During the Christmas season, we sing/hear many hymns/carols. In the New Testament, though, there are few hymns. Philippians 2:6~11 is most likely one of those hymns, and there Jesus is referred to as a doulos, the Greek word for slave.
“The Christ Hymn”
The words of Philippians 2:6~11 are often called “the Christ Hymn,” and
they are a significant summary of the nature of Jesus Christ’s existence. Verses
6~8 emphasize Jesus’ humiliation and verses 9~11 highlight his exultation.
Even though most English versions of the Bible translate the word doulos (in v. 7) as servant, its primary meaning is slave. And Jesus, the slave, ends up being crucified, which according to Black theologian James Cone is the equivalent of slaves and, later, their descendants during the Jim Crow years being lynched.
Those of us who grew up in evangelical churches, and those who are
evangelicals today, see the first three verses mainly as linked to Jesus’ death
on the cross as the means of providing atonement for sinful human beings.
Be that as it may, Jesus was crucified as a common criminal by the
usual Roman means of capital punishment. Moreover, the Jews of Jesus’ day knew
that the Hebrew Bible states that “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s
curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23).
The last half of “the Christ hymn” emphasizes the
inexplicable exaltation of the crucified Jesus. Certainly, both Jesus’
humiliation and his exaltation must be recognized and affirmed. Most of us,
though, perhaps fail to grasp the full impact of the ignominy of Jesus’ being “lynched”
as a dissident slave.
“The Gospel according to Mary Brown”
In July, a youngish blogger in California posted a long and
thought-provoking
blog article titled “The Cross and The Lynching Tree by Dr. James Cone.”
On pages 6-7 of his post, the blogger introduces W.E.B. Du Bois’s “The Gospel According to Mary Brown” and provides this link to the “Xmas 1919” issue of The Crisis magazine with, scrolling down, to Du Bois’s brief three-page story.
Du Bois co-founded the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 and long served as the
founding editor of The Crisis, the official publication of the
NAACP.**
In that 101-years-ago issue of The Crisis, Du Bois
took the conventional Jesus story and brought it to his Black readers living in
the Jim Crow South. He replaced Jesus with Joshua, a black baby born to a
single mother (Mary Brown) sharecropping in the rural South.
That re-telling of the narrative about Jesus was consistent
with a central point Du Bois had made in his The Souls of Black Folk
(1903) and other essays. He condemned “white religion” as an “utter failure.”
As Cone points out in his book mentioned above, for Du Bois,
true Christianity is defined by “the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and
the Golden Rule.” But, Du Bois emphasized, “the white church’s treatment of
blacks was “sadly at variance with this doctrine” (Cone, pp. 103-4).
As we celebrate Christmas this year—in ways far different
from usual because of the covid-19 pandemic—let’s celebrate not only the birth
of Jesus as the Savior but also the one who came “to liberate the oppressed”
(Luke 4:18, CEB).
In Du Bois’s story of Joshua, “the White Folk” were offended
by what he said. They complained, “What do you mean by this talk about all
being brothers—do you mean social equality?”
And they also said to Joshua, in Du Bois’s words, “What do
you mean by saying God is you-all’s father—is God a nigger?"
These White Folk finally brought Joshua before a judge from
the North—but he “washed his hands of the whole matter.” The White crowd then
seized Joshua and lynched him.
Since in our land today 100 years later there are still problems of discrimination and oppression because of race and/or class, perhaps this is the “Christmas story” we need to hear and to ponder this week. What do you think?
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** My 9/15/18 blog post was written in honor of Du Bois (1868~1963).
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A marvelous blog, Leroy! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anton! -- And thanks also for linking to my post on your Facebook timeline.
DeleteThanks Leroy for opening our eyes about a more complete story of JESUS.
ReplyDeleteThis is from Thinking Friend John Tim Carr in California. He wrote asking why when he posts it says "Unknown." I don't know the answer to that, as it is an issue with blogger.com. It should post, though, by what it says in the "Reply as" link at the bottom.
DeleteI agree this is the week (and year) to hear this Christmas story. Your blog on the same day that The Kansas City Star apologizes for its racist past and our Sunday School class is finishing "White Too Long" next week. It looks like changes are coming.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Dennis. Yes, I was amazed at the long anti-racist article in the KC Star yesterday. I was also happy to hear that your SS class have been reading Jones's book "White Too Long," and I wish I could have been in your weekly discussion of his important book. I have read only part of the book, but I have read much about it and have attended a webinar in which Jones was one of two people interviewed. (And I am also happy to have Jones as a Facebook friend, although I am just one of his more than 2,600 friends.)
