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Updated: December 2, 2025 @ 3:41 am
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Although some contend that there is only one “true” interpretation of Christianity, scholars and believers alike have long argued that theology is shaped by race, culture, and lived experience.
Dr. Theron D. Williams.
Ishmael Barnett, pastor of Remnant Community Church, believes Black people who embrace an anti-Black theology do so out of ignorance of history.
Dr. D.Z. Cofield asserts biblical theology is concerned with liberation and justice.
Although some contend that there is only one “true” interpretation of Christianity, scholars and believers alike have long argued that theology is shaped by race, culture, and lived experience.
And as racial tensions rise across the nation, with white Christian nationalists espousing anti-Black views and promoting policies that harm Black communities, an uncomfortable question has resurfaced across pulpits and pews alike: Do Black churches preach a white theology?
The conversation reignited in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election when white evangelical preacher Donnie Swaggart condemned Black pastors who endorsed then–Vice President Kamala Harris.
During a worship service at Family Worship Center Church in Baton Rouge, Swaggart equated the Harris endorsement to Black pastors’ endorsing “every evil that hell could prosper or bring up.”
Swaggart added, “The Black church votes predominantly for the party that is anti-God. What’s going on here?”
His words echoed a centuries-old American practice of white people telling Black people how to be Christian — and reviving a theology defined by those who once used scripture (some still do) to justify slavery and segregation. But even as generations of Black believers forged a liberating, justice-centered interpretation of the gospel, others have continued to absorb and promote theology filtered through white, colonial worldviews.
The late Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr., known in divinity schools worldwide as the “father of Black Liberation Theology,” called this “Slave Theology,” a religious worldview beaten into enslaved Africans to make them accept second-class status and prioritize the “master’s” definitions of good and evil. Cleage warned that many Black preachers carried this theology forward, focusing more on the “sweet by and by” than on freedom in the here and now.
Dr. Theron D. Williams, author of Black Church, White Theology, agrees that “white theology” was created from a position of social power to maintain hierarchies.
Dr. Theron D. Williams.
“Rather than advocating for its deconstruction,” Williams wrote, “white evangelical theology’s salient feature is providing biblical, moral and theological justification for keeping hierarchical systems sound and in place so that oppression and domination may flourish.”
Houston pastor Dr. D.Z. Cofield, of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, elaborated.
“When we talk about white theology, we’re really talking about a theology that emerged through colonization and slavery… when it was agreed upon by the white church that they would no longer be concerned about the cares of people, but because of slavery profits, they would silence themselves, and just speak about heaven and the by and by instead of dealing with the here and now,” said Cofield. “It used scripture to selectively justify slavery and maintain social control.”
Dr. D.Z. Cofield asserts biblical theology is concerned with liberation and justice.
Cofield said such a faith justifies the mistreatment of Indigenous people globally, whether they’re Native Americans, Aborigines, or African Americans.
This tension burst into the open recently when a viral video showed a Black woman emotionally explaining why she walked out of her church after the congregation honored Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, a figure many Black Christians denounce as racist.
“I genuinely don’t understand how Christians are pushing this man as though hate didn’t come out of his mouth,” said the unidentified woman.
Yet instead of affirming her moral stand, many Black Christians attacked her faith.
Soon after, another viral post declared, “Don’t be so Black that you’re anti-Christ,” implying that celebrating one’s Blackness threatens one’s faith.
SiriusXM radio host Lurie Daniel Favors responded with a series of broadcasts arguing that too many Black churches now preach and practice a white theology — a faith divorced from liberation and tied to political conservatism and anti-Blackness.
Cofield believes that, at its best, the Black church stands on a theology of survival, resistance, and redemption.
“Our original calling was birthed out of protest—a theology of freedom in the face of bondage. It was about justice over injustice, dignity over dehumanization, and community over individualism,” said Cofield.
“We’ve prioritized prosperity over prophecy, comfort over confrontation, and personal salvation over social responsibility,” said Cofield about changes the Black church has experienced since desegregation and the emergence of “respectability politics.” “People can drive in, drive by, drive through the hood, have church, and go back to ‘the lands’ and be totally unaffected by what they have seen and what they have experienced.”
Ishmael Barnett, pastor of Remnant Community Church, believes Black people who embrace an anti-Black theology do so out of ignorance of history.
For Pastor Ishmael Barnett of Remnant Community Church (3329 Cypress Creek Pkwy, Houston, TX 77068), the statement “Don’t be so pro-Black that you’re anti-Christ” misses the mark completely.
“That’s an insult,” Barnett said. “You only see this as a response to Black people speaking out about injustice. I was born Black — I chose to be a Christian. I don’t think God would be upset that I appreciate who He made me and how He made me.”
Barnett believes ignorance of history feeds this confusion.
“When you do your research, you’ll find it’s impossible for Christianity to be a white religion. Christianity was in Africa centuries before it ever touched Europe,” said Barnett. “There’s been a lot of whitewashing, but that’s why it’s vital to know our history and speak truth to it.”
And speaking truth, he says, means calling out hypocrisy wherever it exists.
“You can’t say you love God and disrespect people,” stated Barnett. “You can’t claim faith and support policies that harm immigrants when Jesus himself was an immigrant. We’ve got to wake up and ask, who are we trying to please — and why?”
For Cofield, the path forward is clear.
“When we align the calling with our community, we have to challenge oppression, uplift the marginalized, to confront systemic sin in whatever form it takes, whether it’s racism, capitalism, or greed,” said Cofield. “We have to stand for whatever is going to represent the theology of Jesus in its truest form. To be a Black theologian doesn’t mean I am anti-white. It just means I’m pro-justice. I’m pro dignity. I’m pro truth.”
He added, “We believe that God is on the side of the oppressed — not because He loves the oppressed more, but because He loves justice more.”
Ultimately, Cofield calls for a reclamation of faith.
“We need to reclaim our own theology and history — a theology forged in the crucible of suffering, baptized in struggle, and anointed by the spirit of freedom,” shared Cofield. “One of my mentors, Dr. Gardner Taylor, said, ‘The gospel that cannot help a person stand up is not worth sitting down to hear.’”
So, what can believers do to embrace a more culturally grounded faith?
Study history – Learn how African civilizations practiced Christianity long before it was introduced to Europe.
Interrogate your theology – Ask whether your faith centers justice, love, and liberation — or comfort and control.
Support liberation ministries – Build and fund churches and institutions rooted in Black self-determination.
Speak truth in love – Challenge hypocrisy and oppression wherever it appears.
Live the gospel of justice – Stand with the poor, the sick, the immigrant, and the incarcerated.
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