James ConeThe Cross and the Lynching Tree

I listened to the book on tape. When read aloud, some of the passages are truly poetic. The author, James Cone left no stone unturned. He is a consummate professional who experienced the challenges of prejudice throughout his life and career. As a woman, I can relate to his experiences of discrimination in the workplace. Many Americans who profess to be Christian miss Jesus' message of tolerance and humility. Too often the message is missed and the messenger suffers the consequences. In doing so, the "letter" of the law supercedes the "spirit" of the law. "... And the king replied, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40. I think of George Floyd, Travon Martin, and all the other young unarmed black men and boys murdered (lynched) in America by radical right-wing extremists who claim to be Christian. What's wrong with this picture?

Christianity’s central image and defining metaphor is the cross. The story of Jesus’ passion is embedded in the minds and hearts of his followers. This sequence of events includes betrayal, being hauled away by law enforcement, false accusation, a rigged trial, brutal beating, scornful mockery, torture and ultimately death. This story is central to our understanding of the incarnation. God came to be with us, among us, in the middle of our deepest pain. God knows this experience. And in some way that soars above simple propositional explanations, this defines the character of God. A God who has redefined strength and glory as other-centered co-suffering love.And so, it is strange that white Christianity has largely missed the connections between this central story of our faith, and the traumatic experience of Blacks in America defined by lynching and the control-by-terror that still exists to this day, where it seems common that police can brutalize and even kill black people with no consequence or accountability. This is the central thrust of Dr. James Cone’s landmark book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree.This book is important for several reasons. First, White Christians, like myself, have a lot to learn about the power and meaning of the cross from Black people. It seems a near miracle that enslaved people and their descendants took hold of the religion of the people who enslaved them, and reclaimed it as a power source for dignity, agency, and freedom. Jesus told us, in Matthew 25, that we would find him when we served those our society considers least. One implication of that is that those same marginalized and oppressed people have a viewpoint on faith that is crucial for us.Second, if there is any hope of racial reconciliation in American society, it comes from an honest naming of the truth. Trauma cannot heal through denial or ignorance. Reconciliation cannot come when we ignore or justify past and present violations. As uncomfortable as it may be to face our lynching past, if we truly want healing, we must. If we are unwilling to face these stories, then it’s not really reconciliation we want, but only comfort.This is a difficult book. At least it was for me. But truth is often difficult, and healing happens on the other side of the discomfort. But this is not just a difficult book; it is also a hopeful and encouraging one. Cone shows how through the Blues and Gospel Music and later art, Black Americans have offered a gracious hand out toward healing, if we are willing to listen and understand. He points to how a cruciform Christianity can lead us to not only healing, but true unity.Matthew 25 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”Hebrews 13:3 “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were there in prison with them, those who are being tortured as though you yourselves were being tortured.”Galatians 6:2 ”Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

This was a tough book to read. Among other things, it contains several accounts of lynching, of black reflection on lynching, and of white indifference to it. But this book can really help shake us out of our complacency, and wake us up to the racial injustices which are still very much a part of our world today. There were so many good sources cited, so many passages that cut to the heart. But here is just one (from the last chapter):"A symbol of death and defeat, God turned it [the Cross] into a sign of liberation and new life. The cross is the most empowering symbol of God’s loving solidarity with the “least of these,” the unwanted in society who suffer daily from great injustices. Christians must face the cross as the terrible tragedy it was and discover in it, through faith and repentance, the liberating joy of eternal salvation. But we cannot find liberating joy in the cross by spiritualizing it, by taking away its message of justice in the midst of powerlessness, suffering, and death. The cross, as a locus of divine revelation, is not good news for the powerful, for those who are comfortable with the way things are, or for anyone whose understanding of religion is aligned with power."As a Catholic, I will certainly be remembering James Cone on All Saints Day this year!

This is a serious work, that will affect your faith on a visceral level, and that's by intention. At the core of this work is the question of how a people who believed so deeply in the restorative power of the cross, could turn around and crucify by lynching, a whole race of people in hatred and fear, and still not make the correlation between their actions and those of the mob that screamed to crucify Christ? And if they did make the connection, how did they reconcile the scriptures that expound the LOVE of God, with their murderous acts? This was Dr. Cone's favorite work because it encapsulates all that he brought to light in his Black Liberation Theology writings, and shows why it should be hard for a Black person to trust or believe in a religion that has never 'set the record straight' of how the church was used to support the institution of slavery and all the Jim Crow laws that followed. The Question is, has anything changed in the faith from the teachings of their ancestors.

I got alot out of this book because it mentions how manipulative some pastors and political powers can be to pervert truth, justice and true Christianity. What Christ did for all humankind on the cross was to pay our sin debt to God, so we could be free. His divine justice demanded payment. His great love has given forgiveness.

We need to not forget the history of lynching and that white Christian’s lynched black people on the way to church.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree should be required reading for all students before they graduate from high school. It is a troubling account of the white Christian Church’s treatment of blacks in America, it is so un-Christ like. It is also a testament to the black church’s faith in Jesus.

James Cone’s *The Cross And The Lynching Tree* is possibly the most prophetic and pertinent piece of writing for American Christianity (and Western Christianity as a whole) of our time.There is truth here that we should not be blind too; truth that needs to undo us and work on us, before we can start to rebuild.—Tristan Sherwin, author of *Love: Expressed*

Took this on holiday and therefore missed the returns window. Impossible to read as it falls apart on openingThe quality of the bind is very poorPages falling out all over. Unable to return so straight in the bin-complete waste of money

Fantastic. Very difficult to read, I felt like I was on an emotional journey.But Cone writes very honestly and from experience of the events he is describing.Everyone needs to read this book.

Classic read eye opening.

Amazing book to awaken remembering a crucial part of America's history and the way faith is part of our lives.