The Cross and the Lynching Tree Author: Visit Amazon's James H. Cone Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1626980055 | Format: PDF
The Cross and the Lynching Tree Description
Review
Once again James Cone demonstrates why he is indispensable as an interpreter of faith, race, and the American experience. --Bill Moyers
One of the Top 11 Religion Books of the Year. --Huffington Post
One of the Top 11 Religion Books of the Year. --Huffington Post
About the Author
James H. Cone, Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologians in America. His books include Black Theology & Black Power, A Black Theology of Liberation, The Spirituals & the Blues, God of the Oppressed, and Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare.
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Orbis Books; Reprint edition (January 11, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1626980055
- ISBN-13: 978-1626980051
- Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I came to this book with expectations that I now realize may have been unreasonable. I read/watched Dr. Cone's initial Harvard Divinity School lecture of the same title a few years ago and thought, "Finally, someone is going to take up this profoundly important inherently religious historical phenomenon and give it it's course." (That is of course is the cleaned up reflection on a not-so-eloquent impulse.) I waited ever so impatiently for the book, checking the internet regularly.
Finally it is here. Cone's work here is a series of essays 1.) critiquing the established white American theologians and ministers for never choosing to see this connection and 2.) offering a basic view of a would-be obvious correlation between the Cross of Christ and the lynching of black Americans. He wades through the spirituals, blues songs, literature and activism of black women and men to demonstrate that they were indeed aware of the profundity of the situation even if there had never been a sustained theological reflection save that of the likes of poet Countee Cullens' The Black Christ.
After having read Cone's book I found myself disappointed. All of this was good, but I had hoped for something much more cohesive, something more systematic. In other words, "So what?" I was hoping that Cone would partner with Rene Girard's theories of mimetic desire and the scapegoating myth. To explore the existential and historical phenomenon of lynching in its American context could be to discover something distinctive and foundational in the very mythos of the nation. How might the black body be a key to understanding America's identity formation?
The Cross and the Lynching Tree Preview
Link
Please Wait...