30
Apr
Jeremiah Wright, liberation theology, and Thabiti Anyabwile
Wow! There is a lot of buzz in the “religion & politics” news this week regarding Barack Obama and his pastor former pastor Jeremiah Wright I understand that a pastor feels a burden to show courage and boldness in the face of hostility towards personally-held beliefs, but you’ve got to be amazed at his absolute inconsideration to his friend Barack, knowing the impact his statements might have on Obama’s campaign.
Ok, that ends my armchair-politics talk (an area I know little of, and care even less about).
Now, onto what I find even more interesting about all this – the theological element.
Liberation theology is getting a lot of air time these days (see here for today’s Google news search of the term). I’m not so sure all the pundits know what they are talking about when they use the term. Nevertheless, there is a lot of talk about Wright’s own liberation theology. As I’ve read some of the analysis, it seems as though there is an unspoken assumption that liberation theology is the only brand of theology fit for the African American Christian. Further, with great historical blindness, it is also nearly assumed that this is the only type of theology African American Christians have ever held.
So, Wright’s comments come at a great time for me personally, as I am in the middle of reading two books written by one particular African-American pastor, currently serving a church in the Cayman
Islands (must be tough).
His name is Thabiti M. Anyabwile (click the link to read his personal blog, including a fresh post about the Jeremiah Wright events).
The two books by Anyabwile are:The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors andThe Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity
I recently had the privilege of hearing Pastor Anyawile preach on the topic of Christianity and race.You can hear the message here, or see the video here. Regarding The Decline, here is a blurb:
“Anyabwile offers a challenging and provocative assessment of the history of African American Christian theology, from its earliest beginnings to the present. He argues trenchantly that the modern fruit of African American theology has fallen far from the tree of its early predecessors.”
Anyabwile discusses men like Howard Thurman, Jupiter Hammon, James Cone, Marcus Garvey, and T.D. Jakes. In so doing, he provides us with great analysis of the history of African American theology.
The next book, The Faithful Preacher, contains biographical information and some excellent selections from the preaching and writing ministry of three African American preachers from a bygone era. Lemuel Haynes, Bishop Daniel A. Payne, and Francis J. Grimke each receive compelling attention.
I’m not through reading these books yet, but I thought I’d put them out here (and Anyabwile’s message) for your own consideration.
