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90 Cards in this Set
- Front
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Atonement
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The reconciliation of sinners with God, especially through the cross, as communicated through the gospel and sacraments. The cross is somehow seen to solve the human predicament. But, the predicament can be understood in many different ways. Jesus atoned for our sins by dying on the cross.
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Authority
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It's a central issue for Christian theology, which deals with the sources legitimatization for theological assertions. Most basically, Christian theology deals with the living God, who is the source of all. This includes the claim that it is God who "authorizes" all theological claims. Speaking of Black theology, that's not what James Cone has experienced. Many White theologians have taken it upon themselves to pass judgment on Black theology.
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Black Theology
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Addresses the question: What does the gospel of Jesus Christ have to do with the struggle of Black people for liberation of White oppression? It claims the gospel affirms the Black quest for freedom, because gospel of Jesus Christ is freedom. James Cone is considered the father of Black theology. It could be viewed as the theologically-based Black power movement.
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Christology
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Deals with questions about who Jesus is and about why He makes the decisive difference in human destiny. All Christian traditions and denominations agree on some christological issues, but not all. They agree that Jesus of Nazareth was a real human, born a Jew and the son of a carpenter. He left home as a young man to be a preacher and healer and came under the suspicion of the Romans was arrested and crucified and resurrected. Jesus is savior and has a unique relationship to God. However some questions aren't answered by all Christian traditions.
What is meant by the claim that Jesus is divine? Did the Divine make this claim before the DIvine's death and resurrection? Does any divinity claim apply to the Divine's whole life from the first moment of His human existence, or does it refer to the time after His resurrection? |
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Epistemology
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The philosophical term for the theory of knowledge. It attempts to understand how knowing occurs and discover its grounds, its limitations, its validity, and trustworthiness and its relation to truth. The concerns of epistemology are mostly related to the doctrine of revelation.
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Experience-Religious
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Nearly every theological tradition uses religious-experience as a measure and resource of theological reflection. Broadly defined, "religious experience includes all those times and ways that individuals and groups become aware of things or events that are sacred." For example, dreams and visions were the religious experiences, which revealed God to Julian of Norwich. Her suffering seemed to reveal the Divine the most.
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Evil
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Theological discussion of evil focuses on the theodicy question (literally, the "justification of God" in the face of moral and natural evil). Theology employs a distinction between two types of evil: moral and natural (or physical). Moral evil refers to actions of human agents. Natural evil refers to natural occurrences, which are considered evil because of their consequences. Moral evil; the Holocaust, slavery and lynching. Natural evil: tornadoes and earthquakes.
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Hermeneutics
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The theoretical clarification of the issues involving human understanding. More narrowly, it deals with the understanding of written, most often historically distant texts. It focuses on a network of topics, including understanding, explanation, analysis, meaning, meaningfulness, interpretation, experience, textuality, appropriation, language and historocity. Interpreting Lev. 18:22 to condemn homosexuality is an exercise in this.
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Hope
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It is the expectation of a good future that is awakened through God's promise and supported by trust in God. Whoever "lives in hope" carries the future with them.
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Incarnation
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The idea found in many religions that the divine is revealed in some this-world form, usually in human form, so that God's nature and will are conveyed in a recognizable and intelligible way to humans.For example, God was revealed to humans through Jesus Christ.
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Inspiration
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In a religious sense, generally denotes the belief that an individual has been enlightened or even overtaken by a divine power. In some religious traditions, it is evidenced by trances, dreams, mystical visions, frenzies or other ecstatic experiences...an understanding of it as an ecstatic experience can be found in a few places in the Hebrew Bible, including I Sam. 10:5-13.
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Justice
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Concerns how goods, rights, and responsibilities are distributed. Questions of justice may involve any or all of the following:
Specific claims that persons make that they are entitled to something on the basis of justice Theories of justice that provide explanations or arguments for claims Systems Christian theology has always linked justice to relationship with God. In the Hebrew Bible, a person's justice toward their neighbors was a part of justice. |
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Liberation Theology
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In the late 1960s, "theologies of revolution" blossomed in the Americas and Europe. James Cone introduced "liberation theology" around the same time. From the 1970s, it was applied to theological reflection emerging among Latin American Christian theologians, primarily Roman Catholic clergy working with the oppressed.
