Thought provoking as always John. Thanks also for engaging with the literature and reports that I just haven't got the time to read properly.
I agree that our contextual theologies need to take into account a power analysis, both economic and political power, and that we need a nuanced understanding of ethnic diversity (and intersections with other dimensions ).
But we still need to listen hard to what the Black (post colonial) Theologians (Reddie, Beckford) are saying from their particular context and concerns for liberation.
I am not so convinced though that Kingdom theology is so dependent on the idea of a King (or authority delegated by God to rulers). Which probably explains why I am not an establishement Anglican. I am still convinced that the rule of God relativises all secular governments and offers power to communities form the bottom up. I have been trying to engage with Al Barretts thought, and latterly with Graham Adams' "Holy Anarchy" .. but I am not quite convinced they have got the right model either.
Just a note on the Jamaican Baptists... (I'm trying to find time to read more about them) and the Baptist war led by Jamaican hero Sam Sharpe. I can see why this is better described as a (godly) liberation struggle rather than an attempt to "maintain social cohesion" in a time of profound social change. Knibb seems to have taken sides with Sharpe in that struggle, against the oppressors.. the Anglican plantation owners.
Thought provoking as always John. Thanks also for engaging with the literature and reports that I just haven't got the time to read properly.
I agree that our contextual theologies need to take into account a power analysis, both economic and political power, and that we need a nuanced understanding of ethnic diversity (and intersections with other dimensions ).
But we still need to listen hard to what the Black (post colonial) Theologians (Reddie, Beckford) are saying from their particular context and concerns for liberation.
I am not so convinced though that Kingdom theology is so dependent on the idea of a King (or authority delegated by God to rulers). Which probably explains why I am not an establishement Anglican. I am still convinced that the rule of God relativises all secular governments and offers power to communities form the bottom up. I have been trying to engage with Al Barretts thought, and latterly with Graham Adams' "Holy Anarchy" .. but I am not quite convinced they have got the right model either.
Just a note on the Jamaican Baptists... (I'm trying to find time to read more about them) and the Baptist war led by Jamaican hero Sam Sharpe. I can see why this is better described as a (godly) liberation struggle rather than an attempt to "maintain social cohesion" in a time of profound social change. Knibb seems to have taken sides with Sharpe in that struggle, against the oppressors.. the Anglican plantation owners.