Womanist theology is a methodological approach to theology which centers the experience and perspectives of Black women, particularly African-American women. The first generation of womanist theologians and ethicists began writing in the mid to late 1980s, and the field has since expanded significantly. The term has its roots in Alice Walker's writings on womanism. "Womanist theology" was first used in an article in 1987 by Delores S. Williams. Within Christian theological discourse, Womanist theology emerged as a corrective to early feminist theology written by white feminists that did not address the impact of race on women's lives, or take into account the realities faced by black women within the United States. Similarly, womanist theologians highlighted the ways in which Black theology, written predominantly by male theologians, failed to consider the perspectives and insights of black women. Scholars who espouse womanist theology are not monolithic nor do they adopt each aspect of Walker's definition.
Jacquelyn Grant published White Women's Christ and Black Women's Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response in 1989. Grant examined the ways in which Black women interpret Jesus's message, noting that their experience is not the same as black men or white women. She pointed out that many black women must navigate between the threefold oppression of racism, sexism, and classism. For Grant, Jesus is a "divine co-sufferer" who suffered in his time like black women do today.
At the American Academy of Religion annual meeting in 1989, womanist scholars in the fields of ethics, theology and biblical studies held a Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Consultation. This became the start of a group in the AAR that continues today.
Biblical interpretation
Womanist theologians use a variety of methods to approach the scripture. Some attempt to find black women within the biblical narrative so as to reclaim the role and identity of black people in general, and black women specifically, within the Bible. Examples include the social ethicist Cheryl Sanders and the womanist theologian Karen Baker-Fletcher. Some approach the Bible "objectively" to critically evaluate text that degrades women and people of color and to offer an African-centered form, to resist male domination and bias, or what could be termed anti-women or androcentric attitudes and forms. Others draw on resources outside the Bible to enhance the plurality and cohesion of the texts along with our life experiences and reject scripture as a whole or part which is seen to serve male interest only. These methods are not separated and can be endorsed together.
Critiques
Womanist theology has evolved due to critiques that have come about in recent years. Womanist theology has expanded to encompass the spiritual, social, and political concerns of those who do not identify as black Christian women. Christian and Christocentric underpinnings provided the framework for early womanist thought. Monica A. Coleman challenges womanists who claim the title and theological purview that is rooted in Walker's definition, yet do not allow it to reach beyond non-Christians as faulty and a failure to do what it was created to accomplish. Coleman, Traci West, and other Black religious scholars have expressed their preference for the term "black feminist" due to the history of womanist scholarship being marked by heterosexism and homophobia. There are black feminists and Womanist scholars who believe that their time would be better used making contributions in the field and working with marginalized communities as opposed to being preoccupied with whether one is properly self-identifying.