In this week’s readings, we dove further into Christology’s key question: “Who do you say that I am?” This time around, we focused on the perspectives of the late James H. Cone, the father of black liberation theology, as well as Roberto S. Goizueta, a Cuban-American theologian. In their essays (Cone’s Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree and Goizueta’s From Calvary to Galilee), the theologians express similar beliefs about Christ and the significance of His crucifixion. Both men, representing minorities in Christian theology, argue that Christ’s death on the cross has a powerful, liberating message for all people – particularly the outcasted, poor, and minorities. In addition, His death offers liberation for oppressors if they are willing to repent.
Unfortunately, most Christian Americans do not recognize this authentic message, according to Cone. Instead, they regard the crucifixion with a watered-down “theory of atonement.” He describes this theory in the following words:
“Many orthodox and evangelical Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to redeem humanity from sin. They say Jesus took our place and suffered on the cross for us so that we will not forever burn in hell… We are now, Paul said, “justified by God’s grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood…(Rom 3:24-25)”
According to Cone, Christians who believe strictly in atonement are taking a shortcut in their faith. Instead of acknowledging the harsh realities of Jesus’s crucifixion, they choose to ignore them. He notes that even “the cross has been transformed into a harmless, non-offensive religious object that Christians wear around their necks as a sacred fashion piece and place on Church steeples and altars to decorate their sanctuaries with a symbol of holiness.” In other words, Christians glance over the suffering that Jesus endured, as well as the true purpose of that suffering.
According to Goizueta, we try to forget Jesus’s suffering (and the role which humans played in it), because we are scared of our own death. He says that in general, “we distance ourselves from weak, powerless, vulnerable persons in particular—wounded persons…so that we won’t have to see them and their uncomfortable wounds.”
As a black theologian, Cone applies this concept to the uncomfortable wounds left by lynching in America’s past. He notes that, instead of having open conversations about lynching and attempting to make amends, many whites prefer to act like it never happened. Throughout his essay, Cone compares the lynching of black Americans (and modern society’s attitude toward it) to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
He asserts that:
“Unless the cross and the lynching tree are seen together, there can be no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America and no healing of the racial divide in churches and seminaries as well as in the society as a whole. I know the cross and the lynching tree are not comfortable subjects to talk about together. Who wants to think about lynched black bodies in church workshop or when doing a theological reflection on Bonhoffer’s question, “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” This is exactly what I contend the gospel requires Christians to do…”
In that statement, Cone conveys that we need to make the unpleasant connection of Christ’s crucifixion to the lynching tree because both tragedies are very similar. For instance, in both cases, innocent people were executed publicly by hanging. In addition, the guilty oppressors later tried to downplay the victim’s suffering.
These tragedies are also complementary because they give meaning to each other. As explained by Goizueta, while Christ’s death and resurrection could not “justify the crucifixion, it justifies the crucified victim – the whole victim, abandoned soul and scarred body.” Later on, Goizueta adds that Christ’s resurrection did not simply restore Jesus’s life, but also “his compassionate relationships with the poor, sinners, prostitutes and other “unsavory characters.” If we consider these quotes in the light of lynched black people, we realize that Jesus’s death on the cross restores their relationship with God.
In his essay, Cone notes three powerful relationships that evolve when people relate the cross to the lynching tree. First, if Christians associate the cross with an unpleasant historical phenomena, they will start to realize how vile the crucifixion was. Therefore, when they look at their crucifix, they will recall a crucified Christ and burned black bodies. They will desire to repent, and will not feel self-satisfied and holy.
Secondly, the cross gives lynching victims a meaning for their existence; these people suffered just like Christ and will live with him forever. They are liberated by Christ. In contrast, if Jesus did not die on the cross, their deaths would be for naught. For this reason, Cone says that the cross provides “hope beyond the lynching tree.” The victims didn’t just die – they have an afterlife destination.
Finally, Cone notes that Christ’s death and resurrection offers liberation to all people, including persecutors. Therefore, if racist white people repent and change their ways, they still have hope for eternal life. For this reason, Cone believes that comparing the cross and the lynching tree will help heal racial divides in the church. If Christian Americans begin to admit the wrongdoings of the past, they will be more conscious in the future. This consciousness will spill into all facets of society as well.
I’ll close-up this blog by touching upon one last piece of Cone’s essay. To the surprise of readers, the theologian notably refers to the word of God as offensive. Of course, “offensive” may seems like an interesting word for a theologian to describe God’s word. However, what he really means is that it’s difficult to follow God! It’s not a cake walk. For example, you have to accept harsh realities (such as Jesus’s ugly crucifixion), you have to genuinely repent for your sins, and you have to live in Jesus’s example. Finally, you can’t brush issues like lynching and racism under the rug; you have to be willing to have difficult conversations and aim to be a better person at all times.
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