Marxism Within Black Theology of Liberation.

This study seeks to expose the ways in which Black Theology of Liberation was shaped by Marxism through the writings of its founders, concentrating predominantly on the need to bring about the liberation of the poor African-Americans from their repressive white racist oppressors by any means necessary, and the redistribution of wealth to those deprived of it by their white capitalist oppressors. The theme of this researched remained embed in my mind during, and after the 2008-09 presidential campaign of former Sen. Barack Obama, when some of his political opponents thought it beneficial to disclose Obama’s connections to a Black Theology of Liberation. Through this research I seek not only to obtain a broader understanding of this particular theology of liberation, but also to understand the Marxist ideological concept within the Black Theology of Liberation. Towards the culmination of the decade which witnessed the peak of the Civil Rights movement, black churches throughout America in the 1960s began to search for avenues through which they could help their communities cope with racial discrimination. Caught between the contradicting preachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, a peculiar young theology student from Union Theological Seminary of New York City, James H. Cone, published his proposal for a Black Theology of Liberation titled Black Theology and Black Power (1969). This first scholarly work served as an introduction to his following work A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), which earned him the title of the founder or chief architect of Black Theology of Liberation in America. Cone, who was born and raised in the segregated South of the United States, not only developed this avenue through which the African-American community could assimilate their experiences with the gospel of Christ, but also to express his own identity. He [Cone] even confessed that he was within inches of leaving the Christian faith, because that faith as he had received it and learned it no longer explained the world to him satisfactorily.[1] Thus, upon drafting a gospel different from the one preached by Christ, Cone explained that “Black theology came from a mixture of King’s Christian gospel of racial justice and black power’s black liberation nationalism” (Hopkins 39) as preached and practiced by Malcolm X. James Cone developed a Black Theology of Liberation because he admired Malcolm X’s example of black nationalist power, but as a person raised as a Christian, his conscience prevented him from following Malcolm X’s footsteps of an aggressive militant stance against segregation; although he would have never crossed that psychological line “out of fear.”[2] Therefore his lifetime masterpiece was the eventual blending of Christianity with Black Power during his time in a Christian theological seminary. Unfortunately, the mentality of many black theologians such as James Cone and a handful of others who support a Black Theology of Liberation have remained stuck throughout time in the 1960s, causing them to believe “that blacks are perpetually victims and that they’ve always been victims of white supremacy and completely ignore all of the evidence that point to progress in the black community,”[3] states Bradley. This is the product of a generation who have felt frustrated due to their inability to change the situation and thus have sought refuge in seminaries and Christian temples in order to shout out their denunciations. Over the course of an interview on Headline News Network, Anthony Bradley points out that according to Black Theology of Liberation, (1) white racism is the source of sin and all the world’s social, political and financial problems, (2) Black Theology focuses on preaching victimhood and ignores the black community’s progress, and (3) in order to forge a more just world, Marxism is viewed as the acceptable path to reach social justice.[4] Others argue that James Cone, was looking for a theological orientation to explain the aims, ethos, and anger of the 1960s revolution” but one shouldn’t forget that during the peak of the Civil Rights movement, preachers and civic leaders were those doing theology, thus out of this atmosphere emerged a theology which “really tends toward social ethics, not theology proper.[5] In order to make the Holy Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ relevant to the African-American experience, in his early theological work Cone compares the Israelite Exodus with the African-American struggle for racial equality. He argues that Christ’s ministry was centered at liberating the oppressed of his time. This Black Liberation Theology belief was extracted from two biblical verses, Isaiah 61:1-2 where the prophet Isaiah proclaims the coming of the year of the Lord in which He will proclaim liberty to those spiritually captive, and Luke 4:18-19 where Christ declares that He has come to free those who are spiritually captive. Black Liberation theologians are half-correct when they state that Christ’s ministry was, in part, centered at liberating the oppressed, but they omit that Christ referred to those spiritually oppressed not physically oppressed. In fact, the only moment in which Christ witnessed violence throughout his three years ministry was when his disciple Peter pulled out a sword and cut the ear of one of the soldiers who had come to arrest Jesus, at that instant Jesus healed the injury and reminded Peter that it was not by sword, but with the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus Cones states that “Black Theology is a theology of liberation because it is a theology which arises from an identification with the gospel of Christ in the light of the black condition” [6]and asserts that “the function of theology is that of analyzing the meaning of liberation for the oppressed community so they can know that their struggle for political, social, and economic justice is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Any message that is not related to the liberation of the poor in the society is not Christ’s message.”