Summer 2019/Pasadena

TH544

Akinade

TH544: BLACK THEOLOGY: AFRICAN ROOTS (4 Units: 162 hours). Akintunde Akinade.

DESCRIPTION: Black theology began with the radical statements of activist-intellectual clergy and subsequently emerged as an academic discipline during the social and political upheaval of the late 1960s. Simultaneous with demands for black studies programs within American universities, progressive clergy and theologians demanded religious scholarship and practice responsive to the lived experiences of black people in the United States. This course is designed to introduce students to the nature of theological study, developing a structure of divine revelation as fundamental to understanding how African worldview and sensibilities influenced the development of an organized, coherent, relevant theology in the African Diaspora. It will explore the abiding synergy between African indigenous spirituality and Black Theology. This course will trace the relationship of African American theology with its African origins by focusing on ancient African theology and practices. The course will be offered as an intensive two-week class in the summer of 2019.

By explicating the four sources of theological reflection: Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason, the course will show how Black Theology is “faith seeking understanding.”

As a pedagogical device, the course will also explore how the concept of “anthropological poverty” developed and articulated by the Cameroonian theologian, Englebert Mveng resonates with slavery in the African American historical experience. We shall discover how this concept contributed to what Albert Raboteau has described as “invisible institutions” within the American landscape.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated (1) Students will create an appropriate assessment, analysis, and engagement of the systematic African antecedents to African American/Black Theology. (2) Students will understand the theological issues present in the African American community from their time of coming from Africa up through slavery. (3) Students will appreciate the importance of interpreting culture and how that affects one's theology; this should inform priorities for ministry, especially in the African American context.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets daily for four-hour sessions from July 8-19 for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: 1092 pages required.

Burton, Keith Augustus. The Blessings of Africa: The Bible and African Christianity. IVP Academic, 2007. ISBN: 978-0830827626, Pub. Price $25.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [120 pp.].

Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Orbis Books, 2010. Special Edition. ISBN: 978-1570758959, Pub. Price $20.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [192 pp.].

Hood, Robert E. Must God Remain Greek? Afro Cultures and God-Talk. Augsburg Fortress, 1994. ISBN-13: 978-0800624491, Pub. Price $22.00. [288 pp.].

Oden, Thomas. How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity. InterVarsity Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0830837052, Pub. Price $22.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [204 pp.].

Paris, Peter J. The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse. Fortress Press, 1995. ISBN: 978-0800628543, Pub. Price $23.00. [163 pp.].

Williams, Delores. Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenges of Womanist God-Talk. Orbis Books, 1993. ISBN: 978-0883447727, Pub. Price $18.80. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [125pp.].