Introduction

Abstract This extended introduction explains the rationale for the book. The author outlines the dual ways in which the notion of ‘Living Black theology’ is understood in the context of this book. Living Black theology speaks to the necessity of theologians working reflexively with the ‘root’ of their formative development and also the ‘route’ of their ongoing socio-political and cultural maturation as professional scholars. This in-depth introduction reiterates James Cone’s assertion that all theology is some form of autobiography, but strengthens that assertion, outlining the relationship between social location, lived experience, and constructive theological reflection. The means of connecting the ‘root’ of our formative development and the ‘route’ of our intellectual maturation and social mobility is through narrative and reflexive analysis. This is achieved through an acknowledgement of the oral traditions that shape us. The second meaning of the term ‘Living Black theology’ is that which arises from the desire to approach this discipline as an experiential entity. That is, what does it mean to undertake Black theology as lived facet of human experience. The means by which this can be undertaken is through the prism of ‘Participative Black theology’. This is a form and mode of Black theological reflection that has been created and developed by the author over the past twenty-five years. The author outlines the development of Black Participative theology that has arisen across the course of his scholarly career, in order to demonstrate how this methodological innovation can be a way in which Black theology is better lived out as a form of socio-political and cultural engagement with non-scholars.