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Is God a
White Racist?
A
Preamble to Black Theology
By William R. Jones
Reviewed by William Muehl
It would be easy to see the
title of this book as a publisher’s gimmick – but it would
be a mistake to do so. The author – a Unitarian-Universalist
clergyman as well as an associate professor of philosophy of
religion at Yale University divinity school – describes the
possibility of divine racism as a “threshold issue” for
black theology. “My concern,” he writes, “is not to
establish the truth of the charge of divine racism. Rather, my
intent is to demonstrate that the normative frameworks of the
black theologians are questionable, because they raise the issue
of divine racism and, once [it is] raised, cannot effectively
refute the charge with their present theological resources.”
William R. Jones believes
that if black theology is to reflect the authentic experience of
the black community and speak to its real needs, it must
re-examine its commitment to some of the basic doctrines of
biblical faith. The problem of theodicy – the question of
God’s justice in the presence of human suffering – is the
pad from which Jones launches his assault and from which he
believes all effective attacks will have to originate. For him,
the frailty of classical theodicies in view of massive
oppression is symptomatic of fatal flaws in the corpus of
Christian theology.
The first of the volume’s
three major parts, “An Overview of divine Racism,” outlines
Jones’ thesis and suggests its significance for the thought of
such secular contemporaries as Sartre and Camus, as well as the
black theologians with whom he is primarily concerned. He draws
skillfully upon the poetry of Countee Cullen to depict the
anguish of black men and women torn between denying the reality
of God and accepting him as the real enemy. This opening section
closes with the contention that a theology of liberation must be
able to challenge the “sanctity and hallowed status” of the
bases of black oppression.
Part II, “Black Suffering
and Black theology: An Internal Critique,” analyzes the theodicies of five major black theologians:
Joseph Washington,
James Cone, Albert Cleage,
Major Jones, and J. Deotis Roberts.
The author describes this portion of his work as a “family
squabble” within the ranks of black religion and warns the
reader that it will not be easily understood without a solid
grounding in contemporary black theology.
Each of the theologians
discussed by Jones represents an approach to the problem of
theodicy which the author finds inadequate at some critical
point. Washington’s suffering-servant stance can encourage
quietism in the face of white oppression. Cone fails to
demonstrate the validity of his basic assumption – i.e., that
black liberation is central to God’s essence. Cleage’s
chosen-people doctrine cannot cope with the massive and
continuing nature of black suffering. Major Jones does not
resolve the paradox of the “helpless God” who is also Lord
of history. And Roberts fails to provide that which is essential
to his theodicy: the criteria for distinguishing between
redemptive and nonredemptive suffering.
Jones treats each of these
men with perceptive sensitivity, appreciative of the tasks which
they have set for themselves; nonetheless, he hews steadily to
his own thesis – that no theodicy which accepts God as the
omnipotent and benevolent ruler of history can account for black
oppression.
In Part III Jones moves
“Toward a Black Theodicy for Today.” Here he offers
“humanocentric theism,” not as his own final position but as
the stance most congenial to black religious tradition that can
establish a basis for a theology of liberation. He draws upon Martin Buber, Harvey Cox, and Richard Rubenstein as landmarks to
indicate the general terrain on which he is working. The concept
of a God who has given humankind co-determining power within
creation, or even autonomy in historical relationships, commends
itself to Jones as avoiding those dilemmas of theodicy that
undermine orthodox theology. And, Jones acknowledges with
winsome candor, humanocentric theism is only one short step from
his own destination – secular humanism.
Jones does an excellent job
of demonstrating the crucial character of theodicy for black
theology today. He sees quite clearly that the forward sweep of
liberation will soon leave behind – if it has not already done
so – most of the fragile emotional structures which black
Christians have used to bridge the gap between faith and
experience. One cannot doubt his warning that any theology that
assumes that black people are willing to continue suffering
massive injustice, or that they can be persuaded that there is
something redemptive in doing so, dooms itself to irrelevance.
My primary reservation
about the book has to do with the author’s equation of group
oppression and personal suffering. The two frequently go
together, but – as the history of Jews, women, and black
people themselves make clear – oppression is both a relative
and imprecise concept. What do the richly rewarding lives that
many individuals manage to work out within an oppressive
framework say about Jones’ approach to theodicy?
Despite the author’s specific concern with black
theology, this book has much to say to people of all races who
grapple with the problem of pain and try to understand its place
in their own theological traditions. At times Jones is
instructive to the point of pedantry, but the questions he
raises are effectively posed. They compelled at least one reader
to undertake some detailed and painful homework.
Source: The Christian Century (20 February 1974) * * * * *
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Dr. William R. Jones is an
internationally-recognized scholar in the areas of
Multiculturalism, Liberation Theology, and Oppression. He has
been a member of the Florida State University faculty since
1977, when he became the first director of African American
Studies and a professor in the Department of Religion.
William R. Jones has devoted his 35-year career
as a scholar, educator, philosopher, and activist to the
diagnosis and mapping of oppression and the development of
strategies to correct social inequities. Central, if not
inaugural, to this work has been the investigation of liberation
theology, religious humanism, and theories of culture. |
Dr. Jones has presented his research in South
Africa, Kenya, Martinique, Ghana, Korea, Belgium, Puerto Rico,
Spain, Uruguay, Canada, and Great Britain. In addition to
endowed and major lectures sat such institutions as Cornell,
Union Theological Seminary, Tufts, Vanderbilt, Ohio State,
Tuskegee Institute, and Wesley Theological Seminary, he has
worked with countless grassroots organizations and churches
across America.
Born in Louisville,
Kentucky Dr. Jones received his B.A. with highest honors in
philosophy form Howard University, his Masters of Divinity, from
Harvard University (W.E.B. Du Bois Institute), and his Ph.D., in
Religious Studies from Brown University. Prior to accepting his
positions at FSU, he was a member of the faculty at Yale
Divinity School and served as Coordinator of African American
Studies.
He has also held visiting
professorships at Brown University, Princeton Theological
Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, Iliff School of Theology,
and the Humanist Institute in New York.
Professor Jones has also
served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of
Theology and Philosophy, UNIQUEST, the Journal of
Religious Humanism, the Journal of Metaphilosophy, and
Kairos. In addition, he has served on steering, credential,
and awards committees at the Harvard Divinity School, the Union
Theological Seminary, the University of Cincinnati, and the
Unitarian Universalist Association.
He is the author of many
articles and chapters on oppression and the role of the church
in social change. His work has been the subject of many
articles, dissertations, newspaper and journal features, as well
as several directory listings. In 1978, Jones co-edited Black
Theology II with Calvin E. Bruce. In December 1997, Beacon
Press released Jones's controversial, 1973 work,
Is God A
White Racist? Prolegomenon to Black Theology, with a new
preface and afterword. He is currently at work on two books
outlining the Jones' Analytical Method and the Jones' Oppression
Grid: The Mis-Religion of the Negro and Oppression: The Good
That People Do.
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update 28 July 2008
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