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Sin
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In Christian understanding, sin is whatever act, attitude, or course of life that betrays the divine intention for created being. Sin alienates the sinner from God, dividing the sinner from God's community, disorders the life of the sinner, and in that measures disorders creation itself. (Ps. 51:1-4)
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Soteriology
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That focus of Christian theology that seeks to interpret the saving work of Jesus Christ, that is, what has God done for us in Jesus Christ. Traditionally, it has been distinguished from Christology, which is concerned with clarifying Jesus' person.
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Theological Method
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The need for theological reflection. All theologians consciously or unconsciously follow a certain approach in their thinking and writing. For example, James Cone's experience as a Black man influenced and formed his particular theological method, prompting him to create Black liberation theology.
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The Cross & the Lynching Tree
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Cone explored why theologians ignored the connection between the cross and the lynching as well as sacrificial suffering, while discussing the history and effects of lynching.
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The Spirituals and the Blues
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Black music is always an expression of Black life in America and what it takes to survive with dignity in a nation that's bent on denying people the right to live freely.
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God of the Oppressed
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"My point is that one's social and historical context decides not only what question we address to God but also the mode and form of the answers given to the questions. That is the central thesis of this book. And, I intend to illustrate it through selected theological themes, with particular reference to the contrasting ways that Black and White people think about God."
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A Black Theology of Liberation
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"To be Black is to be committed to destroying everything this country loves and adores. Creativity and passion are possible when one stands where the Black person stands, the one who has visions of the future because the present is unbearable. And the Black person will cling to that future as a means of passionately rejecting the present."
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Cone's Systematic Loci (Thus Far)
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Revelation
God Jesus Christ Suffering and evil Redemption/Liberation/Soteriology |
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What is "systematic" about systematic theology?
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The intellectual discipline that seeks to express the content of a religious faith as a coherent body of propositions. In Christianity, faith is the response of the whole human person to the gospel of Jesus Christ, a response including will, emotions, and belief. Theology is narrower than faith and is concerned with belief as the intellectual and propositional element in faith.
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The "loci" of systematic theology.
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God
Creation or Humanity Christology Sin and Evil Ecclesiology Eschatology |
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Black theology's relationship to Dr. King and the Black Power movement.
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Black liberation theology arose among Black theologians and church leaders in the 1960s. Motivated to defend why they broke away from the tentative coalition built between civil rights movement and White American liberal and neo-orthodox Christianity. Heavily informed by and defensive of Black Power movement.
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The audience of the first document of Black theology "The Statement of the National Committee of Negro Churchmen"
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Leaders of America
Threat to the nation is not Black Power movement but rather the failure of American leaders to create equal opportunity in life as well as in law. White Churchmen (Particularly Those Who Said They Civil Rights Movement Allies) A more equal sharing of power is the precondition of an authentic relationship and requirement for real and true integration. Black PeopleThe U.S. has asked Black people to fight for opportunity as individuals but it is necessary to fight now as a group. Getting power requires reconciliation. We must first be reconciled to ourselves which requires seeing the gifts we have among us and growing our self-pride. MediaPlayed a major role in the civil rights movement. Now, it has a more challenging task. "The power to support you in this endeavor is here in this country but it needs to be searched out. We desire to use our limited influence to help relate you to the variety of experience in the Negro community so that limited controversies aren't b |
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Sources & norms broadly
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Sources – the primary materials that a theologian uses to construct theology
Norms – the lens or value judgment that a theologian employs to determine what sources are important and how to use them. Though theologians may use the same sources, if they have different norms they may end up with very different theologies. Norms are defined by context, history, and social location. |
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Sources for Black Theology:
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Black experience: Arises out of and takes seriously the concrete realities of Black life. "All God talk is Black talk." Cone is saying theology is always particular and should be particular. Blacks don't want to know about about God in general, but what God has to say about White brutality.
