Photograph: A black church congregation in May 1961 praying for the Freedom Riders. Photo credit:  Kristine | CC2.0, Flickr. The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists challenging Southern states for having segregated public buses, despite the Supreme Court ruling in 1946 (Morgan v. Virginia) and 1960 (Boynton v. Virginia) that they were unconstitutional.

Introduction

The selection of perspectives on church history in this section — Church and Empire — has been guided by three factors: (1) to demonstrate that Christianity has not been a “white man’s religion”; (2) the study of empire as a recurring motif in Scripture by recent biblical studies scholars; and (3) explorations of biblical Christian ethics on issues of power and polity, to understand how Christians were faithful to Christ or not.  Christian relational ethics continues a Christian theological anthropology that began with reflection on the human nature of Jesus, and the human experience of biblical Israel.

This page explores the experience, activities, and theological thought of African-American Christians in the U.S. after 1954. The famous Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954, which energized a new wave of human rights and civil rights activities called The Civil Rights Movement.

Messages and Resources

The Theology of Marvel’s Black Panther (link opens YouTube video) Our video series, The Theology of Marvel’s Black Panther, is also found on our Arts and Theology section and our YouTube channel, where we put brief descriptions of each video. It’s a great way to engage people who have an appreciation for the movies, especially if they are also activists at heart, and wonder why we firmly argue that Christian faith is not a “white man’s religion.” Dr. Vince Bantu, Assistant Professor of Church History at Fuller Seminary and Founder-Director of the Meachum School of Haymanot, joins Mako Nagasawa to appreciate Marvel's Black Panther. We talk about church history, Christian ethics and theology, and the lessons we need to learn today. Each video has questions for group discussion and/or personal reflection. In particular,

Part 1 explains the movie Black Panther in the context of the historical Black Panthers in Oakland, and explains Christian faith in the context of colonialism and resistance to colonialism and white supremacy

Part 3 examines the compelling character of Eric Killmonger, and why his embrace of the imperialist, violent option was ultimately flawed, and rooted in his own character flaw of being unwilling to suffer again, for others.

Part 4 examines T’Challa, and why he was heroic; we point out the Christian journey of descent and ascent where T’Challa’s arc is similar to Jesus’ arc, and why Jesus’ determination to lead his people to give to the world the gift from above was the only real option.

Part 5 explores Wakanda Forever for the importance of leaders and their development, especially in grieving. Queen Ramonda shines as the moral center of the film because of her qualities as leader of her nation and family. Shuri takes up the mantle of her leadership, but only by entering into a process of grief, the embrace of tradition, and belief that there is something more than just the physical, material world. We reflect on Judaism contributing to the sense that human leaders are human, not divine, and therefore need to have integrity and compassion and mercy, while Jesus shows these human qualities are in fact the character of a loving God. We engage with an article by Inigo Laguna, How to Sabotage a Black Utopia. And while we recognize the possible point for future movies, we instead express gratitude to the Black Church Prophetic Tradition in the U.S. and the sacrifices made by heroic Black Christian leaders.

The Role of Jesus in Revolution and the Pursuit of Justice This is an evangelistic message that highlights the Christian-led and Christian-influenced non-violent resistance movements throughout the world in the 20th century.  They show the connections and spiritual vitality of Christian faith under empire or empire-like oppression.

 
 

Church and Empire in Africa: Topics:

This section explores the experience and activities of Christians under various regimes in Africa. We divide this material into Africa Pre-1600, Africa Post-1600, African American Pre-1954, African American Post-1954, African American Spirituality, and the African Diaspora outside the U.S. The time period around 1600 AD is significant because: In the West, the Songhai Empire collapsed in 1591 and the Mali Empire was divided in 1610; in Central Africa, Idris Alooma, ruler of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, died in 1603; in the East, Portugal and the Catholic Church were expelled from Ethiopia in 1632; and on the coasts, accelerated conflict with European colonizers and slave traders

The Church and Empire in America: Topics:

This section explores the experience and activities of Christians under colonial and modern regimes in the Americas. The pages are: African Americans Pre-1954 and Post-1954 because in 1954, the Supreme Court handed down Brown v. Board of Education, which was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and U.S. legal history; African American Spirituality; Asian America; Latin American In the US and Latin American Outside the US; Native American; White Anti-Supremacist; and White Supremacist. Other related topics include: Slavery and Race and Politics.

Church and Empire: Topics:

This page is part of our section on Church and Empire. These resources begin with a biblical exposition of Empire in Church and Empire and the meaning of Pentecost in Pentecost as Paradigm for Christianity and Cultures, then grouped by region.