Thread by @NeilShenvi

Currently reading James Cone's "A Black Theology of Liberation." I will be posting quotes from the book on this thread through the day, without commentary.

"In passing, it may be worthwhile to point out that whites are in no position to question the legitimacy of black theology. Questions like 'Do you think theology is black?' or 'What about others who suffer?' are the product of minds incapable of black thinking" (p. 8)

"The revolutionary context forces black theology to shun all abstract principles dealing with what is the 'right' and 'wrong' course of action. There is only one principle which guides the thinking and action of black theology:an unqualified commitment to the black community" p10

"If God is not for us, if God is not against white racists, then God is a murderer, and we had better kill God. The task of black theology is to kill gods that do not belong to the black community" (p. 27)

"According to black theology, the sin of the oppressed is not that they are responsible for their own enslavement - far from it. Their sin is that of trying to 'understand' enslavers, to 'love' them on their own terms...

...As the oppressed now recognize their situation in the light of God's revelation, they know that they should have killed their oppressors instead of trying to 'love' them." (p. 51)

"If there is one brutal fact that the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks, it is that whites are incapable of making any valid judgments about human existence...

The goal of black theology is the destruction of everything white, so that blacks can be liberated from alien gods." (p. 61-62)

"We have had too much of white love, the love that tells blacks to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power,...

which is the power of blacks to destroy their oppressors, here and now, by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject God's love." (p. 70)

"Jesus is not a human being for all persons; he is a human being for oppressed persons, whose identity is made known in and through their liberation." (p. 85-86)

"there can be no knowledge of the sinful condition except in the movement of an oppressed community claiming its freedom. This means that whites, despite their self-proclaimed religiousness, are rendered incapable of making valid judgments on the character of sin." (p. 106)

"If Jesus Christ is to have any meaning for us, he must leave the security of the suburbs by joining blacks in their condition. What need have we for a white Jesus when we are not white but black? If Jesus Christ is white and not black, he is an oppressor, and we must kill him...

The appearance of black theology means that the black community is now ready to do something about the white Jesus, so that he cannot get in the way of our revolution." (p. 111)

I've finished compiling quotes. See the complete collection here:
shenviapologetics.com/quotes-from-co…