tion of one group by another is itself defined as an evil, and thus eliminating this evil and escaping from bondage becomes a means of fulfilling God's word, just as heeding God's word is a means for achieving these objectives in this world and not in the next. At one time, religion was used by slaveowners as a means of keeping the slaves happy in this world by promising them "pie in the sky" in the next, but Black theology has passed beyond this stage and has developed as a means of liberating the exploited people in this world and so achieving a sense of justice as promised by the Gospel and as promoted by Jesus.
3. The perfect goodness attributed to God suggests not only that there is goodness in the creation of the world but also that God provides the means of understanding what justice is to be here on Earth as well, and this idea is embodied in libe
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