#TheologyMatters: Traditional Evangelicalism and the Poor

Last updated on: December 11, 2015 at 4:49 pm by Fredrick Robinson

#TheologyMatters: Traditional Evangelicalism and the Poor 2015-12-11T16:49:14-05:00 Fredrick Robinson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Rev. Frederick Robinson

Putting pressure on poor and minority people—as traditional evangelicalism does—to just work harder, practice respectability, pray, have faith, pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, etc. only plays into the hands of the Empire. Moreover, we see that while blacks are some of the most religious people in America, religion hasn’t delivered us. Why? Not because faith is bad, but because American-style evangelicalism is oppressive and designed to protect the powerful. It glosses over corporate injustice. It turns a blind eye to evil. It distorts forgiveness and reconciliation. It proof-texts white supremacy and American exceptionalism. It privatizes faith. It places all the responsibility on the victims and practically none on the victimizers. And it consigns God to the abuses and inequities inherent in our system. God doesn’t want to change the system, it teaches, God wants to change you, as if God is impressed with a country where college tuition has shot up by 1,120 percent, medical care by 601 percent, food by 244 percent, housing 380 percent while the minimum wage has plummeted by 5.5 percent and the pay of the average worker has only risen by 10 percent.

Indeed, beyond encouraging charity, traditional evangelicalism has little to say about structures that keep people poor. Rather than trying to fix the world, it bends us into compliance with the world and narcotizes us with empty eschatological emotionalism. D. L. Moody, a darling of white evangelicalism, taught that the world was a wrecked vessel and that the church’s ONLY responsibility was to get people on the right boat before it sunk. The boat going to heaven while the rich enjoy all the spoils now. All of this plays into the hands of those who are privileged by the current social structures. Liberation theology is about saving BODIES as well as souls. Remember, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. well understood this. “Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men but not the social conditions that strangle and cripple the soul is a dry-as-dust religion.” That’s about right! Traditional evangelicalism needs to be born again!

The Rev. Fredrick D. Robinson is a Baptist preacher and just graduated with a master’s degree in Christian thought at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also a 2014 Fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.

Previous Post

September 28, 2015

Edited Collection on the Portrayal of Black Men in Reality TV

Next Post

September 30, 2015 After Charleston: Being Black in the ELCA and the SC Synod

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Amy Steele Andre E. Johnson Book Reviews/Series Brian Foulks Call for Chapters Carol Howard Merritt Classes Conferences Contributors Crystal St.Marie Lewis Daniel White Hodge Earle Fisher Eulogy Fredrick Robinson Guest Contributions Henry McNeal Turner Institutes Interviews Joseph Boston Katherine Whitfield Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Lectures/Roundtables Natalie Bullock Brown R3 Book Series R3 Contributor Rashad Grove Readers Reflections Symposiums Teaching Traci Ellis Travis Harris Uncategorized Video

Select a Month June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 October 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz