomlin Black Language Style in Sacred and Secular Contexts (New York: Caribbean Diaspora Press, 1999), pp. 125–166.Google Scholar
  25. 47.
    See Joe D. Aldred(ed.) Preaching with Power (London: Cassell, 1998).Google Scholar
  26. 48.
    Ermal Kirby “Black Preaching.” The Journal of The College of Preachers (July 2001), pp. 47–49.Google Scholar
  27. 49.
    See Kirk Byron Jones The Jazz of Preaching: How to Preach with great freedom and joy (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004), pp. 79–98.Google Scholar
  28. 50.
    Vincent L. Wimbush The Bible and African Americans: A Brief History (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), pp. 63–70.Google Scholar
  29. 53.
    James H. Cone GodoftheOppressed (San Francisco: Harper-San-Francisco, 1975), pp. 62–83.Google Scholar
  30. 54.
    Robert Beckford God and the Gangs (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2004), pp. 102–103.Google Scholar
  31. 59.
    Sigmund Freud Address to the Society of B’Nai of B’rith, rev. edn ., 20: 273 (London: Hogarth Press, 1959).Google Scholar
  32. 60.
    Erik H. Erikson Identity: Youth Crisis (London: Faber and Faber, 1968), pp. 16–58.Google Scholar
  33. 61.
    Charles R. Foster ‘The Pastor: Agent of Vision in the Education of a Community of Faith’ Robert L. Browning(ed.) The Pastor as Religious Educator (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1987), pp. 22–25.Google Scholar
  34. See also Charles R. Foster Educating Congregations (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994).Google Scholar
  35. 63.
    See Andrew Walker Telling the Story: Gospel, mission and culture (London: SPCK, 1996), who addresses the issue of the translation of the faith between generations and cultures in his work.Google Scholar
  36. 64.
    Anne Wimberly Soul Stories (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996).Google Scholar
  37. 65.
    Joseph Crockett Teaching Scripture from an African American Perspective (Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 1989).Google Scholar
  38. 66.
    See Anne H. Pinn and Anthony B. Pinn The Black Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002).Google Scholar
  39. 67.
    Dennis A. Jacobsen Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001).Google Scholar
  40. 68.
    Harold Dean Trulear “African American Religious Education.” Barbara Wilkerson(ed.) Multi-Cultural Religious Education (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1997), pp. 1–189.Google Scholar
  41. 69.
    See Gordon Lynch After Religion: Generation X’ and the search for Meaning (London: DLT, 2002).Google Scholar
  42. 70.
    See Erik H. Erikson The Life Cycle Completed (London: Norton, 1993).Google Scholar
  43. 71.
    See Dick Hedbidge Cut ‘N’ Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music (London: Routledge, 1987).Google Scholar
  44. 72.
    Dean Borgman When Kumbaya is not enough: A Practical Theology for Youth ministry (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997).Google Scholar
  45. 73.
    Jonathan S. Epstein(ed.) Youth Culture: Identity in a Postmodern World (Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1999).Google Scholar
  46. 74.
    Pete Ward Growing up Evangelical: Youthwork and the Making of a Subculture (London: SPCK, 1996).Google Scholar
  47. 75.
    See David Hay (with Rebecca Nye) The Spirit of the Child (London: HarperCollins, 1998).Google Scholar
  48. 84.
    Grant S. Shockley “Black Pastoral Leadership in Religious Education.” Robert L. Browning(ed.) The Pastor as Religious Educator (Birmingham, AA: Religious Education Press, 1987), pp. 179–206.Google Scholar
  49. 85.
    See Will Coleman TTribal Talk: Black Theology, Hermeneutics and African/American Ways of “Telling the Story” (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), pp. 153–170.Google Scholar
  50. 90.
    Romney Moseley Becoming a Self Before God: Critical Transformations (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1991), pp. 88–100.Google Scholar
  51. 91.
    Ella P. Mitchell “Oral Tradition: The Legacy of Faith for the Black Church.” Religious Education (Vol. 81, No. 1, 1986), pp. 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. 92.
