*Advance Praise and Endorsements*

“James Cone is the most important theologian in America.”— Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary

“A groundbreaking work that helped give rise to Black liberation theology and challenged the church to confront racism and injustice at its core.”— Publishers Weekly

“Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the relationship between Christian faith and the struggle for racial justice.”— Library Journal

“Few theological works have had as profound an impact on modern theology as A Black Theology of Liberation.”— The Christian Century

“Cone’s work forever changed the landscape of American theology, insisting that the gospel must be heard from the standpoint of the oppressed.”— Union Theological Seminary

"Any message that is not related to the liberation of the poor in a society is not Christ's message. Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology."

With the publication of his two early works, Black Theology & Black Power (1969) and A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), James Cone emerged as one of the most creative and provocative theological voices in North America. These books, which offered a searing indictment of white theology and society, introduced a radical reappraisal of the Christian message for our time.

Combining the visions of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Cone offered a fundamental reappraisal of Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed black community in North America. Fifty years later, in the era of Black Lives Matter, his work remains as timely and powerful as ever.

James H. Cone (1938-2018) was the Bill and Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary. His many books include God of the Oppressed, Martin & Malcolm & America, and The Cross and the Lynching Tree, which received the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

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