Black theology in South Africa : an autobiographical reflection

Abstract

A few years ago black theologians in the United States celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of James Cone’s first book, Black theology and black power. Cone’s book represented the first systematic reflection on the germinating subject of black theology at the time and it stimulated further reflection and debate by others. Such theological activity took place not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. One of the foremost countries that were inspired by Cone’s method of black theology was South Africa. It is thus fitting that as African American theologians found cause to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary not long ago, we as South Africans should also take time to reflect briefly on our own participation in the earlier debate. This paper reflects only one person’s view of developments in this country, however, and does not claim to represent the whole South African perspective.