Indigenous Black Theology: Toward an African-Centered Theology of the African American Religious Experience (Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice)

For black people in America, Christian formation historically has come at a steep price--alienation from, even shame for, their African past. This alienation is primarily rooted in the acceptance of two orthodox Christian doctrines: the doctrines of original sin and Jesus Christ as exclusive savior. This work is concerned with the way Black Christian formation, because of the acceptance of universal, absolute, and exclusive Christian doctrines, seems to justify and even encourage anti-African sentiment. Clark seeks to address this problem by constructing a doctrine of the ancestors in an effort to legitimize indigenous African religious categories and offer an alternative theological anthropology for the future of Black theology For black people in America, Christian formation historically has come at a steep price - alienation from, even shame for, their African past. This alienation is primarily rooted in the acceptance of two orthodox Christian doctrines: the doctrines of original sin and Jesus Christ as exclusive savior. This work is concerned with that black Christian formation, because of the acceptance of universal, absolute, and exclusive Christian doctrines, seems to justify and even encourage anti-African sentiment. Clark seeks to address this problem by constructing a doctrine of the ancestors in an effort to finally legitimize indigenous African religious categories and offer an alternative theological anthropology for the future of black theology Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction....Pages 1-20 “I Once Was Lost, But Now I’m Found”: The Origins of Black Christian Anti-African Sentiment....Pages 21-53 The Only Way to Salvation: A Christological Critique....Pages 55-73 Overcoming Religious and Cultural Amnesia: Who Are the Ancestors?”....Pages 75-100 Indigenous Black Theology: Toward a Theology of the Ancestors....Pages 101-126 The Dead Are Not Dead: The Future of Black Theology and Black Church Theologies....Pages 127-162 Conclusion....Pages 163-168 Back Matter....Pages 169-186