Is Womanist theology winning the gender debate in most black churches? Part 1 of 3
I am a special education teacher at one of our nation’s top schools. One day an intern and I had a long conversation, as can be expected with such things we were verbally jousting about things along the lines of the economy, the state of black education and the state of the black family. When out of the blue…. Okay I may be expected this to come up just not this soon! It was of course the first time that we had taken the time to converse. She asked if I was a believer and what did I think of the rise of the number of women preachers. Before I could give her an answer she made this statement. “The church has come a long way in the liberation of women from under the hand of the all males club.” I did not whish to engage her at work, thinking that there would not be enough time to deal with this topic fairly. So we agreed to table it till a later date. But the issue still bites at me… I have been in ministry now twenty plus years and the rise of the female preacher has shocked me to some degree, but the big question still remains “what’s fueling the big move in this direction. Many may say that it is the hand of Almighty God that is at the heart of this but can that be proven by the Scriptures?….Before I get myself in hot water I think I should give a history lesson on the issues here. There are two that we must take under consideration.
The first is the cultural impact that Womanist theology has had on the state of the black church and black women in and out of the church. You may ask “What is Womanist theology?” It is a feminist theology that was created starting in the mid-late 1980s by a sector of black feminist academics from secular theological schools and universities. It was actually based on feminist theology and black liberation theology, both of which themselves draw from liberation theology (See "Free Articles" on the Christian Research Institute web site www.equip.org Search on "liberation theology" for a summary of these theologies' core teachings.)
The stated purpose of womanist theology was to address what this sector saw as key shortcomings in feminist theology and in black liberation theology. For them, feminist theology did not adequately address the issues and social situations of black women, particularly poor black women, while black liberation theology was male-oriented and did not adequately address the issues of women, one key issue for this post, being that of black women having the right to preach. A fact that Womanist theology tries to be overall affirming to woman,as a theology it departs from and always contradicts scripture at its core defining principles, making it "another gospel" by the Bible's stated definition of "the Gospel". The most basic departure from scripture in womanist theology is its being defined in terms of human philosophy, not scripture: "Womanist theology draws on sources that range from traditional church doctrines, African American fiction and poetry alike, ...conjuring and syncretic black religiosity, and womanist ethnographic approaches.... (see Linda Thomas, "Womanist Theology, Epistemology, and a New Anthropological Paradigm" articles, parts 1-3 on BlackandChristian.com.) " Some womanist theology adherents go even further and flatly deny the gospel of Jesus Christ itself: "The Kingdom of God is not interpreted as private property of the Christians, but as a promise to all people," asserts womanist theologian Doreen Hazel (see Doreen Hazel, abstract from "Daughters of Ham: theology from an Afro-European Womanist Perspective)
"To be Continued Next Week"
The first is the cultural impact that Womanist theology has had on the state of the black church and black women in and out of the church. You may ask “What is Womanist theology?” It is a feminist theology that was created starting in the mid-late 1980s by a sector of black feminist academics from secular theological schools and universities. It was actually based on feminist theology and black liberation theology, both of which themselves draw from liberation theology (See "Free Articles" on the Christian Research Institute web site www.equip.org Search on "liberation theology" for a summary of these theologies' core teachings.)
The stated purpose of womanist theology was to address what this sector saw as key shortcomings in feminist theology and in black liberation theology. For them, feminist theology did not adequately address the issues and social situations of black women, particularly poor black women, while black liberation theology was male-oriented and did not adequately address the issues of women, one key issue for this post, being that of black women having the right to preach. A fact that Womanist theology tries to be overall affirming to woman,as a theology it departs from and always contradicts scripture at its core defining principles, making it "another gospel" by the Bible's stated definition of "the Gospel". The most basic departure from scripture in womanist theology is its being defined in terms of human philosophy, not scripture: "Womanist theology draws on sources that range from traditional church doctrines, African American fiction and poetry alike, ...conjuring and syncretic black religiosity, and womanist ethnographic approaches.... (see Linda Thomas, "Womanist Theology, Epistemology, and a New Anthropological Paradigm" articles, parts 1-3 on BlackandChristian.com.) " Some womanist theology adherents go even further and flatly deny the gospel of Jesus Christ itself: "The Kingdom of God is not interpreted as private property of the Christians, but as a promise to all people," asserts womanist theologian Doreen Hazel (see Doreen Hazel, abstract from "Daughters of Ham: theology from an Afro-European Womanist Perspective)
"To be Continued Next Week"
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