Americana83

Note: This is the beginning of a series of posts I hope to make regarding the Theology of Trinity United Church of Christ, Barack Obama’s home church of ~20 years. TUCC’s pastor Jeremiah Wright based his theology and values system on Dr. Cone’s Work: Black Theology & Black Power. These are the values that Wright used when he mentored Barack Obama, and these are the underpinning of the beliefs and values that could influence the next President of the United States. I have and will expend considerable amounts of time both researching and writing these articles, not because I have a personal vendetta against any man, but because I believe that the truth must be known. Dr. Wright, when questioned on Fox News rigorously used Black Liberation Theology as a defense of his values system, and railed against his questioners for their ignorance of it. I wish that they had done their homework, because knowledge is power.

Dr. Cone’s Black Liberation Theology: Love, Redefined.

What is love? Love is the foundation of the Christian Gospel. Without Love, God would not have cared if His creation had no way to heaven, and thus would have had no reason to provide a way though Christ. According to Webster’s, Love is:

To regard with a strong feeling of affection; to have a devoted attachment to; to feel great tenderness for; as, to love one’s family. 2. To regard with the feelings of one sex towards the other; to be tenderly affected toward; to be in love with; to be passionately fond of. 3. To delight in; to have great pleasure or interest in…(Webster’s pg 1007)

What does the Bible say about love? There are many passages about love, and they reflect closely to how Webster’s defines love.

Is love based on precondition?

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10)

We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1 John 4:19-21)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? (Matthew 5:43-47)

It is because of verses like these that Dr. Cone must go through great efforts to redefine Love, and thus redefine Christian love. He rightly asserts that a “new way of doing theology” is needed, because without it “there will always be this barrier between Black Power and Christian love(Cone, 50). Thus  he seeks to reinterpret “the message of salvation(49)” so that it will be palatable to those within the Black Power movement, whom Cone has no desire to make Christians out of, nor to “twist their language or to make an alien interpretation of it.(Cone 48).” While he has no problem preserving and accurately interpreting the words of man, he apparently sees no problem with forcing an interpretation on the scriptures that, as he willingly admits is alien to the life of Christ, and thus to the Biblical interpretation of love.

Cone goes through the two parts of the Great Commandment:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

He rightly says that when God’s love has gripped a someone that they should behave as if Christ is at the core of his being (Cone, 51). However, just a page later,  he says that, “because God is a God of power; of  majesty, of might, to love man means that he wills that the black man “reflect in the immediacies of life his power, his majesty and his might (Cone, 52).” He also erroneously says that “to respond to God’s love in faith means that he accepts as truth the new image of himself revealed in Jesus Christ (Cone, 52). The Bible teaches that our response to God’s love is to believe on Him:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

That the man becomes a new Creature, and does not merely emulate an image of such is a Bible truth:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We do not see an image in Christ, by accepting Christ in faith, we become a new creature, God’s spirit indwells us and empowers us to do  his will, to show his love and deliver his message to a world in need. As far as power we as individuals are called to:

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

(Matthew 10:16-18)

It is not for us to attempt to emulate God’s power and might. Throughout the Bible, God does occasionally use people to show his power, as was the case with Moses and the plagues. However, the showing of power was related specifically to giving glory and honor to God, as Pharaoh was scoffing and rejecting God’s revealed will. It was not an act channeled through the unbelieving, or the worshippers of false gods. Since Dr Cone has “no desire to make Christians out of those who see no relationship between their understanding of truth and Jesus Christ (Cone, 48), he asserts that God’s power, majesty and might can be demonstrated though sinful unrepentant man by accepting a new image “revealed in Christ.” Many religions have images of Christ,

Cone asserts that the black man take Paul’s teaching of being a “new creature” literally by telling him to “glorify blackness” as an acceptance of the black self as a creature of God. (Cone, 53).” It is absolutely clear that Dr. Cone misses the concept of the “new creature” The new creature is a direct product of the new birth, which Jesus described in his discussion with Nicodemus:

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

(John 3:1-7)

The new creature is spiritual in nature. Man was born once as flesh and blood. The birth of the “new creature” is a spiritual event, an event open to “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.” It has nothing to do with the glorifying or uplifting of the physical self.

