Jesus and the Disinherited - Howard Thurman

CH 1 – JESUS, AN INTERPRETATION 

• People approach Jesus differently: some come to faith in love, some in hope, without conscious attachment to Jesus Christ – but they who seek God must meet Jesus 
• Jesus stand with those with their backs against the wall 
• To those who need profound strength, often found little help in Christianity 
• Often, Christian movement has been on the side of the strong against the weak 

• There is nobility in administering to another’s need out of one’s fullness and plenty 

• Often leading to and serving selfish, private, and personal ends 

• Glory of Christianity – touching the impulse at heart of Christianity is the human will to share with others what one has found meaningful to oneself elevated to height of a moral imperative 
• Pride and arrogance tend to vitiate the missionary impulse  
• Simple practice of brotherhood in the commonplace relations of life v. ethical pretensions of our faith 

• Neighbors: brothers and human beings 
• Masses of men live their backs constantly against the wall 

• The poor, the disinherited, the dispossessed 

• Famous Christian hymn writer, Sir John Newton, made money from sale of slaves 
• What are you doing for masses of men 

• I think you are a traitor to all the darker peoples of the earth 

• Religious subject v. religious object 
• Miracle of Jewish people is equally as breathtaking as the miracle of Jesus 
• Jesus became a perfect instrument for the embodiment of a set of ideals 

• Yet, Jesus was a Palestinian Jew – poor and from a countryside unable to offer a sacrificial lamb but turtledoves and pigeons for sacrifice 

• Jesus transcended circumstance of birth and training 
• Jesus was a member of minority (Jew in Roman empire) 
• Jesus was unique 
• Jesus transcended the height of political and social tensions at the time 
• Jews wished to exist as an isolated, autonomous, cultural, religious, and political unit in the midst of the hostile Hellenic world 

• Jesus’ words were directed to the House of Israel – message focused on repentance (radical change in the inner attitude of the people) and kingdom of God  
• Jesus fully recognized that people must be victorious in the spiritual battle within their heart first – again and again, Jesus came back to the inner life of the individual - “to revile because one has been reviled – this is the real evil because it is the evil of the soul itself” 
• ‘inward center’ is the crucial arena where the issues would determine the destiny of the people 
• Similar to Japanese occupation of Korea  
• To Jews, Rome was the enemy, symbol of frustration, barrier 

• And yet, this is the position of the disinherited in every age 

• The disinherited must be taught to look inward and be victorious in spirit 
• First approach: position of imitation – to assimilate to the dominant group 

• Yet, this devalues one’s own identity and worth 
• Loss of self-respect, repudiation of one’s heritage, customs, faith 

• Sadducees were such group – they loved Israel, but they loved own security more 

• Second approach: reduce contact with the enemy to a minimum 

• Cultural isolation may lead to bitterness and hatred, fear 
• Status quo: no active resistance against dominant majority, but terrible contempt; dominant majority uses fear and sense of insecurity; mob control device  

• Third approach: active resistance 

• Tragic last resort of the disinherited 
• It provides a form of expression, activity, releases tension, and frees the oppressed 
• ‘it is better to die fighting for freedom than to rot away in one’s chains’ 
• Cause is just, and it never ends 
• Persecution becomes an inspiration, power, and validation 

• Jesus: ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is in us’ 

• “humility cannot be humiliated” 
• People thought this was a complete betrayal; stark cowardice 
• If a man knows precisely what he can do to you in order to make you lose your temper, your equilibrium, then he can always keep you under subjection 
• It is a man’s reaction to things that determines their ability to exercise power over him 

• It is our “response” to an event – that is the control we have over our lives 

• Disinherited have lost hope 
• Christianity was born as a technique of survival for the oppressed, which in turn became religion of the powerful and dominant 
• “take all the world, but give me Jesus” 
• Grandmother never let Thurman read any Pauline letters, because white slave owners used Paul’s letter to justify slavery and preach to slaves that they should obey their masters 

• Paul was a Jew, but not one of the original disciples 

• first great interpreter of Christianity  
• Paul was Roman citizen, belonging to a privileged class 
• He had the freedom of the empire at his disposal 
• This influenced his philosophy 

• Blacks have no defined citizenship rights 

• Different place of standing compared to Paul and his philosophy 
• Blacks live in a climate of deep insecurity 

• “To preach the gospel to the poor” 
• Abandon fear of others and fear only God 

• Do not indulge in dishonesty or deception for your personal gain 
• Hatred is destructive to the hated and the hater alike 
• Love your enemy that you may be children of your abba-father who is in heaven 

CH 2 – FEAR 

• Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell  
• Ever-present fear besets the vast poor, dispossessed, disinherited – the economically and socially insecure 
• Like a fog, it is nowhere in particular yet everywhere 
• Fear is spawned by the perpetual threat of violence everywhere 
• Not only physical; it is violence that is devoid of the element of contest 

