Speculations on Black Life: The Collected Writings of William R. Jones

by Darrell Jones (Editor), Monifa Love (Editor), Monica R. Miller (Editor), Anthony B. Pinn (Editor)

Overview

Is God a white racist? Posed by William R. Jones in his ground-breaking book of the same name, this question disrupted the theological assumptions that marked Black religious thought from early writings of the 1800s to the formation of Black theology in the 1960s. This book compiles his key and essential writings related to over three decades of critical reflection on race, religion, secularism, and oppression in the United States.

Over the course of 30 years, Jones pushed questions and considerations that refined Black theology and that gave greater shape to and understanding of Black philosophers' intervention into issues of racial and structural inequality. His philosophical work, related to the grid of oppression, fosters an approach to the nature and meaning of oppression in the United States, encouraging rational interrogation of structures of injustice and thought patterns supporting those structures.

Still relevant today, the straightforward style of communication used by Jones makes these essays easily accessible to a popular audience, while maintaining intellectual rigor, making the book also suitable for an academy-based audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350338746
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/18/2023
Series:	Bloomsbury Studies in Black Religion and Cultures
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Darrell Jones is the son of William R. Jones, and Associate Professor in the Department of Dance at Columbia College, USA, where he specializes in contemporary dance technique, improvisation, and movement for actors.

Monifa Love is Associate Dean at Bowie State University, USA. Having worked with William R. Jones at Florida State, she is an expert on Jones' philosophy of religion and theories of race.

Anthony B. Pinn is Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities, Professor of Religious Studies, and Director of the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) at Rice University, USA.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Peter Paris, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA
Introduction Monifa Love, Bowie State University, USA

Part I. (Black) Humanism
1. Black Power and Unitarianism: A Personal View [1967]
2. Theism and Religious Humanism: The Chasm Narrows [1975]
3. The Concept of Functional Authority in Religious Humanism [1978]
4. The Case for Black Humanism [1978]
5. Religious Humanism: Its Problems and Prospects in Black Religion and Culture [1979]
6. Toward a UU Concept of Authority [1979]
7. Is Faith in God Necessary for a Just Society? [1987]
8. Oppression, Race, and Humanism (Skinner House Volume) [1992]

Part II. Theology and Philosophy
9. Theodicy and Methodology in Black Theology: A Critique of Washington, Cone and Cleage [1971]
10. Reconciliation and Liberation in Black Theology [1972]
11. Toward an Interim Assessment of Black Theology [1972]
12. Theodicy: The Controlling Category for Black Theology [1973]
13. Crisis in Philosophy: The Black Presence [1973]
14. Toward a Black Theology [1974]
15. Theological Response: The Church and Urban Policy [1978]
16. Toward a Humanist Framework for Black Theology, in Black Theology II [1978]
17. The Legitimacy and Necessity of Black Philosophy [1978]
18. Liberation Strategies in Black Theology: Mao, Martin, or Malcolm? [1983]
19. The Religious Legitimation of Counterviolence: Insights from Latin American Liberation Theology [1987]
20. Purpose and Method in Liberation Theology: Implications for an Interim Assessment [1987]
21. Coping with the Four R's: Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, and Racism: Insights from Liberation Theology [1987]
22. Process Theology: Guardian of the Oppressor or Goad to the Oppressed: An Interim Assessment [1989]

Part III. The Politics of Race
23. Power and Anti-Power [1977]
24. Towards a Norm for Assessing the Christianization of Africa [1981]
25. Moral Decision-Making in the Post-Modern World: Implications for Unitarian-Universalist Religious Education [1985]
26. Religion as Legitimator and Liberator: Insights from the Underclass for Public Policy [1987]
27. Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Social Reality in America [1988]
28. Hypocrisy, Bibliogracy, and Democracy [1993]
29. The Disguise of Discrimination [1995]
30. Towards a New Paradigm for Uncovering Neo-racism in American Institutions [2003]

Part IV. Critical Reflection on Jones' Writings
Essay One. Anthony Pinn, Rice University, USA
Essay Two. Jamil Drake, Florida State University, USA
Essay Three. Jawole Zollar, MacArthur award-winning dance choreographer
Essay Four. Brittany O'Neal, Lehman College, USA

Afterword. Darrell Jones, Columbia College, Chicago, USA

Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

In this time of rising authoritarianism, white nationalism, and white supremacy, this collection of essays provides the background to Dr. William Jones' creative and critical methods for elucidating the structural injustice that shapes our world. With this resource, we can better live out his legacy of addressing the ongoing mutations of racial injustice, and his vision of co-equal freedom, authority and power.” —Sharon D. Welch, former Provost and Professor of Religion and Society, Meadville Lombard Theological School, USA

From the Publisher