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James Hal Cone and his beliefs.Some in his own words.
James Hal Cone
Founder of black liberation theology
Professor of Systematic Theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City
Views America as an irredeemably racist nation
"What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of Black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love." -- James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation
“This country was founded for whites and everything that has happened in it has emerged from the white perspective. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.” -- James Cone
Ordained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, James Hal Cone is a theologian credited most notably with founding and advancing black liberation theology, which combines tenets of Christian socialism and the Black Power movement. He came into the forefront of public consciousness when Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s controversial pastor,
Working from a strong Marxist base, liberation theology teaches that the New Testament gospels can be understood only as calls for social activism, class struggle, their material (and, cand revolution aimed at overturning the existing capitalist order and installing, in its stead, a socialist utopia where today’s poor will unseat their “oppressors” and become liberated fromonsequently, their spiritual) deprivations. An extension of this paradigm, black liberation theology seeks to foment a similar Marxist revolutionary fervor founded on racial rather than class solidarity.
James Cone was born in 1938 and was raised in Arkansas. He earned a B.A. degree from Philander Smith College in 1958; a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1961; and M.A. (1963) and Ph.D. (1965) degrees from Northwestern University. He also has been awarded eight honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Characterizing America as an irredeemably "racist society,"
Cone argues that white people traditionally have exploited Christianity as an opiate of the (black) masses. He asserts that the destitute “are made and kept poor by the rich and powerful few,” and that “[n]o one can be a follower of Jesus Christ without a political commitment that expresses one’s solidarity with victims.”
Influenced by the Christian existential philosophy of Paul Tillich and the Black Power movement of Malcolm X, Cone exhorts black Christians to reject the “White Church,” which he claims has failed to support them in their struggle for equal rights.
Claiming that "black values" are superior to American values, Cone’s writings posit a black Jesus who leads African Americans as the “chosen people.” "This country was founded for whites, and everything that has happened in it has emerged from the white perspective," he writes. "What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.”
In 1969, Cone characterized white society as the antichrist, and the white church as an institution that was racist to its core. Thus he posited "a desperate need for a black theology, a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression."
In his landmark 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power, Cone wrote:
"The time has come for white America to be silent and listen to black people.... All white men are responsible for white oppression.... Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man 'the devil.' ... Any advice from whites to blacks on how to deal with white oppression is automatically under suspicion as a clever device to further enslavement."
In that same volume, Cone penned these sentiments about universal black goodness and white evil:
"For white people, God’s reconciliation in Jesus Christ means that God has made black people a beautiful people; and if they are going to be in relationship with God, they must enter by means of their black brothers, who are a manifestation of God’s presence on earth. The assumption that one can know God without knowing blackness is the basic heresy of the white churches.They want God without blackness, Christ without obedience, love without death. What they fail to realize is that in America, God’s revelation on earth has always been black, red, or some other shocking shade, but never white. Whiteness, as revealed in the history of America, is the expression of what is wrong with man. It is a symbol of man’s depravity. God cannot be white even though white churches have portrayed him as white. When we look at what whiteness has done to the minds of men in this country, we can see clearly what the New Testament meant when it spoke of the principalities and powers. To speak of Satan and his powers becomes not just a way of speaking but a fact of reality. When we can see a people who are controlled by an ideology of whiteness, then we know what reconciliation must mean. The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto)."
Indeed. So let's leave it to Him shall we?
The president has repeatedly said that he accepts Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.
There is no other test. No other requirement.
I don't follow Catholic doctrine, but I still believe Catholics to be Christians.
Again, only God can judge what is in someone's heart.
To second-guess another's affirmation of faith is just wrong.
James Hal Cone and his beliefs.Some in his own words.
James Hal Cone
Founder of black liberation theology
Professor of Systematic Theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City
Views America as an irredeemably racist nation
"What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of Black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love." -- James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation
“This country was founded for whites and everything that has happened in it has emerged from the white perspective. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.†-- James Cone
Ordained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, James Hal Cone is a theologian credited most notably with founding and advancing black liberation theology, which combines tenets of Christian socialism and the Black Power movement. He came into the forefront of public consciousness when Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s controversial pastor,
Working from a strong Marxist base, liberation theology teaches that the New Testament gospels can be understood only as calls for social activism, class struggle, their material (and, cand revolution aimed at overturning the existing capitalist order and installing, in its stead, a socialist utopia where today’s poor will unseat their “oppressors†and become liberated fromonsequently, their spiritual) deprivations. An extension of this paradigm, black liberation theology seeks to foment a similar Marxist revolutionary fervor founded on racial rather than class solidarity.
