Philosophical School, and the Human Sciences School. Ware takes the
Black Hermeneutical School—exemplifi ed in the work of James H. Cone,
Katie G. Cannon, Dwight. N. Hopkins, Kelly Brown Douglas, and oth-
ers—to be the largest, most diversifi ed, and perhaps most infl uential
category. 16 At fi rst glance, hermeneutics within this camp seems to be cen-
tered around the principles of interpretation of sacred texts (especially the
Protestant Bible). Ware writes:
Revelation—God’s self-disclosure—is recognized as the principal source of
black theology. For black theologians in the Black Hermeneutical School,
God’s self-disclosure is not antithetical to African American history and cul-
ture ... The Bible is an important source for black theology. [J. Deotis]
Roberts contends that black theological interpretation starts with, and in
the end seeks to be faithful to, the Bible. 17
Given the prominence Scripture has in Protestant—especially, black
Protestant churches—it is not surprising that the Bible and the princi-
ples used to interpret it would be a priority in the struggle for liberation
among people of faith of African descent. Black theologians throughout
history have understood that one of their primary contributions to libera-
tory discourse was providing a counternarrative to theologies that justifi ed
the perpetual inferiority of blacks. One such theory heavily utilized in the
nineteenth century was the Myth (or “Curse”) of Ham:
The myth identifi es the Negro as a descendant of Ham, who was a son of
the biblical fi gure Noah. In the biblical legend (Genesis 9:18–28), Noah
curses the posterity of Ham and specifi cally indicates that they will be slaves
to other peoples. American slavery apologists made frequent recourse to this
story in order to justify the institution. 18
Thus, biblical hermeneutics had to be a major component of black reli-
gion. Despite this, it could be argued that black scholars of religion have
always had a broader notion of hermeneutics in mind, challenging the idea
prominent in conservative and fundamentalist communities that “‘herme-
neutics’ is simply a synonym for ‘biblical exegesis.’” 19 Even while those in
the Black Hermeneutical School privileged the Bible as a primary source
for theological refl ection, the fact that they incorporated other sources
such as black culture, jazz music, and slave narratives into their theology
pointed toward a concern for contextualization. 20 In God of the Oppressed ,
PENTECOSTAL HERMENEUTICS AND RACE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH... 233
