God Is Not a White Man

Chine McDonald’s God Is Not a White Man; And Other Revelations is an important and powerful read. It is highly uncomfortable, and very challenging but offers some significant, if painful, reminders of the role of white supremacy, a role which, sadly, is all too continuing in its presence.

The message, one that needs to be heard, is best summed up in some of Chine McDonald’s own words: “To bring about true racial justice, it is no longer enough to quote the right Bible passages or recite anti-racist slogans. It is not even enough to make bold claims about each of us being made in the image of God when the practices of our very own churches – and sometimes the very fabric upon which they exist – suggest that we believe otherwise. The suggestion that God is a white man is one of the greatest lies ever told. But a white God is inevitable – the logical consequence of a world steeped in white supremacy. God’s miscategorisation as a white man is no accident, but a consequence of white men – whose dominance has shaped history and theology for centuries – creating God in their image. This book is a lament for what has gone before us and the original sin of racism that has seeped its way into our churches and continues to drive the prejudices that exist about the beauty, worth, intellect and dignity of Black people, as well as the inferiority of Black women in contrast to the superiority of white men in almost every area of Western society.”

It's difficult, but we need to take seriously the way in which white dominance has misdirected the church, and the consequences that has produced. “When Christ is portrayed as a white man, the consequence is a Church that aligns itself with the dominant and the powerful rather than siding with those who are forgotten and cast aside. The countercultural act of portraying God as Black makes both a political and a theological statement about who God is.”

This book is an important contribution to an important debate. It raises big questions about what we should do in this area, and certainly about whether we are anywhere near doing enough.