Procedimiento para la Resolución de Controversias

Theology, it is concluded that the poor enjoy priority in Black theological discourses. The poor enjoy and have epistemological significance, i.e. the poor determine the methodology of Black Theology. Black Theology reads the Bible, and the social context is through the lenses of the poor. In addition, Black Theology creates new knowledge, which is liberating and operates from the perspective of the poor.

There seem to be two major emphases that stand out in Black Theology. The one is the view that there is a conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed, and the other is the strong belief in the divine preferential option for the poor and the oppressed.

The oppressor and the oppressed

Maimela (1989:116) observes that since Black Theology has its roots in and it is born out of the historical experiences of suffering and pain resulting from white oppression and domination, black people became aware that they were poor, powerless and dominated. This happened, ―not by accident or by divine design‖. The people realized that they were made poor and powerless by

106 _{See Rothney Stok Tshaka‘s 2005 doctoral dissertation: Confessional Theology? A Critical Analysis of the} Theology of Karl Barth and Its Significance for the Belhar Confession.

107

See Koopman‘s article, Some comments on Public Theology today. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa. Number 117. November 2003 (pp 3-19).

153 another class of people, ―the white dominant group that denies the Blacks the right to shape their lives‖. Maimela notes that, such awareness of being made poor and rendered powerless led black people to ―a radical change which often involves them in confrontation with white racists who want to maintain the present unequal material relationship‖. The world then, becomes a battleground between the white oppressors and the oppressed blacks. The world is understood, from the black peoples‘ perspective, as that which is ―polarized between two groups, the powerful and dominant Whites who benefit from the oppressive social-political conditions and the exploited and dominated Blacks who are victims of racism‖.

In this regard then, Black Theology ―insists that the reality of our conflictory world should become a subject, a datum for theological reflection‖ (Maimela, 1989:117). Maimela further states that, ―This constitutes a major departure from traditional theology practiced from the point of view of the privileged, well-fed and rich Whites …which … close(s) the eyes of many Christians to the reality of conflict between Whites and Blacks‖ (Maimela, 1989:117).

Racism108 is one of the causes of injustice. The sin of racism brings about oppression and the desire to dominate others. Such situation brings about conflict and polarization between (white) oppressors and oppressed blacks. Black Theology therefore:

…calls for radical transformation of individual and social structures, because the gospel message proclaims that, in Christ, the alienation between God and humans, and between human beings themselves have been overcome… Black theology contends that it is as people candidly face the racial factors that breed alienation and conflict that they will be open to the transformative power of the gospel, which will lead Whites and Blacks to acquire qualitative new ways of becoming human in their relationships to one another (Maimela, 1989:117).

Black Theology does this to confront the sin of racism.

The divine preferential option for the poor and oppressed109

108

Maimela (1989:117) understands racism to mean ―the sinful refusal to love, to have fellowship and to be available for the well-being of one‘s neighbour, who happens to have a different skin colour.‖

154 Having noted that racism operates in the world, creating conflict between the (white) oppressor and the oppressed black people, any theology that is aware of such conflict cannot afford to remain socially and politically neutral. The challenges and struggles that bring about the conflicts between the two sides are of life and death. The church and its theology would, therefore, have to take sides. Such a choice would be informed by the conviction that ―the demands of the gospel are incompatible with unjust, alienating, and polarizing social arrangements in racist societies‖ (Maimela, 1989:118).

Maimela further notes that, Black Theology, as an incarnational theology:

…places a high premium on the fact that in becoming human in Jesus, God, the King of kings was not born in the sumptuous palaces of kings. Rather, the Almighty and transcendent God chose to empty the Godhead of divine power and glory in order to take on the nature of a slave. God came down from his thrown and chose to be born of poor parents, to live and die as a poor and oppressed human being so as to give the oppressed Blacks new life and hope (Maimela, 1989:118).

Subsequently, it follows that God, in Jesus, has chosen to identify Himself with all human sufferings. Jesus also identified Himself with the despised and rejected of the society during His earthly ministry. Such is a demonstration of the fact that God is a thoroughly biased God who takes the side of the oppressed, the weak, the exploited, the hungry, the homeless, and the scum of society (Maimela, 1989:118).

Maimela also notes that Black Theologians are convinced that the theme or motif of God‘s preferential option for the poor and the oppressed runs through the entire Bible. In the book of Exodus, God takes the side of the oppressed Israelites against the oppressive Pharaoh and his regime. Another example is that of Jesus who was born to a poor people and who identified with the poor, marginalized and the rejected of the society. Jesus‘ friends were not the Priests, Sadducees, Pharisees and Scribes, but the sinners, the prostitutes, the traitors, the scum of society.

Maimela argues that in opting to side with the oppressed and downtrodden, God affirmed that He is not ready to condone social institutions in which the poor and the powerless are oppressed and humiliated on the basis of color, religion or class. Black Theologians, therefore, argue that just as God liberated the Israelites not only from spiritual sin and guilt but also from oppressive socio-

155 political and economic deprivation, God does liberate the oppressed blacks both from their personal sins and guilt and from historical structures of evil, exploitation and oppression that are embodied in racist social structures (Maimela, 1989:119).

In Black Theology, the fact that God has taken sides with the poor is very important, because it implies that God is not prepared to put up with social situations in which black people are oppressed and humiliated. In an earlier work, The Unquestionable Right to be Free: Essays in

Black Theology, edited by Itumeleng J. Mosala and Buti Tlagale, Maimela writes that, in the

light of the preferential option for the poor, the church is called upon to abandon its false neutrality, move out of its position of power, and shake off the protection given it by the beneficiaries of the status quo. In doing this, the church would be taking its position for and with the poor who struggle to control their destiny, thus, committing itself unequivocally to human liberation (Maimela, 1986:106).

In the light of the above, Black Theology sees the church as God‘s prophet, who reads the signs of the time, openly denouncing ameliorative measures, which prolong and give injustice and oppression respectability, and calling for and advocating a radical transformation of the existing structures. By doing these things, the church becomes that institution which joins forces with God to work for the liberation, dignity, and, justice for all people, ad rejects the misuse of the gospel to legitimize class and racial oppression as well as sexual domination. When the church acts in this manner, then, it becomes a vehicle of reconciliation and peace among the alienated, polarized, and conflicted humankind in the world (Maimela, 1986:106-107).