[7] This is its greatest misinterpretation. “The fact that Liberation Theology reduces the Lord Jesus Christ… to present him as the first freedom fighter, the first insurrectionist, the first revolutionary, the first liberation leader, may I say to you neighbor, there could be no greater heretical blasphemous statement than this;”[8] the modification of Christ’s ministry of salvation into a ministry of political, social and economic liberation, thus converting Christ into an international martyr for all physically and materially oppressed peoples. In his elaboration of James Cone’s work, Dwight N. Hopkins (disciple of the former) expresses that “…for a black theology of liberation, if the African American church is a true follower of the Way of Jesus and truly surrenders to the empowerment of the divine Spirit, then its work is to help build on earth God’s new Common Wealth for the poor – those who are both materially without wealth and spiritually poor.”[9] Notice the usage of the term ‘Common Wealth’ which Hopkins repeatedly uses and praises throughout his work but he never elaborates on its intended definition. Certainly Hopkins refers to a material wealth, hence a distribution of spiritual wealth is impossible to accomplish. This ‘Common Wealth’ is one of the foundations of Marxism. Hopkins brief account of how tribal life functioned in Africa before the slave trade indirectly supports this hypothesis, “…individualism was a sin, but individuality was a cherished goal”[10] as it praises the surrendering of one’s personal greed and uplifts the needs of the community as a whole in contrast with “white Christianity [which] emphasizes individualism.”[11] Thus here’s an example of Hopkins’ desired ‘Common Wealth’ reached through a Black Theology of Liberation. Further on in his work, Hopkins brings the customs of past African tribal life to the present and declares that “God’s choice instructs the minority of every society to choose to share their monopolized wealth with the majority of the world.”[12] A relevant example of Hopkins’ ‘Common Wealth’ legacy is embedded in the mission statement which the African-American Trinity United Church of Christ aims to achieve. The mission statement of the 10-point vision (or 10-pillars) of Trinity UCC states that “the Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a congregation working towards economic parity… thus the fortunate who are among us combines forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!”[13] As one reads Cone’s work, one must keep in mind that whenever the author refers to white or black, he’s referring not to a person’s skin color but rather to the labeling of his racist soul. In other words, one is white if or when one practices racism and black when one sides with the oppressed; thus “…in a racist society, God is never color blind… Yahweh takes sides” and further on, Cone declares that “Black Theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community.”[14] Cone’s Black Theology of Liberation falls into a theological error when confessing that “(God) cannot be both for us and for the white oppressors at the same time.” If this is true than one may dare to say that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was not intended for Judas nor Pilot, two major characters in Christ’s life who stood against his ministry. “Black theology sees and experiences the spirit of freedom clearly on the side of the African American poor,”[15] adds Hopkins in light of Cone’s declarations. Black Theology of Liberation equaites the Cross with the Lynching Tree as a relevant symbol through which African-Americans of the first-half of the 20th century could identify with Christ’s sacrifice. As it relates to the Bible’s validity, Cone asserts that it “is a valuable symbol for pointing to God’s revelation in Christ, but it is not self-interpreting.”[16] Certainly here lies one more of Cone’s manipulations in regards to the Scriptures. This is similar to some religious sects such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses who state that the Bible is not easily understood and therefore readers need a guide. According to Black Theology of Liberation, “The Christ-event in twentieth-century America is a black-event, that is, an event of liberation taking place in the black community in which black people recognize that it is incumbent upon them to throw off the chains of white oppression by whatever means they regard as suitable.”