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This paper interprets the concept of δοῦλος in 1 Timothy 6:1-2 in the context of socio-economic slavery in Nigeria. Using the liberation hermeneutics approach, the paper argues that the concept of δοῦλος in 1 Timothy 6:1-2 is a typical reflection of injustice and oppression to the person or group being socio-economically exploited. The resonance of the text with the Ibibio narrative of socio-economic slavery in Nigeria is the similarity of treatments accorded the δοῦλος in domestic and economic affairs in first-century Greco-Roman setting. Drawing on existing literature and the text in view, it interrogates the meaning of δοῦλος in a Greco-Roman setting and the status accorded the δοῦλος in the original and contemporary socio-economic settings of the study. The result shows that δοῦλος is interpreted to mean slavery. It recommends that the Church and state should put resources together to carry out economic and educational empowerment for the youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mary and Jesus typically appear in visual art in one of two scenes: the "Madonna with Christ Child" ("Platytéra"), or "Pietà" (Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion). Mark Doox's icon Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence (2016) fuses these contrasting narratives by depicting a modern-day crucifixion of the Ferguson Christ Child in front of (or within) his mother's womb. Doox's adaptation of ancient iconography and allegory for Mary and Jesus make a poignant statement about today's threat of gun violence, particularly in black communities. This paper exegetes the icon's biblical visual allegory by highlighting parallels between the icon, biblical scriptures, visual theologies of the "Platytéra," "Black Madonna," and "Pietà," and the socio-cultural context of this icon following inter-racial violence in Ferguson, Missouri. This paper explores the value that the icon provides for discourse on the intersection of race, theology, and art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will argue that Whiteness must be addressed within White contexts as a challenge to the prevalent colour-blindness, which distorts our imaginative horizons and presents a warped gospel aesthetic. In other words, Whites like myself need to use our agency to reckon with and repent of Whiteness at the behest of our Black sisters and brothers. Otherwise, attempts to appropriate lament into corporate worship will be reduced to voyeurism, individualism and consumerism. I will mainly interact with James Cone and Anthony Reddie, both of whom critique the way Black suffering can become overlooked or usurped. Within the paper, some tentative suggestions will be made on how to proceed with appropriating lament into corporate worship, lest our theology and practices unwittingly (or intentionally) bury those who suffer beneath the veneer of false peace and colour-blindness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to explore how the UK African and Caribbean Diaspora might flourish by focusing more on self-agency. Drawing upon Black Pentecostal and Black theological concepts, the paper highlights, exilic identity, settlement and growth, welfare and prayer and prophetic truth as fecund with ideas towards Black self-determination in the diaspora. These are drawn from Old Testament prophet Jeremiah's letter to Jewish exiles in Babylon in sixth-century BCE that suggests a framework for flourishing and resisting empire. This is a quasi-autobiographical approach that utilises the writer's experience and research as a Black Pentecostal and ecumenist, Black theologian, and a member of the UK African and Caribbean Diaspora for over five decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates critical divergence in interpreting the cross and atonement between James Cone and Karl Barth – and their related ethics. Cone rejects atonement theories and embraces the cross as an interpretative symbol that speaks to the suffering of Black Americans. In contrast, Barth resists interpreting the cross as a symbol and refuses to interpret the cross separately from the atonement. These divergences lead to different conceptions of sin, salvation, and ethical response. Despite their dissimilarities, I argue that Cone and Barth demonstrate a surprisingly similar kind of ambiguity when it comes to ontology and ethics: Cone blurs ontological Blackness and symbolic Blackness while Barth emphasizes divine ontology in a manner that makes it difficult to address of the material, post-colonial world. I conclude, by demonstrating how these ambiguities in both thinkers create challenges to the concrete addressing of ethical concerns, such as reparations in today's world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees' health is linked to various factors, which explains why their life is characterised by difficult challenges. In the midst of these challenges, refugees find hope and strive for improved well-being. Forced migration in Africa obliges us to re-examine migratory trends to determine how they are linked to the health of forced migrants. This paper highlights migration and health issues from the context of diaconal praxis. The paper demonstrates how forced migrants are often the victims of poor health conditions and that they generally encounter major problems in hospitals simply because they are refugees. It also provides evidence that refugees face various challenges in obtaining appropriate care due to medical xenophobia and attitudinal treatment by most health workers. This paper calls for radical diaconal action. The work is based on a qualitative piece of research conducted with refugees from sub-Saharan Africa through a series of semi-structured interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Christianisation, commerce and civilisation (3Cs) as strategies of European imperialist movements and considers the impact such endeavour made on Nigeria's enslavement. Using the historical method, the paper argues that the methods of the 3Cs adopted by the colonial imperialist, though with some positive impacts, eroded Nigeria's socio-cultural and politico-economic heritage and consequently breeds the foundation for socio-cultural and politico-economic slavery in contemporary Nigerian society. Specifically, the paper