| In the first half of the book, Hopkins examines how Protestantism and the Bible were used by Blacks and Whites for opposite purposes. For Whites the Bible was used as a way of validating their enslavement of Blacks and their racial inferiority. For slaves, the Bible and religion became a liberating way for them to create their own sense of self and identity. For Hopkins, the religious experience during slavery greatly informs the ideas behind black theology of liberation which Hopkins further defines in the second part of his work. Hopkins contends that black theology radically revises the way the individual constructs his/her identity and thinks about himself and has the potential for changing society. Hopkins writes, "Through the struggle for liberation internally and externally, black theology of liberation adds to the formation of a new human being and new systems of human interaction for all." |
|