Black History. attending to ways Blacks have been oppressed, but it's also about being survivors. Black Culture: Refers to ways Blacks have carved out an existence within the White society Black church, art, music Revelation: Jesus is the material revelation of God. Scripture: Black theology is Biblical theology. Wedded to the tradition of Christian scriptues. God is with them and will vindicate their suffering. God is not the author of the Bible. Scripture is a source, but it doesn't make decisions for us. Black theology cannot be ignored because of the role it played in oppression and liberation. Tradition: Relies on tradition of Black church in the United States. |
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Norms of Black Theology
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Accountable to the black community
Black Liberation Jesus is the revelation of God and his work is liberation of the oppressed. |
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Scripture As A Source:
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Using the Bible for Theology
Responsible use of Bible accounts for Context of the author The text itself: Text as its written and translations, etc. The context of the contemporary reader. Hermeneutics: A way of reading. Refers to looking at the text, how it was formed and how it was interpreted. The field of hermeneutics tell us us that there are multiple layers of meaning to every text and the more of those layers we account for the better understanding of a particular text. |
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What Cone means by "God is Black."
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Sources are the black bible and black experience of racial oppression in the U.S.
Norms are Jesus is the revelation of God and the message of gospel in the liberation of the oppresses Jesus is the revelation of God and his work is the liberation of the oppressed This historical person was an oppressed Jew living and working with marginalized people, fighting against systemic injustice In contemporary society African Americans are the oppressed therefore, Jesus is identified with black and is black Jesus reveals that God is one of and identified with the oppressed. Therefore, God is black. |
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Elizabeth Schluessler Fiorenza: Feminist Methods of Biblical Interpretation
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Kyriarchy (instead of patriarchy): Refers to the socio-political system of domination and subordination that is based on the "power and rule of of the lord/master/father." It is intended to account for the interlocking of racism, colonialism, sexism, classicism.
Fundamental contradiction in how the Bible is understood by marginalized Corrective Methods of Interpretation Informed by textual criticism, these methods look at the original language to see what has been lost in translation. Attend to the translation of both generic and female language as male language. Subsume women under generic language. Examine the ways kyriarchy affects redaction and canonization of scripture Seek to enhance Biblical literacy and knowledge about women and other marginalized people in the Bible |
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Historical Reconstructive Context
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Investigate the context in which the text was written in order to demonstrate the difference from that of the contemporary reader
Used to look for marginalized others who were silenced or ignored, present but not explicitly mentioned in the text Conceptualized women's history as not only one of oppression but also of agency and struggle Includes imaginative reconstruction, it recognizes that we do not have all the information but can fill in the some of the gaps with what we do have Argue that historical studies of the Bible have not sufficiently problematized the assumption that kyriocentric texts are descriptive and reliable evidence of history Challenges dominant scholarship by insisting that history must be written not from the perspective of the historical winners but from that of the silenced or marginalized |
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Imagintive Interpreative Methods
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Method of finding creative ways to tell Biblical stories that lift out the voices of those who have been marginalized by dominant sculptural interpretation
Ask the question, "What if?" What if Eve had given birth to Adam? What if Miriam had become founder and leader of Israel? What if we had as many letter of Mary of Magdala as we have from Paul? |
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Difference between spirituals and blues.
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Blues allowed Black people to express their moods, feelings, joys and sorrows. Spirituals provided an emotional security for oppressed slaves during turbulent times, according to sociologist Benjamin Mays.
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Difference between spirituals and blues for theology.
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Heaven, hell and judgment were central themes of spirituals. Blues, which focused on the secular, had no theological grounding, but did speak of suffering, for example, "Strange Fruit," written Abel Meeropol and sung by Billie Holiday
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Experiential confession
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Lived experience opposes the thoroughgoing skepticism of metaphoric exemption, it is a tumbling, vibrant source; it is resistant to theory and vulnerable to the vagaries of autobiography, impression, dream, and even delusion.
It is important for theologies of liberation that experience be recognized as valid and real People have experiences of God in concrete ways |
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What White theology means for Cone
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Reflection of Cone’s Preface of 1997 version, God of the Oppressed
Cone describes himself as black first and everything else comes after that. Considerable discussion on thought of “divine child abuse” based on a particular viewpoint of atonement (page xv) We are so ingrained in “shields” that there is still a predominance of protecting white theology versus actually siding on liberation of the oppressed (preface page x) Cone’s admission that the Bible is not above critique |
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What Black theology means for Cone
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James Cone “Black Theology” written in 1969
Why Black theology is not a gift dispensed to slaves but an appropriation of the gospel of white oppressors. Black theology has been nurtured, passed on and sustained in diverse forms in black churches. Emerged as a result of the need of black community to affirm … What Affirmation of black humanity that seeks to free blacks from white racism This message of liberation is the revelation of God revealed in Jesus Christ What does this mean? Black theology must attend to the concrete issues of black oppression Reparation is required as part of the gospel call What is the Cost? For black men and women living is a risk. Understanding Jesus as liberator and the gospel as freedom |
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Classic doctrines of atonement
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The reconciliation of sinners with God, especially through the cross, as communicated through the gospel and sacraments. The cross is somehow seen to solve the human predicament. But, the predicament can be understood in many different ways. Jesus atoned for our sins by dying on the cross.