interrogates how the 3Cs fuel some forms of slavery in contemporary Nigeria. By so doing, this paper will contribute to African postcolonial studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues three primary points. First, that James Cone analytically relied on and supported Marxist political economy, especially as concerns its use as an explanation of anti-Black racism. Second, that this Marxist dimension of Cone's work should be supported, because Marxism remains the most effective political and analytical tool for improving the material conditions of the exploited. Third, that despite his analytical adherence to Marxism as an explanatory theory for understanding and overcoming racism, Cone did not analytically clarify the structural relationship between race and class. This conflation becomes problematic for Cone's project when class differences and wealth inequality within the Black community – and every "community" – are exacerbated. This shortcoming can be redressed by Cone's interlocutor Cornel West, who offers a Marxist understanding of the relationship between race and class that allows him to pursue an emancipatory politics that is committed to both anti-racism and anti-capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the claim that the film Son of Man (2006) represents a story of "continuity between African culture and Christian faith". While this statement implies a seamless connection between the two, I argue that the relationship is more complex and fluid. Rather than strict continuity, I propose that the film depicts a process of adaptation, where certain cultural elements are retained while others are discarded. Through analysis of cross-cultural audience responses to Son of Man, I investigate how faith meets with the South African landscape, considering historical and cultural contexts. This examination demonstrates that the film presents a complex relationship between culture and faith, challenging the notion of a straightforward continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is still long way to go in terms of reconciliation and social cohesion, especially against the background of the recent resurgence of ethnic and racial overtones in South Africa. The author engages this phenomenon and the manifestation through a conversation with the Black consciousness thought of Steve Biko, but particular his statement: "Black man, you're on your own!" The author uses this statement as part of Biko's Black consciousness thought to function in this paper as a theoretical framework to reflect on how South Africans and the post-apartheid government should espouse (not only celebrate) the ideology of Steve Biko in policy and practice. The author engages the experiences of the "Coloured" people in South Africa as a case study for what it would mean to embrace Biko's thought in policy and practice in the quest for social cohesion in the post-apartheid context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that W.E.B. Du Bois' short stories are a rich source of apocalyptic theology. Reading them apocalyptically, I argue, illuminates how Du Bois employed Christian theological material in order to negate its White supremacist order. Reading Du Bois apocalyptically shows the significance of black cultural production in apocalyptic terms and illuminates the exilic character of black people in modern history, which has led to a unique imbrication of the theological and cultural in black writing. Through a close reading of 3 short stories by Du Bois, I show how his sense of apocalyptic draws the prophetic, messianic, and eschatological together in anticipation of a world ungoverned by White supremacy and free from anti-black violence. Finally, I argue that Du Bois sees the black apocalyptic event as both a failure and a glimpse of possibility in the fleeting moments of recognition and touch that occur in the stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores James H. Cone’s paradoxical relationship to the theology of Karl Barth through a case study on their respective accounts of providence. It suggests that Cone’s ambivalence about efforts to relate his theological project to that of Karl Barth resonates with Barth’s hopes for how future generations of Christian theologians would engage with his theology. Barth feared that the reception of his theology would devolve into an insular, scholastic conversation about his ideas, influence, and legacy, and Cone experienced his formal theological education as a realization of those fears. Their mutual disdain for questions of Barth’s theological legacy and influence and their shared conviction that theology ought to engage with its social and political contexts offer a framework for a new assessment of the relationship between their theological projects. An examination of their respective theologies of providence offers a suggestive case study of the paradoxical connection between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I argue for a shared basis for Barth’s and Cone’s theological anthropology in Christological anthropology, warranting their anthropological claims with claims about how Christ embodied his own humanity. This leads Barth to characterize humanity as relational, defining human nature in relation to God and other human persons. Cone argues that Barth stopped short in developing this relational understanding of humanity. Where Barth stopped, Cone continues to implicate the social-situatedness of the human creature and Christ’s transformation of social structures in assuming humanity. From Cone’s development, I argue that humanity is created as embodied and relational creatures formed in our belonging to one another in community. While this relational constitution of the human creature is principally found in the God-human relationship, it cannot be reduced to the God-human relationship. Instead, human persons rely also on their embodied relationships to one another in life-giving community for our flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented The articles demonstrate the continued strength, breadth and range of material that can be seen to be a part of the wider Black theology tradition across the world. As the scope and visibility of the journal has grown, so has the number of submissions, which has led to a backlog of pieces that needed to be published ASAP.

