Black Theology

The ultimate example of black suffering is slavery. Enslavement allowed the blacks to experience injustice, cruelty, and oppression. All of these negatives form one thing: evil. So how can blacks still have faith in God when these terrible things occur to them on a daily basis? The community of faith allowed them to continue in their belief that God exists despite the evident adversities. Cone compared the seemingly absence of God to the book of Job. The message conveyed is not all suffering is determined on account of disobedience. Job was an innocent, humble man who turned away from temptation, yet he suffered. In order to grasp the idea that suffering is a reality of life, one must understand in “the form of divine self-disclosure.” (Cone) Job explains this epiphany in the Bible:

“I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee.”
- 42:5

Therefore, the faithful can deal with the miseries with the understanding that they will be able to experience the presence of the divine. Even when the blacks are at their worst, they remain confident that Jesus is watching over them and will not leave them alone.

“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
Nobody knows my sorrow.
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,
Glory, Hallelujah!”

This song confirms that blacks are faithful when experiencing trouble because thy know that “God is the companion of suffers.” (Cone)

“Soon-a-will be done with the trouble of the world;
Soon-a-will be done with the trouble of the world;
Going home to live with God.
All-a-my troubles will soon be over with,
All-a-my troubles will soon be over with,
All over this world.”

Often the spirituals and the blues of the black’s theology relate to the suffering of Jesus. Separated from their family when inflicted into slavery, blacks felt the abandonment Jesus went through when he was left to sacrifice his own life for everyone else. Therefore, it is concluded that God is the replacement for any shortage found in the community that blacks so strongly depend on to live through their struggles. “To those who know God is their striving for being, God is a mother to the motherless, a father to the fatherless.” (Cone) The spirituals are not songs that blame God for their suffering because black slaves did not perceive the source of their oppressed condition as being ordained by God or Jesus Christ.