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Theodicy
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If God is all good and all powerful, why is there evil in the world?
A theoretical solution for evil doesn't work in the real world. |
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The lynching tree, theologically speaking
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Most humiliating
Public Barbarically torturous Strike fear into community The lynching tree becomes nearly synonymous with the cross. Many innocent Black people became strange fruit, hanging from the lynching tree. It's a symbol of suffering and death. However, those lynched can't be resurrected like Lazarus. |
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Relationship of liberation and redemption to cross and to lynching tree
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· The cross is a paradoxical religious symbol because it inverts the world’s value system with the news that hope comes by way of defeat, that suffering and death do not have the last word, that the last shall be first, and the first last.
· The lynching tree joined the cross as the most emotionally charged symbols in the African American community – symbols that represented both death and the promise of redemption, judgment, and the offer of mercy, suffering and the power of hope. · While the lynching tree symbolized white power and black death, the cross symbolized divine power and black life. · The final word about black life is not death on a lynching tree but redemption in the cross. |
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Metaphoric exemption
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What we say about God is always a metaphor. It allows theologians to challenge racist, homophobic, sexist representations of God. Human depictions of God are metaphors and cannot be said to correspond directly to God's being.
Allows theologians to challenge patriarchal, racist and homophobic God concepts to create new and better images like God as Black |
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The Enlightenment (Immanuel Kant)
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Emphasis on rationality
Launched by scientific revolution Critiqued blind faith and church authority Renewed interest in scientific method and philosophy Strong individualism Philosophy was employed in support and justify of both colonialism and European slave trade (they were convinced that they were the highest level of civilization) Economically motivated Justified theologically |
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Liberal Theology (end of 19th, first half of 20th century)
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New way of thinking theologically, born of the Enlightenment among the bourgeoisie
Validity of science and religion Religion could not contradict science Historicity of Religion Recognized that all religious writings, practices, and constitution came into being in history Effect on biblical scholarship – the question began to be asked, “where and when was the passage written?” and “what did it mean in its own context/” Unity of culture and religion Religion must stand in a living relationship to the culture around it and cannot in the long run encapsulate itself in a group which has quite different rules of life and customs Problematically conflates normative culture with Christianity. Role of academic theology is differentiated from ecclesial requirements. The self-evidence of human experience is now the ground of judgments about credible theology. Political theology is a middle ground between Liberal Theology and Liberation Theology |
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Historicity of Religion (Liberal Theology)
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Recognized that all religious writings, practices, and constitution came into being in history
Effect on biblical scholarship – the question began to be asked, “where and when was the passage written?” and “what did it mean in its own context/” |
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Unity of culture and religion (Liberal Theology)
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Religion must stand in a living relationship to the culture around it and cannot in the long run encapsulate itself in a group which has quite different rules of life and customs
Problematically conflates normative culture with Christianity. Role of academic theology is differentiated from ecclesial requirements. The self-evidence of human experience is now the ground of judgments about credible theology. |
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Political Theology
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Middle ground between Liberal Theology and Liberation Theology
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Liberation Theology
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Emerged in the second half of the twentieth century among a variety of marginalized communities
Within the framework of liberation theology the task of theology is entirely redefined. Grounded in the word of Jesus Christ but does not exists without a context |
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7. The influence of the Enlightenment on theology
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Emphasis on rationality
Launched by scientific revolution Critiqued blind faith and church authority Renewed interest in scientific method and philosophy Strong individualism Enlightenment philosophy was employed in support and justify of both colonialism and European slave trade (they were convinced that they were the highest level of civilization) Economically motivated Justified theologically Post enlightenment – Christianity was steeped in the rational |
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Constructive Theology
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Process of doing systematic theology
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Systematic Theology
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The system itself
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Liberation Theologies Emerged From
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US – Black Theology
Latin America – Latin Liberation Theology Africa – African Liberation Theology Asia – Asian Liberation Theology Core Components of Liberation Theology |
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Core Components of Liberation Theology
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All theology is from a particular perspective – (Instead of theology as objective)
Gospel proclaims that God stands with and for the oppressed – (instead of individualism and conformity to the dominant culture) Justice for our bodies and spirits in this world – (instead of salvation of the soul in the afterlife) Emerges from Communities – (instead of being taken to communities) Orthopraxy, faith is about what you do – (instead of Orthodoxy faith is about what you believe) God calls for resistance – (instead of God calls for obedience) |
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Thesis of Liberation Theology – Jon Sobrino (Latin American Liberation Theologian)
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“The theology of liberation is an integral theology, treating all of the positivity of faith from a particular perspective: that of the poor and their liberation.”