Unreflective notions of chosenness and divine election have been (mis)used to defend racist and colonial abuses. Reading together James Cone's understanding of the Oppressed as the Elect and Karl Barth's understanding of all humanity as elect in the Elect One, Jesus Christ, generates an understanding of how the flourishing of all peoples is possible when the particular, specific contexts of all peoples are addressed. Instead of abusing notions of chosenness and divine election to justify oppression, a rehabilitated understanding of chosenness and universal election can be a tool of antiracist, anticolonial theologies. Cone and Barth sought to communicate hope in their specific contexts through appeals to God's gracious favour. Such hope remains possible today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This descriptive, critical, and constructive review reveals that the structure and content of A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems (2022) by Joseph L. Graves Jr. resembles the structure and content of Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) by Martin Luther King Jr. Accordingly, as advanced by Graves, and by his great predecessor – Ernest Everett Just, evolutionary biology is not incompatible with theology. And, as advanced by Anna Julia Cooper and others, black womanist theologians pioneered black theological appreciation for evolution and environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty years have passed since James Cone wrote _Black Theology and Black Power _ critiquing the unbarthian ways Barth was being appropriated in Europe and North America. This article identifies key weaknesses in a Barthian theological method that may explain the conspicuous silence of White Barthian theologians in response to Cone's critique. It suggests three lessons for ethical theological enquiry arising from attention to Cone's analysis: first, the need to recognise the ways in which the Christian theological tradition has been shaped in racist, White supremacist, and colonialist ways in order to avoid reproducing theologies Cone identified as racist; second, the responsibility of Christian theologians to give an account of the relationship of their projects to questions of ethics and practice, in order to avoid the vice of curiosity; and third, the responsibility of theologians to take particular care to avoid disadvantaging students and colleagues of colour in their professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

James Cone's assertion that Christ is Black seems at odds with Karl Barth's retrieval of Kierkegaard's "infinite qualitative distinction" between God and creation. Both were concerned with the sociopolitical implications of theology. Barth saw the impulse to make some human capacity the prompt or measure of divine revelation as directly implicated in the rise of German nationalism, while Cone laboured to understand what the protestant liberalisms and neoorthodoxies of his graduate education could possibly mean for Black victims of White racism. In claiming that Christ is Black, did Cone not breach the infinite qualitative distinction between God and humans – is Cone's Black Christology triumphalist? I argue, rather, that Cone's Black Christology not only escapes the charge of triumphalism, but actually resists triumphalism more successfully than Barth's because of its grounding in Christ's incarnational identification with oppressed humanity within history; a grounding which implicates Cone's subject position without necessarily valorising it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay considers the issue of human freedom in the theologies of Karl Barth and James Cone. It will become evident that Barth sees human freedom as derivative of the liberative work of the God who loves in freedom. This understanding of human freedom subverts philosophically inflected versions of human freedom which tend to see self determination as something inherent to human existence. Without denying the need for a freedom grounded in divine action, Cone presses for an understanding of human freedom which is expressed in the particular situation of an oppressed black community embracing socio-political liberation from a society that would seek to deny them of it. The essay concludes that wholesale rejections of Eurocentric theologies fail to pay attention to complicated dynamics of how those working within that tradition are offering critical appraisals of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the enduring relevance of Victor Anderson's Beyond Ontological Blackness: An Essay in Religious and Cultural Criticism. Anderson rightly senses a close connection between the practice of African American cultural criticism and the ethical sensitivity required to do it well. He also recognizes the historical limits of ontological inquiry. I argue that these metaphilosophical assumptions afford more generative encounters with Black political and cultural life, especially its discursive ambiguities and practical incongruities. By engaging the writings of two contemporary critics, Tamura Lomax and Calvin Warren, I show the benefits of thinking alongside Anderson's important text and the dangers of not doing so. Scholars of religion, African American studies, and cultural studies ignore Anderson's work and the discourses it enjoins at their own peril. