Black Theology

Black theology is not simply for the African American, but also a vitally important challenge for any theology. There are six aspects of black theology that any theology must learn from. The first aspect is methodological. The sources central to black theology are entirely compatible with the sources that shaped the mainstream Christian tradition. Black theology is grounded in the Bible and takes seriously the combination of experience (the story of oppression) and the insights that can be derived from the non-Christian traditions that shaped the African American story. The second aspect is the insight that the gospel is about liberation. The third aspect is the centrality of “self-love.” The fourth aspect is the stress on a “contextual theology.” The fifth aspect is the impact on our view of suffering, theodicy, and justice. The final aspect is the emergence of “womanist” theology.