Conceptions of God, Freedom, and Ethics in African American and Jewish Theology (Black Religion Womanist Thought Social Justice)

273 Pages·2008·0.67 MB·English

by  Kurt Buhring

Conceptions of God, Freedom, and
Ethics in African American and
Jewish Theology
Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice
Series Editors: Dwight N. Hopkins and Linda E. Thomas
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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By Johnny B. Hill
Conceptions of God, Freedom, and Ethics in African American and Jewish Theology
By Kurt Buhring
Black Theology and Pedagogy
By Noel Leo Erskine
(forthcoming)
Conceptions of God, Freedom,
and Ethics in African American
and Jewish Theology
Kurt Buhring
CONCEPTIONSOFGOD,FREEDOM,ANDETHICSINAFRICANAMERICAN
ANDJEWISHTHEOLOGY
Copyright © Kurt Buhring,2008.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8479–1
ISBN-10:1–4039–8479–4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buhring,Kurt.
Conceptions of God,freedom,and ethics in African American and
Jewish theology / by Kurt Buhring.
p.cm.—(Black religion/womanist thought/social justice)
ISBN 1–4039–8479–4
1.Black theology.2.Suffering—Religious aspects—Christianity.
3.African Americans—Religion.4.Black power.5.Cone,James H.
6.God (Judaism) 7.Suffering—Religious aspects—Judaism.
8.Holocaust (Jewish theology) 9.Fackenheim,Emil L.I.Title.
BT82.7.B84 2008
231—dc22 2007041189
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:June 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
For Erika and Jackson
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introducing Black and Jewish Responses to Experiences
of Moral Evil and Suffering 1
2. What Does the Christian Gospel Have to Do with the
Black Power Movement?: James Cone’s God
of the Oppressed 15
3. Why Divine Goodness or Power? Why God? Why
Liberation?: Critiques and Affirmations of James Cone 61
4. A New Sinai? A New Exodus? Divine Presence
During and After the Holocaust in the Theology
of Emil Fackenheim 85
5. After the Holocaust: The Destruction of the God
of History, of Chosenness, and of Patriarchy; Critiques
and Affirmations of Emil Fackenheim 131
6. A Consideration of Humanocentric Theism, Resistance,
and Redemption 159
Notes 197
Bibliography 233
Index 255
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Acknowledgments
As is always the case, this work would not have been possible without the
support, encouragement, and guidance of many individuals. The present
book is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation at the University of
Chicago Divinity School. I appreciate the helpful suggestions of my
committee readers, David Tracy and Paul Mendes-Flohr. Earlier versions
of portions of the book have been presented at conferences and I am
particularly grateful to Gary Dorrien and Anthony Pinn for their feed-
back and salient critiques. I am thankful to my students at Saint Mary’s
College in Notre Dame, Indiana, who so often provided me a fresh
perspective of material related to this book’s content. In addition, I would
like to thank my colleagues at Saint Mary’s, especially in the Religious
Studies Department. They have been both patient and enormously
supportive of my work. I thank my editors and the staff at Palgrave
Macmillan for their enthusiasm and trust in accepting my manuscript
proposal and for their professionalism in helping throughout the book’s
production. I would also like to acknowledge Linda Thomas and Dwight
Hopkins, editors of Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice
series, with which I am honored to be associated. Further, Dwight
Hopkins has had a unique and enormous role in the process of bringing
this book to fruition. He has been my teacher in several classes, my doc-
toral dissertation advisor, my advocate and promoter with publishers,
and my mentor and friend. This book would not have been possible with-
out his passion and expertise. Finally, I would like to thank deeply my
friends and family, especially my parents, Ed and Pat Buhring, my sisters
Laura and Debra, and my mother-in-law, Marty Schuh. They have
always been incredibly understanding and supportive throughout this
process. My greatest appreciation goes to my son, Jackson, and my wife,
Erika. Jackson has been extremely good-natured in understanding why I
was not always able to play Star Wars with him as I was working on my
“God book.” Because he is a creative and imaginative five-year old, his
incredibly insightful and thought-provoking questions often prompted