Black Theology and Black Power (Paperback)

~ (Author) "There has been and still is much debate among the critics of Black Power regarding the precise meaning of the words..." (more)
Key Phrases: northern churchmen, white churchmen, black theology, Black Power, Jesus Christ, New Testament (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

First published in 1969, "Black Theology & Black Power" provided the first systematic presentation of black theology. Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundation for an original interpretation of Christianity that retains its urgency and challenge today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 165 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570751579
• ISBN-13: 978-1570751578
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,816 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Black Power & BlackTheology, June 8, 2008

By	G. F. Westendorf "A reader of books" (Saginaw, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book in response to a challange by The Rev. Jermiah A. Wright (Pastor, now retired, Trinity United. Church of Christ the church of Barack Obama) to Sean Hannity (radio and TV talk show host) in May of 2008. Wright saying, "If you haven't read the book, (Black Power & Black Theology) we can't have this conversation." so I bought the book and read it slowly and carefully, highlighting it and making notes in the margins like back in the college days. The author James H. Cone wrote the book published in 1969 at the height of the radical civil rights movement. Cone added a second forward twenty years after the initial publication. He does this to modify a position. I lived through that time as a college student 1968-72 so I had a strong interest in the subject. In the context of the 2008 Presidential election I'd call it a "must read" if you're inclined towards politics and social issues of our recent past that are still relevent today. James H. Cone is not a gifted writer but certainly a impassioned one. "Black Power & Black Theology" is the handbook if you seek to understand the Black Church and Black Liberation Theology. Cone lays it out and leaves no question unanswered about where the Black Liberation Movement stands. Reverend Wright seconds Cone's stance with his endorsement of the book by calling out Sean Hannity to read it. I felt as if I were looking behind a curtain as I read this book. I bought a used copy knowing I would mark it up a lot as a textbook. It's slim, cheap and recommended.

13 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Culmination of meaning, January 19, 2007

By	A. Tripp - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

James Cone put forth Black Theology and Black Power as an explanation of the change required for black men to survive in this society. Cone defines black power as, "complete emancipation of black people by whatever means black people deem necessary." This emancipation call means, "black people no longer see themselves as without human dignity but as men." Cone explains that black people see themselves without human dignity because white society has objectified them. As an object they are not relational beings, but objects of exploit for the privilege and the empowerment of whites. For Cone this went back to the beginning of the African experience in America. The suffering of the black experience was real, and "black people cannot live according to what ought to be, but according to what is."

This book is without the luxury of time to come to grips with black meaning in a society which incessantly indoctrinated him with a message that he was less then human, less then whole. Cone did not have the luxury of education in the seminary in theologies other then those made by white men talking to other white men as the church made even Augustine and Jesus white in his time. He did not write in a vacuum and neither can his book be read in a vacuum.

It is an essential book for understanding Black Liberation.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Conclusion Yuck!, June 16, 2008

By	Philip S Roeda (Cook, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Black Theology and Black Power (Paperback)

I am of the understanding that this author has issues. He argues about white racism and uses it as a jumping off point to a Worldview that Blacks should have and whites should have if a particular White person wants to be allied with the Black power movement. Dr. Cone priority is not the spread of Christianity but to change the mindset of white and black individuals. This is the purpose of democratic debate. His argument is since society is racist and whites control most churches, therefore all philosophy and theology that is taught through the years most also be racist. He does not believe the Bible is inerrant or the ultimate arbitrator of Truth. He uses the Bible to constuct an argument at cetain points in the book but this hardly his main source for his thought. He freely admits that the Nation of Islam and its teachings are totally in line with his Black Power philosphy. The book's purpose is to argue for the Black Church in the United States to have a philosophy of Black inpowerment.

The author calls Blacks who do not subscribe to his philosophy as white inside. Whites who agree with him as black inside. The author has some valid points about racism in society and the history in the Church. How the church reflects the world instead of an agent or a beakon to a better way of thought and action. I just disagree with his philosophy, his "theology" and conclusions how people should respond to these facts.