Howard Thurman's Impact on Postmodern Liberation Theology

Howard Thurman 's Impact on Postmodern Liberation Theology

"Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers." Howard Thurman, African American educator, theologian, Search For Common Ground, 1971.

Using Jeremiah 17, Howard Thurman urges his listeners to find their security in God, not in the opinion of others. As Fluker and Tumber note, the denunciation of social elitism was an important theme throughout Thurman 's career, particularly as he entered the realm of black society 's elite at Howard. When throughout his journey Thurman was confronted with the contradictions of Christianity within segregated society, he answered by distinguishing Christianity from the religion of Jesus.[1] Thurman 's belief that the "goal of the mystic ... is to know God in a comprehensive sense; ... the vision of God is realized inclusively." Establishing "community" in Howard 's closed cultural environment through inclusive worship practices is a lofty goal.[2]

"What does Jesus have to teach those with their backs up against the wall," Fluker says. "He teaches that the anatomy of fear and hate only leads to violence. He offers the vision of spiritual discipline against resentment. This was the moral basis of the nonviolent movement of the Black freedom movement in the South."[3] Scholars say Thurman 's real influence is on building community. "Thurman is a significant figure in ecumenical movements," says Thurman scholar, Luther E. Smith of Emory University and author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet. "He speaks to what it means to have a community of Christians, Muslims and Buddhists living in the same community and finding ways to be tolerant of all religious views. The Thurman project seeks to recognize and utilize Thurman as we wrestle with these very difficult questions." (Smith, 1992) From Howard Thurman we may learn that the Journey must

Cited: Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. Fluker, Walter E., and Catherine Tumber, eds. A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988. Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1993. Massingale, Bryan, Jamie Phelps, ed. "The African American Experience and U.S. Catholic Ethics: Strangers and Aliens No Longer," in Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk, (Milwaukee: Marquette University, 1997). Ruether, Rosemary. "Review of A Black Theology of Liberation” by James Cone, Journal of Religious Thought 28 (Spring-Summer, 1971) 75-77. Smith, Luther E., Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet, Friends United Press, 1992. Thurman, Howard. With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979. Thurman, Howard. Search for Common Ground: An Inquiry into the Basis of Man 's Experience of Community, Friends United Press, 1986. Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. Thurman, Howard, A Theology of Liberation, trans. Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988; orig. English ed., 1973. Thurman, Howard, "A Theological Challenge to the American Catholic Church," in Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation and Black Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986) ----------------------- [2] Fluker, Walter E., and Catherine Tumber, eds. A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988. [3] Fluker, Walter E., and Catherine Tumber, eds. A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988. [4] Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. [5] Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. [6] Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. [7] Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. [8] Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics, Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. [9] Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1993. [10] Thurman, Howard, A Theology of Liberation, trans. Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988; orig. English ed., 1973. [11] Thurman, Howard, A Theology of Liberation, trans. Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988; orig. English ed., 1973. [12] Thurman, Howard, A Theology of Liberation, trans. Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988; orig. English ed., 1973. [13] Thurman, Howard, A Theology of Liberation, trans. Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988; orig. English ed., 1973. [14] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. [15] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. [16] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. [17] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. [18] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970. [19] Ruether, Rosemary. "Review of A Black Theology of Liberation” by James Cone, Journal of Religious Thought 28 (Spring-Summer, 1971) 75-77. [20] Thurman, Howard. Search for Common Ground: An Inquiry into the Basis of Man 's Experience of Community, Friends United Press, 1986. [21] Thurman, Howard. Search for Common Ground: An Inquiry into the Basis of Man 's Experience of Community, Friends United Press, 1986. [22] Massingale, Bryan. "The African American Experience and U.S. Catholic Ethics: Strangers and Aliens No Longer," in Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk, ed. Jamie T. Phelps (Milwaukee: Marquette University, 1997). [23] Thurman, Howard. Search for Common Ground: An Inquiry into the Basis of Man 's Experience of Community, Friends United Press, 1986. [24] Thurman, Howard, A Black Theology of Liberation, 2nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1986, orig. ed. 1970.