Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 03:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: If Christ Is Not Savior, He Cannot Be Liberator: A Response To Ibram Kendi
Author: Michael Carlino

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 88

If Christ Is Not Savior, He Cannot Be Liberator: A Response To Ibram Kendi

Michael Carlino

Michael Carlino is a Ph.D. student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Systematic Theology.

“Antiracists fundamentally reject savior theology, which goes right in line with racist ideas and racist theology. . . . Jesus was a revolutionary and the job of the Christian is to revolutionize society. The job of the Christian is to liberate society from the powers on earth that are oppressing humanity . . . so that’s liberation theology in a nutshell.”1

–Ibram X. Kendi

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 89

The previous quote is from an interview Ibram Kendi gave at the progressive Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan. It came in response to the following question: “I am curious if you see any role that churches, or communities of faith can play in this antiracist movement.”2 Kendi’s answer has since gone viral. It is rather jarring to watch the interview and see Matthew 28:18–20 etched in stone on the wall directly behind Kendi and his interviewer.

It ought not be lost on us that this man was invited into a church and is treated as an authority on the matter of antiracism and social justice. As one listens to the entire interview, it becomes abundantly evident how religious antiracism is. Kendi speaks of the need for constant self-examination and repentance from our racism, both implicit and explicit. He is fond of the word confession throughout the interview and calls for everyone to examine their heart to find manifestations of anti-blackness and turn from them. And, as the quote above captures, he is not shy about invoking the name of Jesus as a revolutionary who liberates society from oppressive structures and policies. This is the argument Kendi advances in his best-selling book How to Be an Antiracist, and it is directly related to the influence of black liberation theologian James Cone mediated through his parents. He tells the story of a time when his dad met Cone and asked him what his definition of a Christian was. Cone responded, “A Christian is one who is striving for liberation.”3 Kendi continues, “James Cone’s working definition of a Christian described a Christianity of the enslaved, not a Christianity of the slaveholders. . . . My parents arrived at a creed with which to shape their lives, to be the type of Christians that Jesus the revolutionary inspired them to be.”4 Kendi argues that ...