A look at James Cone and black theology | by Home Mission Societies | The Christian Citizen | Medium

I began my studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in September 1970. My first class was Systematic Theology taught by Dr. James H. Cone. That class was heavy on Karl Barth, the person whose own theology had been the basis of Cone’s Ph.D. dissertation completed at Northwestern University in 1965.[1] However, even then, the roots of Black Liberation Theology were being planted in our minds. Cone’s first book, “Black Theology and Black Power,” had been released the year before (1969), and the global theological community was wrestling with this new concept of a “black theology.”[2] The faculty at Union and Columbia, including the African-American faculty at that time were not exempt from doubt that such a thing as a black theology had any biblical or historical foundation. The intervening years have proven how wrong they all were as Black Liberation Theology set in motion a global reconsideration of theological reflection that continues to this day. Cone and black theology

I began my studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in September 1970. My first class was Systematic Theology taught by Dr. James H. Cone. That class was heavy on Karl Barth, the person whose own theology had been the basis of Cone’s Ph.D. dissertation completed at Northwestern University in 1965.[1] However, even then, the roots of Black Liberation Theology were being planted in our minds. Cone’s first book, “Black Theology and Black Power,” had been released the year before (1969), and the global theological community was wrestling with this new concept of a “black theology.”[2]