A Black Theology of the American Empire

This book understands, interprets, and critiques the theology of the American Empire that undergirds and bolsters U.S. foreign policy and global engagement in the contemporary world order. It is particularly in conversation with African American experience, American presidential history, black religious and political thought, as well as black theological perspectives. The book makes a constructive theological statement and declaration on the American Empire in opposition and resistance to racism and white supremacy in U.S. origins and historical development. Finally it proposes a way forward for twenty-first century black theology in response to the foundational theology of James Cone. This publication is important, not only for scholars interested in black religious thought, but also those seeking critical reflection on the omnipresence of racial inequality and social injustice in the American Empire.

Karl W. Lampley graduated from Harvard University cum laude in Social Studies, earned a Masters of Divinity from Claremont School of Theology, and received a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has taught at Hanover College and currently teaches contemporary theology, the Christian Tradition, and American religious history at Santa Clara University. He is the author of A Theological Account of Nat Turner: Christianity, Violence, and Theology (2013).