James Cone was born in 1938 and was raised in Arkansas. He earned a B.A. degree from Philander Smith College in 1958; a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1961; and M.A. (1963) and Ph.D. (1965) degrees from Northwestern University. He also has been awarded eight honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Characterizing America as an irredeemably "racist society,"
Cone argues that white people traditionally have exploited Christianity as an opiate of the (black) masses. He asserts that the destitute “are made and kept poor by the rich and powerful few,†and that “[n]o one can be a follower of Jesus Christ without a political commitment that expresses one’s solidarity with victims.â€
Influenced by the Christian existential philosophy of Paul Tillich and the Black Power movement of Malcolm X, Cone exhorts black Christians to reject the “White Church,†which he claims has failed to support them in their struggle for equal rights.
Claiming that "black values" are superior to American values, Cone’s writings posit a black Jesus who leads African Americans as the “chosen people.†"This country was founded for whites, and everything that has happened in it has emerged from the white perspective," he writes. "What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.â€
In 1969, Cone characterized white society as the antichrist, and the white church as an institution that was racist to its core. Thus he posited "a desperate need for a black theology, a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression."
In his landmark 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power, Cone wrote:
"The time has come for white America to be silent and listen to black people.... All white men are responsible for white oppression.... Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man 'the devil.' ... Any advice from whites to blacks on how to deal with white oppression is automatically under suspicion as a clever device to further enslavement."
In that same volume, Cone penned these sentiments about universal black goodness and white evil:
"For white people, God’s reconciliation in Jesus Christ means that God has made black people a beautiful people; and if they are going to be in relationship with God, they must enter by means of their black brothers, who are a manifestation of God’s presence on earth. The assumption that one can know God without knowing blackness is the basic heresy of the white churches.They want God without blackness, Christ without obedience, love without death. What they fail to realize is that in America, God’s revelation on earth has always been black, red, or some other shocking shade, but never white. Whiteness, as revealed in the history of America, is the expression of what is wrong with man. It is a symbol of man’s depravity. God cannot be white even though white churches have portrayed him as white. When we look at what whiteness has done to the minds of men in this country, we can see clearly what the New Testament meant when it spoke of the principalities and powers. To speak of Satan and his powers becomes not just a way of speaking but a fact of reality. When we can see a people who are controlled by an ideology of whiteness, then we know what reconciliation must mean. The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto)."
No where in the link does Dr. Cone characterize "America as an irredeemably "racist society,""
If you read Dr. Cone's "The Black church and Marxism: what do they have to say to each other" you will see that he rejects Marxism as governing ideology.
Quite Frankly much of what you are quoting is from an era when Dr. King wrote the following:
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Far too many white ministers and theologians went along with the oppression of African-Americans. Refusing to counter the arguments of those who used the Bible to insist that African-Americans were lesser beings and only fit to be servants or slaves of European-Americans.
I also find it telling that the blurb you are quoting from doesn't list the fact the Dr. King also had an huge influence on Dr. Cone.
Seems some 'Christians' are a lot like radical Muslims who want to murder in the name of God...wonder what God thinks off all this bizarre garbage going on these days?
It would not matter much if Obama was a Christian or a Muslim...some how we have a blend of the two..set on the destruction of so-called infidels. If Martin King had an influence on Dr Cone...apparently it was not enough of an influence...King would not approve of this guy...or Obama for that matter.
No where in the link does Dr. Cone characterize "America as an irredeemably "racist society,""
If you read Dr. Cone's "The Black church and Marxism: what do they have to say to each other" you will see that he rejects Marxism as governing ideology.
Quite Frankly much of what you are quoting is from an era when Dr. King wrote the following:
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Far too many white ministers and theologians went along with the oppression of African-Americans. Refusing to counter the arguments of those who used the Bible to insist that African-Americans were lesser beings and only fit to be servants or slaves of European-Americans.
I also find it telling that the blurb you are quoting from doesn't list the fact the Dr. King also had an huge influence on Dr. Cone.
I don't see any influence of MLK on Cone at all. Cones words and Rev. Wrights words are theirs. MLK is a far cry from either of them.
I never had a slave and many people are tired of the black people blaming all whites for what a few have done. Do you really think that all white people had a hand in slavery . YOu are dead wrong! And Cone and Wright and Obama are all wrong!
Obama does not respect Israel. They did not want to use the word Jerusalem.
His chastizing of Israel to not build .
Bowing to the muslims.
It fits. His decisions all fit.
Obama did not support the Iranian people when they were protesting Ahmadinejad. Keping him in as a detriment to the United States. Obama does not care. He is anti-American.
Obama wants to disarm us . A much smaller military and give up our neclear power to zero missiles
Obama wants to disarm the United States. His has already bought us down from 5000 nuclear weapons to 1500 ,then 300, then zero.. are you comfortable with that?
I am completely comfortable with it.
BTW, that agreement pre-dates Mr. Obama's presidency.
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