[17] Thus one arrives at the radical and violent path which the founders of Black Theology of Liberation expect the African-American community to walk. Black Theology, revolutionary in its perspective, believes that “black people will be liberated from oppression, not when white people decide to "love" them, but only when black people decide that the oppressors have gone too far.” The purpose of its existence “is to place the actions of black people toward liberation in the Christian perspective, showing that Christ himself is participating in the black struggle for freedom.”[18] Surprisingly enough, Cone’s call to arms in Black Liberation Theology was not supported by Howard Thurman, author of “Jesus and the disinherited” and supposedly one of the main works which guided Martin Luther King’s ministry; instead Thurman asserted that armed resistance is apt to a tragic last resort in the life of the disinherited.[19] The Marxist roots of Black Theology of Liberation are found between the lines, and in the indirect language of its founders aimed at the poor African-Americans, thus “a black theology of liberation anchors itself in the interests of the black poor.”[20] A prominent Marxist philosopher and follower of Black Theology of Liberation, Cornel West, elaborates on the three main characteristics shared by Black Theology of Liberation and Marxist thought; “First, both adhere to a similar methodology: they have the same way of approaching their respective subject matter and arriving at conclusions. Second, both link some notion of liberation to the future socioeconomic conditions of the downtrodden. Third, and most important, both attempt to put forwards trenchant critiques of liberal capitalist America.”[21] Pastor Kenneth Hampton of Grace Bible Chapel in Detroit, Michigan affirmed that the doctrines of Black Liberation Theology are pages pulled out of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Treaties regarding power to the people, thus “the socialist worker’s party and liberation theology are seamiest twins conceived and born of the same womb, and it makes convenience accommodations for the lives of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Adam Kemper Paul, Hugo Chavez, Angela Davis, the Weatherman, the old and new Black Panther Party, the Rainbow Coalition and others.”[22] As one continues reading Black Theology of Liberation, one will only find criticism, accusations and denunciations but never a well laid out plan by any of its founders to achieve their objectives. In addition, “Black Liberation Theology actually encourages a victim mentality among blacks,” argues Bradley, since the theology of liberation divides society into two main groups, oppressed and oppressors. “West believes that by working together, Marxists and black theologians can spearhead much-needed social change for those who are victims of oppression,”[23] states Bradley after reviewing West’s previously referenced work. Cone argues that “the purpose of Black Theology is to make sense of black experience,”[24] referring to the black experience witnessed by the African-American community up to the Civil Rights movement, when such experience gradually began to change as this community began to gain more civic rights and freedoms. Thus Cone never takes into consideration what would be the purpose of Black Theology if the African-American experience changed over time, hence the black experience of the 1960s of which he is citing fortunately is not the same black experience of a century before nor would it remain the same a century after. This is another shortcoming of Cone and his Black Theology of Liberation. It fails to take into consideration a different future experience and reanalyze Black Theology for the black community; or would Black Theology lose its purpose once the social conditions experienced by the 1960s generation ceases to exist? Nonetheless, “in Black Theology, black people are encouraged to revolt against the structures of white social and political power by affirming blackness.”[25] One might ask: what is that blackness condition according to Cone? Cone identifies these characteristics of black experience or condition as a ‘tension between life and death’ (the threat of possible extermination), an ‘identity crisis’ (the need to carve out black history within white-America), and a ‘white social and political power’ (the need to force a radical revolutionary confrontation with the structures of white power).[26] According to Cone, “The black experience is the feeling one has when he strikes against the enemy of black humanity by throwing a live Molotov cocktail into a white-owned building and watching it go up in flames” (Cone 57) as if it was a sort of blackness ecstasy. Black Liberation Theology advocates violence, favors the stance of Malcolm X and rejects the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. by asserting “that the “best” (way to break the power of white racism) is always the nonviolent way, the way least threatening to the political and social interests of the white majority.”[27] Thus, this assertion falls in direct contradiction to the passive teachings of Christ, but Hopkins adds that either way “the black liberation movement redefined the church as a militant, radical manifestation of Jesus Christ in the streets on behalf of the poor and marginalized.”