• Like the fear of rabbit that cannot ultimately escape the hounds 
• It is one-sided violence – fear deeply terrifying 
• It is not the fear of death that is most often at work 
• It is deep humiliation arising from dying without benefit of cause or purpose 
• Being killed in utter wrath or indifferent sadism, without dignity  

• Attacks the fundamental sense of self-respect and personal dignity 

• When Giant Goliath challenged Israel: apoplexy [unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke; incapacity or speechlessness caused by extreme anger] 
• Threat itself is an effective instrument 

• Like dog retreating or yelping upon a a person’s motion of slinging their hand back because following that motion caused great pain in the dog before 
• The threat is sufficient to secure the reaction 

• The disinherited experience such threat 

• Devastating to have it burned into you that you do not matter, and there is no protection for you 

• “War of nerves” - the logic of state of affairs is physical violence 
• Fear becomes the safety device that oppressed surround themselves  

• They behave in a way that will reduce their exposure to violence 

• This what the weak do everywhere - they exercise extreme care 
• It is a form of life assurance – physical existence with minimum violence and pain 

• Children are taught to behave this way – commit to memory ways of behaving that will protect and safeguard their lives 
• Artificial limitations in movement, employment, participation 

• It freezes the social status of the insecure 

• Peculiar characteristic of segregation is the ability of the stronger to move freely between two spheres, while the weaker is definitely fixed and frozen  

• I.e. Jim Crow law 

• Angels – messengers of God – are described as white with blonde hair 
• Imps – messengers of Satan – are described as black  
• So, is there any help to be found for the disinherited in the religion of Jesus? 

• Bible constantly reminds us: “fear not” 

• Jesus and Sermon on the Mount 

• Fear has twin sons of anxiety and despair 

• God is mindful of the individual – tremendous remedy to fear 

• Individual – basic self-estimate – profound sense of belonging 

•  No identity begets inferiority complex 
• The awareness of being a child of God tends to stabilize the ego and results in new courage, fearlessness, and power 
• You are not slaves. You are not what the world call you. You are children of God. 
• Establishes personal dignity and personal worth 

• To fear a man is a basic denial of integrity of life – that I am of God 

• He who fears is closer to destruction 
• Recognize that death is not the worst thing that could happen 
• To deny own integrity and identity is worse, etc 

• Evaluate situation; appraise antagonists 
• A man is never great in general, but he may be great as to something in particular 

• Recognize that all my achievement is not of my own, but glory to God 

• Quiet dignity and high purpose 
• Response to fear: “Nothing will happen to us. God will take care of us.” 

CH 3 – DECEPTION 

• Deception is one of the oldest of all techniques by which the weak have protected themselves against the strong 
• The weak have survived by fooling the strong 
• It is part of the nervous-reflex action of the organism 
• Found in nature – natural selection, etc 
• It raises the issue of honesty, integrity, and consequences  

• A man who places so high a price upon physical existence and survival that he is willing to perjure his own soul has a false, or at least an inadequate, sense of values 
• Disinherited face three alternatives 

• 1. accept the apparent fact that there is no sensible choice offered 

• Cannot meet the strong on equal terms – such equality does not exist 
• Pattern of deception is a matter of continuous degradation 

• Destroys ethical value in an individual 
• If a man continues to call a good thing bad, he will eventually lose his sense of moral distinctions [house divided against itself cannot stand] 
• Penalty of deception is to become a deception with all sense of moral discrimination vitiated 

• 2. underprivileged may decide to juggle various areas of compromise 

• Not all issues are equal in significance nor in consequence 

• We are affected by social relations, forces, etc 
• For the people in ghetto the choice is continue to live in ghetto or death - People compromise to live in such location and conditions 
• Moral question is never raised – to raise morality is considered stupid 
• Difficult to make a moral appeal – due to betrayal, suffering, frustration 
• Religion is restricted to areas – where they can commend themselves 

• Aim of not being killed must be replaced by a larger and more transcendent goal 

• 3. complete and devastating sincerity 

• Insistence upon complete sincerity has to do only with man’s relation to God, not with man’s relation to man 
• No man can fool God. From him nothing is hidden.  
• Sincerity in human relations is equal to and the same as sincerity to God 

• Genuine is absolute 
• Hypocrisy – defense mechanism – closer to death 
• In the presence of overwhelming sincerity on the part of the disinherited, the dominant themselves are caught with no defense 
• Hypocrisy contributes to classism 
• A man is a man, no more, no less 

CH 4 – HATE 

• Hate is another hounds of hell 
• During times of war, hatred becomes respectable, under the guise of patriotism 

