It is Black History Month. This is when we are reminded of the people and events that create what some call “the African diaspora”. We often see pictures of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Rosa Parks, and Jackie Robinson. For many of us Caucasians this is one of the few times during the year where we are reminded that “history” doesn’t equal “European history”.
Today I thought briefly about my book shelfs. I asked myself, “How many of your books are written by African, Asian, or Latino authors?” Sadly, not many. I have a book shelves with names like Barth and Bonhoeffer, Foucault and Pascal, Gadamer and Vanhoozer, Wright and Dunn. I am not embarrassed that I have those names listed. I am embarrassed because it is obvious I continue to do monochromatic Christian theology!
While I may not say that the best Christian theology comes from Germany, Italy, France and the people in the United States who look like me my book shelf tells me that I must think that. I am not justified in reading a few speeches by Dr. King. Do I have any James Cone on my shelf? Nope. Have I read any contemporary Black theologians like Anthony Bradley? Nope.
What is wrong with me?
I am sure I am not alone. I imagine some of my Black brothers and sisters wouldn’t want me to read a book just because the author is Black, but that is not the point. The point is that this is something I have become without realizing it. Christianity looks a lot like me. What to do?
the archives near Emmaus 
Ask friends where to start. Thats probably a good idea. Yeah.
I think it can be linked to what Richard Beck from his blog Experimental Theology commented on a few days ago on “theological worlds”. In that post he argues (following Paul Jones) that theological endeavor is a product of our obsessio and epiphania. Here he means the obsessio is the fundamental theological problem or “obsession,” while epiphania is the solution to said question or “epiphany.”
The reason we, white males, tend to discount the ‘minority’ voices in theology is because we assume ahead of time that these voices have an obsessio that is fundamentally different than ours. That is, we conclude, almost certainly on an unconscious level, that because these authors are writing “from perspective” that they, by definition are of less substance than us white male type who speak for the “whole” theological community.
I think the only way we ever are going to appreciate “minority voices” in theology is if we, white males, finally, become honest with ourselves and realize that it is not they (minority voices) who have a problem (of being perspectival), but that the problem is ours (of thinking we hold some sort of transcultural status).
It is only when we give up this mythological status of transcultural spokesperson (our obsessio) that we can finally appreciate where these minority voices are coming from; we can finally appreciate their epiphania.
Richard Beck’s can be read here: http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2011/01/theological-worlds.html
@Rod: Hmmm, ok….where should I start?! 🙂
@Stephen: Thanks for recommending that post. I will read it. I think you are correct that we think we do some sort of “transcultural” theology while minority voices are going to be over contextualized. And I think seminary education sometimes reinforces this (again, look at my book shelf).
Hmmm this is always a tricky question. But personally, from what I have read in your posts blog and tweet wise, I would recommend James Cone’s God of the Oppressed. His first two texts, A black theology of liberation & black theology and black power, he even admits he depends on barth too much. GOO is the way to go, since he began to truly break ground CONSTRUCTIVELY and then maybe read the other two later.
@Rod: Thanks for the recommendations. I have heard of Cone (probably first from your blog), but I have never heard of Goo, so I will need to look him up. What do you think of some of the books Anthony Bradley has been writing? Will they be useful for someone like me?
@Brian,
I think you need to read Cone before Bradley, honestly. Also, I prefer J Kameron Carter’s work over Bradley’s because Carter does so much a better job of reading Cone and challenging Cone’s blindspots. Carter’s Race: A Theological Account is a must read. Carter’s blog is so awesome, theo-bloggers just cannot wait for him to post:
http://jkameroncarter.com/
Celucien did a book review of Carter’s book for the Journal of Religion, Race, and Ethnicity: http://www.raceandreligion.com/JRER/Book_Reviews_files/Race%20A%20Theological%20Account.pdf
I think I may do one too when I get around to it.
@Rod: Awesome, thanks! I added Carter’s blog to my reader and I will look around to see what works by Cone can be found at our various libraries here in the Portland area.
Amos Yong from Regent College is a Chinese / Malaysian whom is a prolific writer.
http://www.agts.edu/news/news_archives/2010amos_yong.html
http://www.agts.edu/news/news_archives/2010amos_yong.html
And don’t forget that many of our early church forefathers were not white Anglo-Saxon : Augustine for example.
@Craig: I do have a couple of books by Yong and I have even had a phone conversation with him. He is a smart man and a creative theologian. What ethnicity would we attribute to Augustine, Athanasius, and other north African theologians? I am always confused by that because the Roman Empire occupied most of northern Africa.
I have been watching a number of his videos and have been greatly blessed. Ethnicity!! Great question. I don’t think he was Italian…
I think we will see a lot of theologians come out of Africa; certainly the Nigerian Anglican church is larger and more conservative then the collect Anglican church in the west.
I’m reading an interesting book from the 80’s called a moment of truth. Its a confession of faith from the South African Dutch Reformed Church and its change / stance regarding apartheid during that time…http://craigbenno1.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/a-moment-of-truth/
While its 30 years old; it has a wealth of information and insight into the churches response to racial segregation.
@Craig: Africa, Asia, and Latin America are the future of important, ecclesiological theology. I assume we can already learn much from them.
I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Latin American theologians / theology; apart from a small knowledge of Liberation Theology and am assuming that’s what your referring to?
@Craig: No, the assumption is based more on the fact that Christianity is growing there at a quick pace. This is bound to result in the emergence of new theologians.
Good point / observation. I was going to ask about the seemingly growth of Pentecostalism in those areas; but I wonder if my information source is a little biased. I will be interested to see what influence Roman Catholicism and other traditional influences play on these theologies.
@Craig: Catholicism and Pentecostalism seem to be the two most dominant forms of Christianity in Latin America. It will be interesting to see how these two groups shape their theology in relation to each other.