Adam Clark: Black Christology from Howard Thurman to James Cone

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2025

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Holy smokes, theology nerds – buckle up for a prophetic ride through Black Christology that'll completely recalibrate your understanding of Jesus and faith in times of empire. I am joined by Dr. Adam Clark as he traces the revolutionary lineage from Howard Thurman's mystical Jesus who refuses the "hounds of hell" (after being called a traitor to dark peoples for following Christianity), through Albert Cleage's literal Black Messiah who'd be riding in the colored section of Jim Crow buses, to James Cone's God who shows up at the lynching tree. At a moment when Christian nationalism weaponizes the gospel to enforce xenophobic authoritarianism, this prophetic tradition reminds us that authentic Christian witness is found in loving solidarity with the crucified of today. This isn't polite reflection, friends – it's resistance theology that exposes how God deliberately identifies with the oppressed, choosing foolishness to shame the wise and weakness to shame the strong. This episode might flip your theological world upside down, but that's precisely what good theology should do. To get Adam's lecture and four more, join the class,⁠⁠The Many Faces of Christ Today⁠⁠. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Dr. Adam Clark is Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University. He currently serves as co-chair of Black Theology Group at the American Academy of Religion, actively publishes in the area of black theology and black religion and participates in social justice groups at Xavier and in the Cincinnati area. He earned his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he was mentored by James Cone. Previous Episodes w/ Adam: Thinking Liberation From Contemplation to Liberation The Living & Liberating Mystery Cancel Culture, Rogan, Whoopi, Chappelle, & the NFL Gary Dorrien & Adam Clark: James Cone and the Emergence of Black Theology Serene Jones & Adam Clark: Theology Matters and the Legacy of James Cone The Crisis of American Religion & Democracy: 1/6 a year later Christmas, BLM, Abortion, & the War on White Evangelicalism Jan 6th Theological Debrief: Adam Clark and Jeffrey Pugh Adam Clark: What is Black Theology? From Lebron James to the Black Panther: Black Theology QnA w/ Adam Clark Adam Clark: James Cone was right Upcoming Online Class:⁠ Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, & the Holy Ghost⁠ "⁠Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, and the Holy Ghost⁠" is an open-online course exploring the dynamic, often overlooked third person of the Trinity. Based on Grace Ji-Sun Kim's groundbreaking work on the Holy Spirit (pneumatology), this class takes participants on a journey through biblical foundations, historical developments, diverse cultural perspectives, and practical applications of Spirit theology. Moving beyond traditional Western theological frameworks, we'll explore feminist interpretations, global perspectives, and innovative approaches to understanding the Spirit in today's world. Whether you've felt the Spirit was missing from your faith journey or are simply curious to deepen your understanding, this class creates space for thoughtful discussion, personal reflection, and spiritual growth. ⁠As always, this class is donation-based, including 0. To get class info and sign up, head over here. ⁠ _____________________ ⁠⁠⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠⁠⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 45 classes at ⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right. Hello, everyone. This is Tripp, and I'm here with my friend Adam Clark. We're going to talk about Black theology today. He had a lecture. Everyone got to enjoy along with some readings. It's part of the many faces of Christ class, we got 30 some very excellent questions sent in.
0:25.2	So we'll see how many of them we get to.
0:30.9	I'm optimistic. I've been getting better at just reading questions and not adding on a three minute aside along with each one
0:40.3	they were good they were actually pretty thoughtful I was I was pleasantly surprised well yeah I
0:49.1	we had some great listeners and readers and so what we're going do, we're going to be digging into this if you are listening
0:56.9	or watching.
0:58.0	And having got to enjoy the lecture, want to check out the reading, then go to many faces
1:02.4	of Christ.com where you can sign up and get his lecture along with a bunch of others,
1:07.6	including next week's where I do process Christology.
1:11.1	And, yeah, you can send in questions and harass me next week.
1:16.5	We'll see how that goes.
1:19.6	But, all right.
1:21.1	So, Adam, one question before we get going, and I noticed this in a couple of them that there are people in this class
1:30.0	that haven't taken one of the classes where we spent the whole time looking at the black theology
1:35.1	or the legacy of James Cohn and so there are a couple different ones about your vocation so
1:40.7	maybe you could say a bit about your own kind of academic and faith narrative
1:46.2	that set you up to be a student of James Cohn and how you discovered the black theological
1:51.9	tradition and such. Yeah, thank you for that trip. I actually grew up Episcopalian,
1:58.9	similar to Kelly Brown's Douglas. Except for I, she grew up in a black Episcopalian, similar to Kelly Brown's Douglas.
2:01.9	Except for I, she grew up in a black Episcopal church.
2:04.8	I grew up in an integrated Episcopal church.
2:08.2	But I went to college.
	...

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