“The primary bask viewpoint of the theology of liberation, as of any theology, is the givenness of faith; its secondary, particular viewpoint, as on theology among others, is the experience of the oppressed.” Liberation Theology starts with the faith experience, anchored in the viewpoint of the oppressed. There is an underpinning of faith, God is with us. “The theology of liberation represents a new stage in the long evolution of theological reflection, and today constitutes a historically necessary theology.” “The theology of liberation comprehensively integrates ethico-political liberation, which holds the primacy of urgency (and thereby also the methodological and at times the pastoral primacy) with soteriological liberation, which unequivocally maintains its primacy of value.” “Vis a vis other theologies, present and |
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James Cone – Black Liberation Theology, in its Founder’s Words. NPR Interview, Fresh Air from WHYY, July 17, 2011.
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Justice for the poor is at the very heart of what the Gospel is about.
God is about liberation of the poor and oppressed. We were not created to be in oppression. We were meant for more than that. 246 years of slavery 100 years of segregation and lynching Teach blacks to be “Unapologetically black and Christian at the same time.” Influenced by the Social Gospel Movement Early 20th century protestant movement in the U.S. in the early 20th c. fonded by Walter Rauschenbusch |
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Black Experience (Source of Black Theology)
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Arises out of takes seriously the concrete realities of black life.
Shared with womanist and feminist theologies. All God talk is black talk. Theology cannot be disconnected from black experience. African Americans want to know what God has to say in the experience of black brutality (Jim and Jane Crow) |
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Black History (Source of Black Theology)
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How blacks were brought to the U.S. and how they have been treated since then
Black oppression Survival of oppression Rebellion and retaliation |
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Black Culture (Source of Black Theology)
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Ways blacks have carved out an existence in the midst of the white society
Black church Spirituals Blues Literature, Poetry Dance |
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Revelation (Source of Black Theology)
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Revelation of God in the humanity of Jesus Christ
Revelation of God in this world |
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Scripture (Source of Black Theology)
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Black theology is Biblical Theology
God is a God of liberation God is not the author of the Bible The Bible is not infallible Renews our understanding of God’s Holy presence and on the side of the oppressed Black theology cannot be done without the Bible because of the role the Bible played in oppression and liberation |
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Tradition (Source of Black Theology)
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One cannot use the Bible without considering context and history
Tradition is not without critique Relies on the tradition of the Black church within the U.S. Uses what is important to blacks, liberation. |
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Kyriarchy
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Refers to the social-political system of domination and subordination that is based on “the power and rule of the lord/master/father.” It is intended to account for the interlocking and co-constituted systems of racism, colonialism, sexism, and classism.
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Corrective Methods of Interpretation
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Informed by textual criticism, these methods look at the original language to see what has been lost in translation
Attend to the translation of both generic and female language as male language Examine the ways kyriarchy affects redaction and canonization of scripture Seek to enhance biblical literacy and knowledge about women and other marginalized people in the Bible Explore the possibility of certain texts being written by women |
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Historical Reconstructive Methods
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Investigate the historical context in which the text was written in order to demonstrate the difference from that of the contemporary reader
Used to look for marginalized others who were silenced or ignored, present but not explicitly mentioned in the text. Conceptualizes women’s history as not only of oppression but also of agency and struggle Includes imaginative reconstruction, it recognizes that we do not have all the information but can fill in some of the gaps with what we do have (imagine those present who are not accounted for in the story) Argue that historical studies of the bible have not sufficiently problematized the assumption that kyriocentric texts are descriptive and reliable evidence of history. Challenges dominant scholarship by insisting that history must be written not from the perspective of the historical winners but from that of the silenced or marginalized. |
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Imaginative Interpretive Methods
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Method of finding creative ways to tell biblical stories that lift out the voices of those who have been marginalized by dominant sculptural interpretation.