By combining these unbiblical distortions of the new creature and God’s love, Cone has set the stage for his radical redefining of the word Love.

Dr. Cone says that “to love the white man means that the black man confronts him.” He goes on to assert that whites see blacks as “its” and the black man must confront them as a “Thou” The emphasis is not on the person hood, but on the confrontation as the manifestation of love between the “races.”

Cone further asserts that,

The black man must, if he is not to lose sight of his new-found identity in Christ, be prepared for conflict, for a radical confrontation. As one black man put it: “Profound love can only exist between two equals. The new black man refuses to assume the It-role which whites expect, but addresses them as an equal. This I where the conflict arises(Cone, 53).

There is no grounds for a “radical confrontation” for one not to lose sight of his identify in Christ. In fact, the one time where it was attempted, Jesus himself rebuked Simon Peter:

Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:10-11).

Also, consider the actions of Stephen who’s preaching of righteousness resulted in severe injustice:

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

(Acts 7:51-60)

Probably one of the most damnable heresies which Cone proclaims is the assertion that “profound love” can only exist between equals. With how much the Bible talks about God’s love for man, this sets up two situations, each equally heretical. Either God does not truly love man, and the Bible lies regarding this, or man is equal with God, in which case man has no need of God, or his salvation. So the question arises, are we gods, or is God a liar? Man’s fall in Genesis was at the beckoning of the serpent to “become as gods.” Cone here introduces that man is equal with God again offering up the same temptation, the quick and fleshly way of a bloody confrontation to lift up the self, the flesh.

It is this heresy that allows him to encourage the carnal demonstration of “God’s power” by ungodly men. He continues by saying that the “christian” love of whites makes the black man a nonperson. Cone goes on to say:

The black man’s response to God’s act in Christ must be different from the white’s because his life experiences are different. Christian love is never fully embodied in an act(Cone, 55).

This is false. Christian love was fully embodied in one act: the selfless giving of Christ on the Cross. To willingly give one’s self for his friends is defined as the greatest love in the Bible:

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13)

From this the greatness of Christ’s sacrifice is magnified, for not only did he give his life, but he did so, “While we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8)!” Such an act, by God completely embodies Christian love! There is no greater love, or demonstration of love!

Now compare this to the example of love offered up by Dr. Cone:

The violence in the cities, which appears to contradict Christian love, is nothing but the black man’s attempt to say Yes to his being as defined by God…If the riots are the black man’s courage to say Yes to himself as a creature of God, and if in affirming self he affirms Yes to the neighbor, then violence may be the black man’s expression, sometimes the only possible expression, of Christian love to the white oppressor(Cone, P 55).

Where in the Bible does it say we are to affirm our selves? Where in the Scriptures does it say that violence is a legitimate expression of Christian love to the neighbor? Remember, that Dr. Cone subscribes to Malcolm X’s description that theologically, calling whites the devil is not far from the truth. All whites are oppressors in the eyes of Dr. Cone (Cone, P 24).

However, Cone also insists that

White people should not even expect blacks to love them, and to ask for it merely adds insult to injury. “For the white man,” writes Malcolm X, “to ask the black man if he hates him is just like the rapist asking the raped…’Do you hate me?’ (ellipses in original quote) The white man is in no moral position to accuse anyone else of hate.” Whatever blacks feel towards whites or whatever their response to white racism, it cannot be submitted to the judgments of White society.

Basically Cone’s definition of the love offered up to whites from blacks is the same as the hatred which whites should expect from blacks. Based on Cone’s definitions:

Love = Hate

Hate = Love

Further, he has attempted to insulate his perspective from any criticism. However, despite his linguistic and mental gymnastics, Love, Christian love does not equal hate.

Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

It is clear from Dr. Cone’s radical redefining of Christian love, that his primary purpose is not to show how Christianity is compatible with Black Power, as he claims(cone, p48), but rather to conform the image of Christ and his love to that of a movement that is diametrically opposed to Christian Love and everything it stands for.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

References:

Black Theology & Black Power, 8th Printing, Nov 2006. James H. Cone (c) 1997 James H. Cone.

Webster’s New 20th Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. (c) 1949 The World Publishing Co.

The Holy Bible, KJV