[28] When “we cannot use Jesus’ behavior in the first century as a literal guide for our actions in the twentieth century,”[29] Black Theology of Liberation also is a direct deviation of the teachings of Christ. Referring to these early founders of Black Theology of Liberation, Bradley argues that these theologians preferred Marxism “as an ethical framework for the black church because Marxist thought is predicated on a system of oppressor class (whites) versus victim class (blacks)” and continues asserting that Marxist thought “is useful and attractive to Cone because it allows black theologians to critique racism in America on the basis of power and revolution.”[30] Further on Cone pronounces that the “…white Jesus has no place in the black community, and it is our task to destroy him. We must replace him with the Black Messiah.”[31] If that is so, then ultimately Cone’s ‘Black Messiah’ will end up just as the so-called ‘White Messiah’ if that messiah follows the narrow-minded path set by Black Theology of Liberation. While one observes through Cone’s readings the violent militant nature of Black Liberation, through Hopkins’ reading one identifies its Marxist economic and political expectations. With regards to these Marxist economic expectations, Cone’s disciple describes that “the key issue is making sure black poor people own and control the wealth…creating a concrete complete vision of a future society based not on profit but on the well-being of all the poor in America.” The key of this economic issue in Black Theology of Liberation is the re-distribution of wealth in America for black poor people alone. Hopkins continues stating “the poor have private ownership or no monopolization of capital or wealth in this world. Therefore, they have nothing to lose in the movement to bring about, with God, a new Common Wealth on earth as it is in heaven.”[32] Hopkins’ peculiar term to describe Black Theology of Liberation’s Marxist paradise, ‘Common Wealth,’ is brought to the surface once more as he indirectly declares himself part of the social thinkers group who ever since Karl Marx have long desired an economic utopia on earth. Hopkins argues that the human longing for this “Common Wealth” economic utopia is that which resides in heaven, though it wouldn’t be surprising for a black theologian such as Cone or Hopkins to declare the annunciation of ‘thy Common Wealth Kingdom come.’ In general, Liberation Theology “combines Marxist economic analysis with the teachings of the Old Testament prophets and the commands of the Christian gospel to fashion a demanding spiritual ethic: that it is every Christian's duty to fight "oppression," especially industrial capitalism, which is viewed by this theology as the central evil today.”[33] Referring to the social-political situation which African-Americans experienced during the late 1960s, Hopkins points-out that “in the fall of 1968, Gayraud S. Wilmore, an early chairperson of the NCNC [National Committee of Negro Churchmen] theological commission, described the rising crescendo of voices from the pulpit and pew demanding that black churchmen reexamine their beliefs; that unless they begin to speak and act relevantly in the present crisis they must prepare to die.”[34] This constituted a clear affirmation that Black Theology of Liberation did not only promote violent rebellion towards the established order but also threatened the lives of those within the African-American community, particular the pastors who did not follow such theological paths. Thus Cone condemns “any church that fails to focus on black liberation as the sole reason for its existence has denied the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and aligned itself with the antichrist.” During the late 1960s when many “ultra-blacks” (those who advocated black liberation without paying attention to those who attended church regularly), Cone “reminds them “that there can be no revolution without the masses, and the black masses are in the churches.”[35] Continuing to shed light on what may be considered as the motto of Black Theology of Liberation, Cone states: “To accept the white God, to see good in the evil, is to loose sight of the goal of the revolution –the destruction of everything ‘masterly’ in the society. ‘All or nothing’ is the only possible attitude for the black community.”[36] Pastors such as Kenneth Hampton lament that “Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4: 18-19 …have been hijacked, co-opted by religious socialists who view Christianity simply as a mean of accomplishing a Marxist-Socialist result; and just as this religious anarchist infiltrated every major union in this country, they also have infiltrated the United Church of Christ, and most United Methodists in the Episcopal churches, and certainly the world and national councils of churches and every ecumenical council. These religious malefactors view the Christian church only as a means of addressing the social ills of the world. These left-wing anti-Americans, anti-establishment groups believe that Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4: 18-19 give them card-blanche scriptural license to pursue this perverted Marxist agenda.”[37] The Theology of Liberation was nurtured in the 20th century by many ethnic groups in response to their state of oppression such as the African-American community of the United States facing segregation, the native Africans of South Africa facing apartheid and some indigenous Latin American communities facing repressive totalitarian regimes. “Liberation theology in Latin America is slightly older than that among African Americans.”