DeleteMy Sunday School class is reading "WHITE TOO LONG" by Robert P. Jones (2020). Jones pretty much agrees with "white religion is an utter failure." White American theology needs a complete rewrite. Black theology has much to tell all of us.
ReplyDeleteCraig, it was interesting that you and Dennis were writing about the same thing at the same time. And yes, Jones (who is a White man and a former Southern Baptist, for those who do not know) does largely see "white religion" as a failure in much the same way Du Bois did 100 years earlier.
DeleteI suspect the timing for Dennis and myself had a lot to do with the rhythm of the Chiefs game. I was almost ready to give up watching the game a few years ago, but then Mahomes came along and would not let me! So here I am, stuck on football. Meanwhile, unlike the Washington Football Team, and the not-much-longer Cleveland Indians, the Chiefs have not yet found the arrowhead in their inbox. I can see a case for "KC Barbecue" or "KC Tailgaters." Or they could follow the Royals in honoring the Monarchs by becoming the KC Kings, and solve two naming problems by renaming Arrowhead as Martin Luther King Stadium. Or in honor of Charlie Parker and friends, the could become KC Jazz. They are the defending world champs, so I think they could get away with a name change if they tried.
DeleteEarly yesterday morning (CST) I received the following comments from Thinking Friend Andrew Bolton in England, where it was already after noon:
ReplyDelete"Very thoughtful, prophetic blog – a good challenge for the Christmas season. The Black Lives Matter rising this summer was the best news of the year, only rivalled by by the development of vaccines. I have been on a couple Zoom calls about Dismantling White Privilege. Our conclusion is that it is white people who have to sort out their racism. It is our sin that we have to repentantly address."
Thanks, Andrew, for reading and responding to my blog yesterday. Yes, it is still imperative that we Whites address the issues of White Privilege that Du Bois was pointing out so strongly more than 100 years ago.
DeleteHere are comments from local Thinking Friend Will Adams:
ReplyDelete"Wow! What a guilt-producing blog. I've thought I was on the right side of the racism issue--a staunch opponent of racism and advocate of equality. And yes, silence is complicity. I haven't been silent, but I probably haven't done as much as I could have. Until Trump, I thought we were winning the battle; but I think we still have a long way to go. Thank you."
Thanks for your comments, Dr. Adams--but I didn't post it to produce guilt. Rather, I am hoping that we Whites can become more aware of what needs to be done and to be more proactive in making things better for people of color--and I certainly recognize and appreciate all you have done in that regard through the years.
DeleteSuch a joy to be reminded that Christ came as a slave who can identify with us. Your blog is so timely.
ReplyDeleteThanks
PS I love the picture
I think white evangelicals, main line Protestants, Pentecostals--white Christians in general, are no where near accepting Jesus as a common criminal hung for his political criminality on a Roman tree. And we are still lynching black folks--frequently quasi-legal police lynchings. Hardly ever from a tree, but not infrequently nooses are displayed as a friendly reminder of who you folks are, like as in Jena, Louisiana a few years ago. That's a story worth pursuing but not in the limited space of this response. The police lynching of George Floyd is a case in point. That contributed greatly to the rise of Black Livesla Matter. I identified with BLM via Facebook, and got local pushback. Two well known upright and highly respected senior citizens, leaders in FBC Tulia, objected vociferously. One comment: "I'm not a racist, I've never been a racist, but Black Lives Matter is making me a racist." I thought that if Black Lives Matter turned her into a racist, it must have just uncovered the racism that was already there.
ReplyDeleteWe white folks, we white Christians, have a long long way to go before we can fully identify with the slave hung on a tree who identified and identifies with current lynching victims. Of whom there are too many to count.
Merry Christmas, Leroy. I saved this blog post to read on Christmas Day. I confess to feeling still at a loss as to what to DO on Christmas Day, away from Japan, away from family this year, and here in the tropics where it doesn't Feel like Christmas to me. I read James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree in the last year, and now added to that The Gospel of Mary Brown brings into clear focus how much the White church needs to link its faith in Jesus with abuses toward our Black brothers and sisters. I heard the comment recently that "I have never been a racist, but BLM has made me more racist." We can assume that BLM has only brought to the fore the racism, the ignorance, the apathy, that has always been there. MLK promised that in freeing Black folks white folks would also be saved. Thank you, Leroy, for this introduction to Du Bois' book. I'm currently reading "His Truth Is Marching On," by Jon Meacham about the life of John Lewis.
ReplyDelete