One technique is to imagine women as the characters in stories that do not explicitly mention women but allow for their presence As the question what if? – What if Eve had given birth to Adam? What if Miriam had become the founder and leader of Israel? What if we had as many letters of Mary of Magdalen as we have fro Paul? Include different forms of artistic expression and emphasizes pictorial depiction of the bible. Employ the Jewish concept of Midrash in which biblical stories are elaborated upon and extended to include characters and stories not explicitly written in the text. |
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Difference between the spirituals and the blues
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Common - Deeply connected to souls and identity of black folk,
Differences – spirituals dealt with God and faith, Blues dealt with real life, Historically – spirituals antebellum (slavery era) and Blues - post emancipation (but not really) Jim Crow and Jane Crow Social political aspect – separation of black community based on rhythm and lyrics, rebellion against culture |
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Multiplicity
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God can encounter us in many different ways (not polytheism but monotheistic God encountered in different ways).
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18. Numinous experience or encounter
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Interested in value of non-rational or supra-rational
Post enlightenment – Christianity was steeped in the rational Warns that it is dangerous to remain only in the rational when it comes to God The Holy is a topic that only theologians deal with that is separate from the rational Uses the term numinous to refer to the profound non-rationalizable experience of the Holy |
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Mysterium Tremendum (encounter with the Holy) has three elements
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Tremor – feeling of something uncanny, eerie, or weird
Majesty – refers to the overpoweringness of the moment and the experience of one’s smallness in the face of divinity Energy or Urgency – the force one encounters is active, living, and compelling in such a way that prevents it from being simply rationalized away. There is an element to this which is entirely different from our own |
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19. The significance of revelation for black theology
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Jesus is the revelation of God and his work is liberation of the oppressed.
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20. What Cone mean by ideology
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Cone must show how theology is grounded in something other than the specifics of the black community.
Ideology happens when our subjective lens is believed to be the universal truth. Subjective made universal and associated with God. Theology is supported and anchored in Scriptures and biblical texts which are outside of the black community. Thinking needs to be formed outside one’s own perspective. Black theology s attempting to understand black experience in light of the Bible Ideology uses the Bible to defend one’s own experience and belief (cherry picking to support one’s subjective viewpoint) |
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Jesus is Black
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Sources are the black bible and black experience of racial oppression in the U.S.
Norms are Jesus is the revelation of God and the message of gospel in the liberation of the oppresses Jesus is the revelation of God and his work is the liberation of the oppressed This historical person was an oppressed Jew living and working with marginalized people, fighting against systemic injustice In contemporary society African Americans are the oppressed therefore, Jesus is identified with black and is black Jesus reveal that God is one of and identified with the oppressed. Therefore, God is black |
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Jesus is Jewish
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This historical person was an oppressed Jew living and working with marginalized people, fighting against systemic injustice
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The three parts of liberation/salvation, according to Cone
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Liberation is here and not yet and includes…
Relationship with God Freedom within history Transcendent Hope |
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Womanist Christology
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We cannot validate suffering and submission
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Delores Williams
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Womanist Theologian – Sisters in the Wilderness
Interrogates African American women’s experience of forced and coerced surrogacy and how that relates to Christology. There is nothing divine in the blood of the cross. Jesus did not come to be a surrogate. Jesus came for life. As Christians, black women cannot forget the cross, but neither can they glorify it. Williams poses instead that the spirit of God in Jesus came to show humans life. She claims that the cross is not necessary for redemption. The cross only represents historical evil trying to defeat good. The resurrection is a sign that God’s spirit is triumphant. |
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JoAnne Terrell
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Author of Power and the Blood
The cross is once and for all and means that no one else ever has to suffer, it is a statement not in favor but against the ongoing exploitation of people. Difference between chose and enforced suffering. Jesus chose his action, which is different from being victimized. The blood on the cross if powerful because it means no more blood needs to be taken not because it means that sacrifice is always required for salvation. Suffering is not redemptive but suffering can be redeemed. |
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Jesus is the perfect human or divinity defines his humanity (descending Christology)
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Divinity is demonstrated by his dissimilarity from every other human
He must have the same qualities as God He cannot be faulty or sinful in any way. Humanity defines divinity (ascending Christology) |
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Humanity defines divinity (ascending Christology)
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By making Jesus perfect in every way we deny the very humanity that makes the incarnation a scandalous act of God (God did this really radical thing).
