Biblical Justice and Racial Dynamics in the African American Church

Description

The Gospel portrait of Jesus’s life proves to be a robust template for racial justice and the building of community and reconciliation. In the African American church, the theological witness of Jesus’s life and ministry – his works, words, life, teaching, and death – become spiritual pedagogy for learning about racism and other forms of human injustice and tools for political and social change. This narrative remains at the heart of the church’s mission. It enriches the social and political struggles of the African American freedom movement with the theological richness of the Scriptures and the intelligence and experience of the African American church. In many ways, in its texts and preaching, the church forges a countercultural and subversive Biblical narrative by linking the scriptures and stories of the African American community.
The African American church in the United States, with its liturgy, vestments, sermons, spiritual worship, and weddings alike, stands as one of the pillars of resilience, spiritual resilience, and communal solidarity amid the historical context of systemic oppression and socioeconomic stress. The condition of the church today attests to a historical legacy of resilience and faith even as we navigate the complexities of injustice and suffering through a myriad of social determinants – emotional, philosophical, physical/medical/health, educational, family, and social. This book is an effort to situate experiences and dynamics in terms of a scholarly context described by Biblical passages that have historically informed the church’s response to injustice and suffering.