The Theologies of Black Folk in North America: Presidential Address to the American Theological Society, March, 2012

Abstract

In this article I argue that the black church tradition was born under the conditions of slavery more than two centuries ago for the purpose of proclaiming an alternative understanding of God and humanity from that of slave-holding Christians. As the socio-political conditions changed, however, the black churches revised their thought and practices in order to address the new challenges their people were facing. Yet they sought always to remain faithful to the liberating faith they had inherited from their ancestors. Consequently, this article classifies and discusses five types of theology in that tradition with variations within each of them namely: (1) the invisible theology of enslaved Africans; (2) the public theology of free Negroes in their independent churches; (3) the public theology of Martin Luther King, Jr.; (4) black theology in the theological academy; and (5) womanist theology in the theological academy. The article ends with a brief conclusion.