James Cone's legacy in Africa : confession as political praxis in the Kairos Document

Abstract

This reflection sets out to achieve three goals: the key is to show the legacy of James Cone from a global perspective, specifically his contributions to the development of African theology. The second is the irony that Cone was influenced by Karl Barth's Barmen declaration in his response to the outrage against blacks in the United States in the violent late 1960s. This dimension has escaped scholarly attention. Thirdly, both Cone and the Barmen declaration influenced South African theologians who scripted the Kairos Document. Each party contextualized the use of the strategy; but for all, confession served as a form of political praxis.