Rev. Dr. J. Deotis Roberts, a gifted Baptist preacher, a long-time professor of theology at the Howard University School of Religion (now Divinity School), and a Dean at the Virginia Union University School of Theology (now Samuel Dewitt Proctor) passed away this week at age 95. After getting a blank stare from Jurgen Moltmann in the ’60’s about how his new Theology of Hope could speak to Black Americans, he decided a Black Theology was needed to wed issues of faith and justice for African Americans. He collaborated with James Cone, who secured the place of Black Theology as an academic discipline, and one commentator claimed that while Cone lifted up the message of Justice in Malcolm X and Dr. King, Roberts carried forward the message of reconciliation in King’s work as well. We ask prayers for his family, and lift up his blessed memory as a light for the whole Church.
A Pioneer in Black Theology has Passed–J. Deotis Roberts
