Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article explores attempts to transform Black forms of Christianity to assess their effectiveness in relationship to advancing African agency and cultural values. Utilizing an Afrocentric perspective that insists on discovering location in phenomenal and intellectual texts as a way of indicating distance from reality and history, this work intends to examine the relevance of the Word Church formation in the African American community. This article does not ask whether one form of religion is superior to another but rather how a certain form of spirituality is congruent to historical realities. Taking the term Colonial Christianity to mean the specific religion transmitted to enslaved and free Africans in the United States of America between the l7th and 20th centuries, this article engages the permutations of that religion in the minds of Africans in order to examine psychological dislocation.

Keywords

theological mis-orientation Afrocentricity psychological dislocation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akbar, N. ( 1984). Chains and images of psychological slavery. Jersey City, NJ: New Mind Productions.

Akoto, K.A. ( 1992). Nation building: Theory and practice in Afrikan centered education. Washington, DC: Pan Afrikan World Institute.

Asante, M.F. ( 1998). The Afrocentric idea (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Temple University Press .

Asante, M.K. (2001). Afrocentricity. Chicago: AA Images .

Azibo, D.A. ( 2001). Liberation psychology: An introduction to the African personality construct. Grambling, LA: Grambling State University.

Billingsley, A. ( 1999). Mighty like a river: The Black church and social reform . New York: Oxford University Press .

Burrow, R. ( 2006). God and human dignity: The personalism, theology, and ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.

Cone, J.H. ( 1970). A Black theology of liberation. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott.

Cone, J.H. ( 1975). God of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.

10.

Cone, J.H. ( 1984). For my people. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

11.

Franklin, R.M. ( 1997). Another day’s journey: Black churches confronting the American crisis. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

12.

Jones, W.R. ( 1973). Is God a White racist? A preamble to Black theology. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

13.

Karenga, M. ( 1984). Selections from the Husia: Sacred wisdom of ancient Egypt . Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.

14.

Karenga, M. ( 1999). Odù Ifá: The ethical teachings. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.

15.

Lincoln, C.E. ( 1974). The Black experience in religion. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/ Doubleday.

16.

Lincoln, C.E. ( 1978). Black sects and cults and public policy. In J. R. Washington, Jr. (Ed.), Black religion and public policy: Ethical and historical perspectives (pp. 1-9). S.I.: s.n.

17.

Marable, M. ( 2000). How capitalism underdeveloped Black America (Updated ed.). Cambridge, MA: South End Press .

18.

Mays, B.E. ( 1968). The Negro’s God as reflected in his literature . New York: Russell & Russell .

19.

Mazama, A. (Ed.). (2003). The Afrocentric paradigm. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

20.

Pinn, A.B. ( 2002). The Black church in the post-civil rights era. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

21.

Rasor, S.C. , & Dash, M.J.N. ( 2003). The mark of Zion: Congregational life in Black churches . Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press .

22.

Smith, R.L., Jr. ( 2007). From strength to strength: Shaping a Black practical theology for the 21st century. New York: Peter Lang.

23.

Swan, L.A. ( 1981). Survival and progress: The Afro-American experience. West Port, CT: Greenwood Press.

24.

Washington, J.R., Jr. (1978). Introduction. In J. R. Washington, Jr. (Ed.), Black religion and public policy: Ethical and historical perspectives (pp. i-vi). S.I.: s.n.

25.

Watts, L.W. ( 1974). Caucuses and Caucasians. In C. E. Lincoln (Ed.), The Black experience in religion (pp. 24-28). Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

26.

Wilmore, G.S. ( 1983). Black religion and Black radicalism: An interpretation of the religious history of Afro-American people (2nd ed.). New York: Orbis Books.

27.

Wimberly, E.P. , & Wimberly, A.S. (1986). Liberation & human wholeness: The conversion experiences of Black people in slavery and freedom . Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

A Critical Location of the Contemporary Black Church

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References