ContemporaryAfrican Methodist Episcopal

James H. Cone

1936–2018

Founder of academic Black theology in the United States, arguing that Christian claims must be tested against God's liberation of people oppressed by racism.

J
BornFordyce, Arkansas, United States
DiedNew York City, United States
TraditionAfrican Methodist Episcopal
EraContemporary

Life and Historical Setting

Cone grew up in the Jim Crow South, was formed in the AME Church, and taught for decades at Union Theological Seminary. The Black freedom struggle and Black Power movement drove his challenge to white American theology.12

Work and Contribution

He argued that God's revelation in Jesus identifies with the oppressed and that theology indifferent to racial domination falsifies the gospel. His later work placed the cross beside the history of lynching.23

Reception and Influence

Cone created a field, influenced liberation theologies globally, and forced seminaries to confront racial location. Womanist theologians and others also criticized male-centered and insufficiently intersectional aspects of his early work.34

Evidence, Debate, and Interpretation

His provocative use of “blackness” and “whiteness” is theological and political as well as descriptive, and changed across his career. Reading isolated early formulas without later development distorts his project.45

Sources and further reading

  1. Primary sourceBlack Theology and Black PowerJames H. Cone, 1969; consult a critical or authorized edition
  2. Primary sourceThe Cross and the Lynching TreeJames H. Cone, 2011; consult a critical or authorized edition
  3. Academic scholarshipA World History of ChristianityCambridge University Press
  4. Reference workWorld Christian EncyclopediaEdinburgh University Press
  5. Reference workOxford Dictionary of National Biography and regional biographical scholarshipOxford University Press and specialist reference works

Paragraph citations point to starting sources. They do not imply that every source is neutral or that sources agree with one another.

Editorial record

Source-guided profile

Version 1 · Updated

Narrative synthesis with paragraph-level starting citations. Evidence, tradition, debate, and uncertainty are labeled separately.

  1. v1 · 2026-08-25Figure profile added to or upgraded within Feason’s connected Christian encyclopedia.
Contemporary evidence
Material or textual evidence created near the person, place, or event.
Tradition
Later community memory, devotion, or institutional claim, attributed to its holders.
Historical debate
More than one responsible interpretation remains in active discussion.
Unknown
The surviving record cannot presently establish a confident answer.

Known For

  • Black Theology
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree
  • Liberation

Key Works

Black Theology and Black Power1969
The Cross and the Lynching Tree2011

Influenced By

    Influenced

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