Schneider argues that we allow the “flesh to show us the divine” rather than the other way around. As such the incarnation is a conundrum that disrupts Classical concepts God as an impassable, unchanging, omnipotent, and disembodied One. |
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God Fundamentally changed through the incarnation
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Soelle argues that by becoming incarnate in Christ, God left heavenly transcendence and mediated god’s self into the world entirely. God can only now be known and understood through Jesus.
Christ is the representative, meaning that Jesus did not finish evil and suffering once and for all. Rather, we must still be disciples in following him to the cross. |
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29. Classic doctrines of atonement
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Satisfaction theory (high Christology).
Moral Exemplar Theory Christology of the Middle Ages |
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Satisfaction theory (high Christology).
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Authored by Anselm
In order for estranged humans to be I communion with God, God’s honor had to first be satisfied. It is inconsistent with God’s righteous character to tolerate sin, therefore God needs a way for humans to atone for their sins. Humans are incapable of satisfying god’s honor therefore God became human in the form of Jesus Christ in order to satisfy God’s honor. |
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Moral Exemplar Theory
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Authored by Abelard
Christ’s love demonstrated to us in the Gospels compels us to respond in kind. The teachings in the Gospels teach us how to behave toward one another. Jesus saves not be dying but by showing us how to live. |
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Christology of the Middle Ages
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Represented by Thomas Aquinas
The point of the incarnation is to repair the damage wrought by human sin, to provide satisfaction to God’s honor,, and to restore the broken relationship between humanity and God. Because Christ was both fully human and fully divine “In dying he destroyed our death, in rising he restored our life.” |
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Liberation Theologies, re: Evil, suffering
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Sin and evil are not a matter of the individual soul but reather are political and social issues.
The challenge is not how to hold onto it philosophically but rather how to respond to it in the world. Philosophical explanations of evil have served as defenses of oppressive and evil systems of violence and hegemony. Black theology cannot solve the problem of evil in the world but cannot accept either relinquishing God’s power of God’s goodness. The more important question for liberation theology is, “What does Jesus mean for the experiences of the suffering.” |
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Cone on Evil
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Evil of the world no longer has the ultimate say. The cross means there is more to say.
The oppressed are empowered to fight injustice. God is fully identified with the pain and suffering of the oppressed. Final victory will take place with the second coming of Christ. The cross shows us that God values powerlessness, not power. |
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Vertical vs. horizontal definitions of sin
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Original sin – Ancient church constructed it as an inherited fault within all humans
According to Augustine and Niebuhr – sin is rebellion against God, characterized as pride. These are vertical definitions of sin as a rebellion against God. (according to Marjorie Suchocki) Cast the primary function of God as the moral lawgiver Easily translate into a formula for keeping marginalized peoples in places of poverty and powerlessness Level the important distinctions between sins. Render invisible the very real and often intended victims of sin. Contributes to the devaluation of creation and depend upon a hierarchical view of creation. For many people this concept does not make sense in the face of the kinds of evils they see on a daily basis. Suchocki proposes that sin be conceptualized not as a rebellion against God but rather as rebellion against creation. God is effected by sin not because we have broken a rule or but because we have harmed another creature. |
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Black artists and lynching
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Many Black artists were not church-going people. They were seeking out the meaning of the Black experience in a world defined by White superiority. Both lynching and Christianity were so much a part of the daily reality of American society that no Black artist could avoid wrestling with their meanings and their symbolic relationship to each other. "Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol and sung by Billie Holiday is a prime example.
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Two Types of Evil
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Moral: Inflicted with the intent to harm
Natural: Natural consequences |