[38] Even though they possessed doctrinal connections, these theologies of liberation did not evolve simultaneously as one might perceive. “Not only did first-generation clergy and professors participate in political meetings in Africa; they also attended conferences on Third World liberation theology,”[39] described Hopkins as he shed light on this important fact of the doctrinal alliance and timeline differences, between the African-American Black Theology of Liberation and the Latin American Theology of Liberation. With regards to the mutual approximation of both theological leaders, Hopkins points out that James Cone who at the time represented Liberation Theology in the United States, accepted an invitation “to Mexico City to be a presenter at the Encounter of Theologians in October 1977. His lecture and the following discussions indicated a willingness on the part of African Americans to take seriously class analysis, imperialism, and the relationship between race and globalization as crucial ingredients in the doing of black theology in North America.”[40] The critical point of these arguments is the doctrinal/theological alliance which African American theologians who preached Black Liberation Theology, reached with these respective Latin American liberation theologians. Jose Diaz-Balart’s accounts were a “pro-Sandinista, pro-Marxist, anti-US, anti-catholic church movement, that’s it, no ifs or buts.” Jose Diaz-Balart, a brother of the two current Congressmen brothers who during the mid 1980s worked as a reporter for Telemundo Network in Nicaragua, described a first-hand witness account of how “churches talked about the need for violent revolution and I remember clearly one of the major churches in Managua where the altar, Jesus Christ in the altar was not Jesus Christ, he was a Sandinista soldier. And the priest talked about the corruption of the west. He talked about the need for revolution everywhere, and talked about the evil empire which was the United States of America.”[41] These clarifications by Hopkins and first-hand accounts by Jose Diaz-Balart affirm and clarify that even though the two movements did not grow simultaneously, ultimately they joined forces, agreeing on each others’ goals and perspectives. Three decades after James Cone’s framework of Black Liberation Theology, African-Americans continue to represent the majority of inmates in United States’ prisons; illegal drugs are trafficked predominantly in African-American communities and African-Americans continue holding high percentages of high-school dropouts. Meanwhile, Black Liberation Theology continues to blame and point the finger to the demonic white racist oppressor but it has failed to draft a solution to its community’s social setbacks. Fortunately, Black Theology in American schools has been “a declining college industry of left-wing social science masquerading as theology, and is only practiced in a couple of declining liberal seminaries with a half-dozen student percentage.”[42] The church on the other hand, sees it not as “a gospel of peace, but revolution and anarchy that is not rooted and grounded in the Word of God, but rather in Marxism, in Communism, in Socialism… and it’s not acceptable in orthodox bible churches where the saints know and love the truth.”[43] As American society evolved into the 21st century, Black Liberation Theology and its founders remained enclosed at the peak of the Civil Rights movement, failing to move along with modern American society; which today has elected an African-American who overcame his own social barriers and now presides over our multi-ethnic nation. Ever since my teenage years, my father has always reminded me that a text out of context is a pretext, with regards to false biblical analysis and conclusions. That phrase has continuously remained in my mind and I surely have applied it to this research study. Black Liberation Theology not only relies on two biblical verses two validate or legitimize its views of the mid-twentieth century African American experience, it also preaches a different gospel contrary to the gospel of Christ; the type of gospel which the Apostle Paul warns against in his letter to the Galatians. Black Liberation Theology lays down a well-trotted path which does not allow for modifications nor reevaluations of its initial beliefs. It fails to recognize the political, social and economic improvements and achievements of many African Americans. Black Liberation Theology Christianized the image and actions of Malcolm X and has been supported ever since by individuals who have imitated his denunciations but have never dared to follow his footsteps.
Bibliography

Books
Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970.
Hopkins, Dwight N. Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999.
Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1949.
West, Cornel. Prophecy deliverance!: an Afro-American revolutionary Christianity. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.

Journal and Magazine Articles
Anyabwile, Thabiti interviewd by Collin Hansen. “Black Power from the Pulpit.” Christianity Today, March 20, 2008. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/marchweb-only/112-44.0.html
Cone, James H. “Black Consciousness and the Black Church: A Historical-Theological Interpretation.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 387 (1970): 49-55.