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Yahweh's response to corruption in Amos 8:4-10. In the pericope, the rich ensured that the poor remained poor. The situation of Israel in the eighth century is a reflection of the present situation of the people of the Niger Delta. Although some studies have focused on the poor in the Niger Delta, many of the existing works have generally paid less attention to the corruption in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which has sustained the poverty situation in the area. Using literary analysis methodology for the text, findings reveal that the underdevelopment in the Niger Delta region is also caused by the unchecked corrupt practices, financial recklessness, and diabolic activities in NDDC. The recommendations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Victims cursing the victimisers is a common feature in the practice of the Tamils as evident in literature and films. There are statements about the power of justice and weapons of curse which warn culprits against dangerous consequences for their action. There is a story of a rare woman who by her curse burned an unjust king and his city and she has been deified and made popular. In the Bible as well, there are stories of victims including the Yahweh God and Jesus who pronounced powerful words on the victimiser(s). Their reflection incorporates the nuances, including catharsis and inner healing, instigating the change of heart of the victimisers, self-suffering as expression of compassion and positive action. Suggesting to bring back cursing as an authentic act of the victims, the essay provides a means for challenging the stereotypes of "blessing" and organising collective cursing for international powers that perpetuate poverty and conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical Pastoral Education is an important part of an educational process of pastoral ministry. It is also a gift that can potentially contribute meaningfully to facilitating contextual, affordable pastoral ministry for Black communities in South Africa. This article argues that for CPE to have space and a future it must be contextual and liberating. It must respond appropriately to the conditions, realities and needs of Black communities who bear the brunt of poverty and associated socio-economic-cultural and conditions. In the U.S.A context, CPE has always been a response to the conditions, realities and needs of the Americans. Equally, in the South African context, CPE cannot afford to ignore "the living human documents" (the living human web), whose realities are different from those of Americans. CPE must acknowledge that it is part of the broader field of pastoral care, which is based on Western-dominated theories. It must be inclusive and listen carefully to Black communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay discloses an African American Christology, derived from first-hand experience of the sermonic "close" in traditional Black "folk" preaching, which recounts the crucifixion, and celebrates the empty tomb. This African American Christology portrays Jesus as divinely conceived for the redemption of humanity through his earthly ministry, unjust suffering via crucifixion, subsequent resurrection, and his ultimate vindication. Jesus' earthly ministry demonstrated solidarity with the oppressed and the brutal suffering of Jesus holds a particularly significant valance for the enslaved and their descendants. I argue that this resource can be deployed to respond to the current reality of challenges facing the African American and other marginalized communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I converse with two women – Muslim religious scholar, Aysha Hidayatullah and Arabic poet, Mohja Kahf – to constructively explore the story of Hajar/Hagar through an interreligious Christian womanist theological lens. In her classic work Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, womanist figurehead Delores Williams rightly highlights Middle-Eastern socio-religious culture in her exploration of Hagar's story as a critical resource for Black women's Christian religious thought. I continue in this interpretive vein by centreing contemporary scholastic reflection and poetic interpretation concerning Arabic women's visibility and voice through the themes of water, abandonment, and wandering, ultimately illumining Hagar's permanence; hers is a narrative always in accompaniment to Abraham's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay offers a critique of Hermen Kroesbergen's 2019 book titled The Language of Faith in Southern Africa: Spirit World, Power, Community, Holism. Kroesbergen holds that, far from offering additional information about reality (designation), in the African grammar of faith, references to the spirit world, power, community and holism, are in fact responses to the world (connotation): they provide a way to deal with that which cannot be explained, controlled or predicted. Special attention is given to Kroesbergen's creative account of a "material quality" of words. Three major criticisms of the book concern respectively: (a) the unfair dismissal of the role of African and Black theologies, (b) distracting references to the future of a global church considered from a distinctly Western perspective, and relatedly, (c) lack of an explicit link between Kroesbergen's personal commitment to the idea of a global church and his reflection on an African language of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A contextual analysis of contemporary challenges is framed in terms of the concept "wounds of humanity", followed by a proposed Christian religious leadership pedagogy to deal with these wounds. The notion of subversive education and a new prospect for leadership education will be illuminated. Furthermore, an educational praxis is sought to teach leaders the disposition for ethical-justice and peace, followed by a proposal for a new cultural heritage of humanity; namely, the quest for a true humanity as our collective destiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]