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Review Summary: 'TO MAKE A WAY OUT OF NO WAY' |
Date: 2008-10-03 |
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Details: Professor Williams of the Union Theological Seminary of New York offers in this book much African-American history, both antebellum and postbellum, as well as womanist 'theology' or God-talk. The book starts with a discussion of the story of Hagar from Genesis 16:1-16 and 21:9-21. Hagar was Abraham's wife Sarah's slave. Williams uses this story as a route to discussing black women's issues and indeed as a route to a hermeneutic principle of biblical interpretaion based on survival and quality of life. The book looks at surrogacy roles forced on Hagar and black women in the African-American experience, e.g., surrogate motherhood in slavocracy. Williams also draws parallels between Hagar "working within the system" (after God's advice to return to Abraham) after her first wilderness experience, being set free with no compensation in her second wilderness experience, and similar experiences of African-American women.
Professor Williams explores black men's views of African-American women in Blues literature and how it differed from previous views and from views of African-American women writers. Next, Williams points out the problems of white racial narcissism, religious arrogance, and the history of scientific support for racism.
Williams compares black liberation theology and feminist theology with womanist God-talk. In the comparison with black liberation theology she discusses the atonement theories of the traditional view of Jesus' surrogacy role in redemption. She rejects these theories and offers instead that Jesus' redemptive importance was not in his death on the cross, but in his ministerial vision for "right relations between the body (individual and community), mind (of humans and tradition) and spirit." Death on the cross, instead of something to be sacralized, was only the triumph of evil over this ministerial vision. "The resurrection of Jesus and the flourishing of God's spirit in the world as a result of resurrection represent the life of the ministerial vision gaining victory over the evil attempt to kill it. Thus, to respond meaningfully to black women's historic experience of surrogacy oppression, the womanist theologian must show that redemption of humans can have nothing to do with any kind of surrogate or substitute role Jesus was reputed to have played in a bloody act that supposedly gained victory over sin and/or evil . . . Rather it seems more intelligent and scriptural to understand that redemption had something to do with God, through Jesus, giving humankind new vision to see the resources for positive, abundant relational life."
Williams discusses two black liberation theologians' views on ethical principles and revaluing value. According to Williams, James Deotis Roberts argues for an ethical principle of reconciliation in black-white relations to be gained by black participation in the political process. By contrast, James H. Cone, the author of Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology among other books, "revalues the negative value put upon violence not by indicating that violence is a value for oppressed people to adopt." "Rather, he suggests that our value judgments and questions about violence must be shaped by our examination of the violence that brought America into being as a country and the violence that white oppressors have inflicted upon black Americans throughout history." Womanist God-talk yields an ethical principle "of survival and positive quality of life for black women and their families in the presence and care of God . . . with an emphasis on woman-God-communication-action as 'necessary means'."
In Professor Williams' discussion of areas of potential dialogue between feminist and womanist theology she examines the question "what is acceptably female." This question was raised by Chung Hyun Kyung, an Asian feminist theologian, who in a recent book dealt with the raising up of the Virgin Mary by many Asian Christian women. Williams justifiably cites a problem with the tradition surrounding the Virgin Mary and its contribution to white supremacy. Williams also examines the issue of virginity, its treatment by Chung as 'relational' reality rather than 'biological' reality and as "the symbol for the autonomy of women." Williams questions some of its assigned symbolic value when it is compared with African-American women's sexual exploitation and social-role surrogacy, e.g., the Mammy role.
In closing, I mention Professor William's view that to be a Christian is to share one's skills and resources with victims, to be tangibly related to survival/quality-of-life struggles. |
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out of 1 Reviews