Bradley, Anthony B. “The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology.” Acton Institute. (April 2, 2008), http://www.acton.org/commentary/443_marxist_roots_of_black_liberation_theology.php
Matthews, Terry. “A Black Theology of Liberation.” Lecture 26. Wake Forest University. http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html
“Religion: Jesus the Liberator?” TIME, Sep. 01, 1975. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947173,00.html

Interviews & Preachings
Bradley, Anthony B. “Black Liberation Theology.” Headline News Network: Glenn Beck Show, http://www.acton.org/media/media200803270651.php. (March 26, 2008).

Diaz-Balart, Jose. “What exactly is Black Liberation Theology?” Hannity’s America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnNVX0Fkkk. (April 2008).

Rivers, Eugene Rev. “What exactly is Black Liberation Theology?” Hannity’s America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdXEQgU8G9E&feature=related. (April 2008).

Websites
Trinity United Church of Christ. “Mission Statement.” http://www.trinitychicago.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20
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[1] James Cone in an interview with Blackside producer Valerie Linson.
[2] This Far by Faith Series. PBS’ African American Spiritual Journey regarding the life of James H. Cone.
[3] Anthony B. Bradley, “The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology,” Acton Institute, http://www.acton.org/commentary/443_marxist_roots_of_black_liberation_theology.php. (April 2, 2008).
[4] Anthony B. Bradley, Glenn Beck Show. March 26, 2008.
[5] Thabiti Anyabwile. “Black Power from the Pulpit.” Christianity Today (2008).
[6] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 23.
[7] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 11.
[8] Pastor Kenneth Hampton, “Liberation Theology: What says the scriptures?” Grace Bible Chapel, http://www.gracebiblechapel.com/webradio/2008_05_03.htm.
[9] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 6.
[10] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 18.
[11] Terry Matthews, “A Black Theology of Liberation,” Lecture 26, Wake Forest University, http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html.
[12] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 28.
[13] Trinity United Church of Christ. http://www.trinitychicago.org.
[14] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 25, 59.
[15] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 23.
[16] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 27.
[17] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 24.
[18] James H. Cone. “Black Consciousness and the Black Church: A Historical-Theological Interpretation.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 387 (1970): 53.
[19] Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1949), 26.
[20] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 28.
[21] Cornel West, Prophecy deliverance!: an Afro-American revolutionary Christianity. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 108.
[22] Pastor Kenneth Hampton, “Liberation Theology: What says the scriptures?” Grace Bible Chapel, http://www.gracebiblechapel.com/webradio/2008_05_03.htm.
[23] Anthony B. Bradley, “The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology,” Acton Institute, http://www.acton.org/commentary/443_marxist_roots_of_black_liberation_theology.php. (April 2, 2008).
[24] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 56.
[25] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 44.
[26] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 41.
[27] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 31.
[28] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 34.
[29] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 68.
[30] Anthony B. Bradley, “The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology,” Acton Institute, http://www.acton.org/commentary/443_marxist_roots_of_black_liberation_theology.php. (April 2, 2008).
[31] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 79.
[32] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 45-46.
[33] Time Magazine, “Religion: Jesus the Liberator?” http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947173,00.html. (Sep. 01, 1975).
[34] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 38.
[35] James H. Cone. “Black Consciousness and the Black Church: A Historical-Theological Interpretation.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 387 (1970): 55, 54.
[36] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970), 110.
[37] Pastor Kenneth Hampton, “Liberation Theology: What says the scriptures?” Grace Bible Chapel, http://www.gracebiblechapel.com/webradio/2008_05_10.htm
[38] Thabiti Anyabwile. “Black Power from the Pulpit.” Christianity Today (2008).
[39] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 51.
[40] Dwight N. Hopkins, Introducing Black Theology of Liberation. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), 171.
[41] Jose Diaz-Balart. Reporter for Telemundo Network during the Nicaraguan Civil War interviewed by Hannity’s America on FOX News. April, 2008.
[42] Rev. Eugene Rivers of Azusa Christian Community Church interviewed by Hannity’s America on Fox News. April, 2008.
[43] Pastor Kenneth Hampton, “Liberation Theology: What says the scriptures?” Grace Bible Chapel, http://www.gracebiblechapel.com/webradio/2008_05_10.htm