• Correlated with definite uptick in rudeness and overt expressions of color prejudice  

• Hatred flourishes if it provides a form of validation and prestige  

• Christianity hesitates to deal with hatred guised as patriotism 
• There is a conspiracy of silence 
• Hatred cannot be defined, only described 

• 1. Hatred begins in contact without fellowship, warmth, genuineness 

• In the Southeast, there is greatest contact but least fellowship because each comes from an assumed position 
• Much of modern life is so impersonal – easy for hatred to grow 

• 2. Unsympathetic – understanding without healing and personal 

• Understanding that is cold, hard, minute, deadly 
• Understanding of the other’s weakness 

• 3. Expressed in active function of ill will 

• Positive resentment of the other’s presence 
• Spreading like a virus 

• 4. Hatred mirrored, embodied 

• Hatred in disinherited is born out of bitterness (discrimination) 

• Hatred becomes a source of validation 
• Moby Dick – “but I can still be ashes” 
• Disinherited recognize victimhood – because they are despised, they despise themselves 
• Self-realization is a dynamic energy 
• Gives illusion of righteousness 

• Eye for an eye 
• Hatred becomes a device by which an individual seeks to protect himself against moral disintegration 

• Growing up now, boys are not prepared to become human war machines 

• The most effective device used to transform is through discipline in hatred 

• E.g. throwing tantrum in face of violence feeds the violator justification to violate without remorse; absolute stillness shakes the violator to think and be conscious and cautious because it loses justification 

• Life-affirming v life-negating 

• Must believe in fundamental justice 

• Composure of martyr being burned at the stake 

• Jesus said love your enemies 

• Did Jesus even understand hatred? 

• Hatred destroys the core of life of the hater 

• It guarantees isolation 
• It blinds hater to values and worth 
• Bears deadly and bitter fruit 
• If they hate one, they will hate another 

• It kills the spirit, brings death to ethical and moral values 
• It dries up creative thought because they focus their energy in hate, in dark, in death 

• Jesus rejected hatred 

• Because it brought an end to the communion with the father 
• Hatred creates diversion, division, and distraction 

• Jesus affirmed life 
• Love with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; this is the highway of the Lord 

CH 5 – LOVE 

• Jesus makes love-ethic central to the religion 

• No ordinary achievement 
• Good Samaritan – we must love across the barriers of class, race, and condition 
• Every man is a neighbor; it is nonspatial and qualitative 
• Opposition grew because Jews couldn’t think of loving Samaritans and Romans 
• Jesus wasn’t creating a new religion; he was interpreting Judaism as it was supposed to be, authentic genius of Israel and devoted to the will of God 

• Pride was betrayal of purpose of God 
• Jesus and Syrophoenician woman: Jesus was making a query rather than a statement 
• Must reconcile with brother before worship 
• Jesus became friend to Roman centurions, rabbis, tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans 
• God required Israel be one people 

• Loving such persons, enemies, require uprooting of bitterness of betrayal 
• There is no simple answer or solution 
• Awaken the awareness that all are children of God 
• Rome practiced cult of emperor worship; Rome was public enemy number one 
• Love of the enemy means there must be a fundamental attack on the enemy status,  

• An unscrambling process 
• Contacts that exist for economic security 
• American Christianity has betrayed the essence of religion 

• Prefer churches separated – Korean, Hispanic Black, etc 
• Where contacts can be made with fellowship, church has become chief instrument to guaranteeing barriers 

• Answer is determined by the one who initiates the activity 
• Also, there is a mood of exception when contact with fellowship exist 

• ‘he’s different’ 

• Must act with faith, laying down false pretenses and pride 
• Jesus said, he that is without sin cast the first stone 

• Jesus was always the gentleman 

• Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. 

• The disinherited is injured often for his status 
• Damn the privileged. They think they are better than I am. 
• Before love can operate, it is necessary precondition to forgive 

• 1. God forgives us again and again 
• 2. Evil deed does not reveal the full intent of the doer 
• 3. Evil doer does not go unpunished 

• Holy spirit is at work in life and in hearts 
• Dedication and discipline can help privileged and unprivileged to live effectively in chaos 

EPILOGUE 

• Man is born into and is a product of particular culture and upbringing 
• Yet, there is an intensely private world, all his own that is intimate, exclusive, and sealed 
• Life is made up of creative synthesis of what the man is and how he reacts 

• Life is work in progress and is never wrong 
• Or else, certain actions should lead all to certain foreordained end 
• Life is a miracle 
• Stories are significant 
• Stories intermingling is no ordinary achievement 

• Jesus is the grand prototype, the eternal presence 

• Healing for sick 
• Giving lift  
• Calling hidden purpose 

• Only response: thank you Jesus and thank you God