    See Iva Carruthers, Frederick D. Haynes III and Jeremiah A. Wright Jr (eds.) Blow the Trumpet in Zion: Global Vision and Action for the 21st Century Black Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005).Google Scholar
  53. 93.
    See Emmanuel C. Eze Race and the Enlightenment (Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1997).Google Scholar
  54. 94.
    Emmanuel Y. Lartey In Living Colour: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral care and Counselling (London: Cassell, 1997), pp. 9–14.Google Scholar
  55. 96.
    See Victor Anderson Beyond Ontological Blackness (New York: Continuum, 1995), pp. 86–93.Google Scholar
  56. 97.
    Anne Hope and Sally Timmel Training for Transformation, Vol.4 (Southampton: Intermediate Publications, 1999), pp. 186–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. 98.
    See Martha Lee The Nation of Islam: An American Millenarian Movement (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1988), pp. 1–115.Google Scholar
  58. Mattia Gardell Countdown to Armageddon: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (London: C. Hurst, 1996), pp. 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. 99.
    James H. Cone “Theology’s Great Sin: Silence in the Face of White Supremacy.” Black Theology: An International Journal (Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2004), pp. 139–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. 100.
    Doreen Morrison “Resisting Racism—By Celebrating ‘Our’ Blackness.” Black Theology: An International Journal (Vol. 1, No. 2, May 2003), pp. 209–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. 101.
    See Smith Conjuring Culture and Robert Beckford Dread and Pentecostal (London: SPCK, 2000).Google Scholar
  62. 103.
    Cain Hope Felder(ed.) Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1991).Google Scholar
  63. Randall C. Bailey and Jacquelyn Grant(eds.) The Recovery of Black Presence: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995).Google Scholar
  64. 104.
    Robert Beckford “Theology in the Age of Crack: Crack age, Prosperity Doctrine and ‘Being There.’” Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis (Vol. 4, No. 1, November 2001), pp. 9–24.Google Scholar
  65. 109.
    David Ishiorho “Black Theology in Urban Shadow: Combating Racism in the Churchof England.” Black Theology: An International Journal (Vol. 1, No. 1, November 2002), pp. 29–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. 112.
    See Kelly Brown Douglas Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999).Google Scholar
  67. 113.
    Robert Beckford Jesus is Dread (London: DLT, 1998), pp. 61–78.Google Scholar
  68. 114.
    Jacquelyn Grant “Freeing the Captives: The Imperative of Womanist Theology.” Iva Carruthers, Frederick D. Haynes III, and Jeremiah A. Wright Jr (eds.) Blow the Trumpet in Zion: Global Vision and Action for the 21st Century Black Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005).Google Scholar
  69. 118.
    See David Willows Divine Knowledge: A Kier kegaardian Perspective on Christian Education (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), pp. 8–26.Google Scholar
  70. 120.
    See LeeButler “The Spirit Is Willing and the Flesh Is Too: Living Whole and Holy Lives through Integrating Spirituality and Sexuality.” Anthony B. Pinn and Dwight N. Hopkins (eds.) Loving the Body: Black Religious Studies and the Erotic (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), pp. 111–120.Google Scholar
  71. 121.
    Margaret Jones “Growing in Grace and Holiness.” Clive Marsh, Brian Neck, Angela Shier-Jones, and Helen Wareing(eds.) Unmasking Methodist Theology (London and New York: Continuum, 2004), pp. 155–165.Google Scholar
  72. 122.
    David Carter Love Bade Me Welcome: A British Methodist Perspective on the Church (Peterborough: Epworth Press, 2002), pp. 58–67.Google Scholar
  73. 123.
    R.S. Sugirtharajah(ed.) Voices from the Margin (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991).Google Scholar
  74. 124.
    See Musa W. Dube Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000).Google Scholar
  75. 126.
    See Demetrius K. Williams An End to This Strife: The Politics of Gender in African American Churches (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).Google Scholar
  76. 127.
    See Catherine Keller, Michael Nausner, and Mayra Rivera(eds.) Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2004).Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Anthony G. Reddie 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • Anthony G. Reddie

There are no affiliations available

Personalised recommendations