The African American Guide to the Bible makes the case for the relevance of the Bible from the perspective of people of color. It presents a comprehensive biblical view of topics of interest to African Americans and clarifies racial issues for white people. Part 1 addresses the inspiration of the Bible by giving evidence for its authenticity. A considerable amount of time is spent on examining the original text of the Bible, the archeological evidence, and the evidence from predictive prophecy to demonstrate the uniqueness of the Bible. Part 2 deals with the black presence in the Bible by demonstrating the prominence of people of color and black people in particular by highlighting their importance in the plan of God. It explains what it means to be black and demonstrates that the scientific and biblical evidence are both consistent with respect to race. Part 3 is a response to the arguments of racism used by critics of the Bible, for example, "Christianity is the white man's religion" and "Bible supports slavery and racism." These arguments are examined and evaluated in light of scripture and the context of history. Part 4 deals with the unity of humanity from a biblical perspective. It shows why racism is not only unbiblical but is evil when understood from the perspective of God.

Reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition can help us connect with a rich faith history and address the urgent issues of our times. Demonstrating an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, New Testament scholar Esau McCaulley shares a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation.

The Talking Book casts the Bible as the central character in a vivid portrait of black America, tracing the origins of African-American culture from slavery’s secluded forest prayer meetings to the bright lights and bold style of today’s hip-hop artists. The Bible has profoundly influenced African Americans throughout history. From a variety of perspectives this wide-ranging book is the first to explore the Bible’s role in the triumph of the black experience. Using the Bible as a foundation, African Americans shared religious beliefs, created their own music, and shaped the ultimate key to their freedom—literacy. Allen Callahan highlights the intersection of biblical images with African-American music, politics, religion, art, and literature. The author tells a moving story of a biblically informed African-American culture, identifying four major biblical images—Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel. He brings these themes to life in a unique African-American history that grows from the harsh experience of slavery into a rich culture that endures as one of the most important forces of twenty-first-century America.

Michael Brown offers an overview of the history of the development of African American and Afrocentric biblical interpretation. He then discusses how such scholarship began as an attempt to correct the biases African Americans perceived to be manifest in European and Euro-American biblical scholarship. This corrective, he says, quickly developed a life of its own, and Afrocentric biblical interpretation developed its own interpretive voice and style. Brown also examines Afrocentrism and the "blackening of the Bible," offering a critique of the color politics of Afrocentric criticism. He examines the evolution of womanism as a method of biblical interpretation, and explores and criticizes the ways that ideological and postcolonial criticism has contributed to Afrocentric biblical criticism. Finally, he presents the challenges he thinks confront the practice of such criticism, and he advances a new paradigm for the project that will put it in conversation with a wider audience of biblical scholars, classicists, historians, and theologians. Michael Joseph Brown is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Candler School of theology, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of What They Don't Tell You: A Survivor's Guide to Academic Biblical Studies and The Lord's Prayer through North African Eyes: A Window into Early Christianity.

Red letter Daily insights from prominent black church leaders 250 weekday and 52 weekend meditations Book introductions Choice of 3 reading plans JSubject index Articles History of denominations Biographies on contributors 1,472 pp.

The gospel brings liberty to men, women, and children bound by every conceivable sin and affliction. Psychology provides a tool for applying the power of the gospel in practical ways. Drawing on biblical truths and psychological principles, Counseling in African-American Communities helps us---Christian counselors, pastors, and church leaders---to meet the deep needs of our communities with life-changing effect. Marshaling the knowledge and experience of experts in the areas of addiction, family issues, mental health, and other critical issues, this no-nonsense handbook supplies distinctively African-American insights on the problems tearing lives and families apart all around us: Domestic Abuse Gambling Addiction Blended Families Sexual Addiction and the Internet Depression and Bipolar Disorder Divorce Recovery Unemployment Sexual Abuse and Incest Demonology Grief and Loss Schizophrenia Substance Abuse . . . and much more

No Longer Slavesbrings the ancient New Testament message into conversation with African American culture. Twenty centuries after Paul penned Galatians, American culture in general and American Christianity in particular continue to struggle with the problem of race relations. Our challenges are not identical to those faced by Paul and the Galatians. Yet, when one reads Galatians through the lens of African American experience, striking similarities emerge. In No Longer Slaves, Brad Braxton helps us see that race relations is a central issue in Galatians. Paul believes that Christ came in order to unite Jews and Gentiles. The church was intended to be amulti-ethnic community in which persons of different backgrounds co-existed harmoniously. Any effort to compel Gentiles to live as Jews is an invalidation of the freedom of the Gospel. Galatians offers us a portrait of an early Christian leader and community sorting out complex social issues. No Longer Slavesexplores the concept of liberation in African American experience. It entails a discussion of American slavery. Rather than depicting African Americans simply as victims of the crimes of slavery and segregation, Braxton describes the creative cultural and religious responses of African Americans to their oppression. He employs a type of reader-response theory that considers the experiences of the reading community as a lens through which texts are read. His discussion of methodology exposes the reader to some of the issues in the current debate without becoming burdensome to the non-specialist. The remainder of the book is an interpretation of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Although Braxton takes seriously the original context of Galatians and his exegesis engages the Greek text, he offers a contemporary theological reading that privileges the history, experiences, and concerns of African Americans. Those who are concerned about the connection between Christianity and ethnicity will find this interpretation intriguing and challenging. Chapters in Liberation and African American Experienceare Introduction," *Liberation: Rationales and Definitions, - *Blackness: Biology and Ideology, - and *African American Biblical Interpretation. - Chapters in A Reading Strategy for Liberationare *Reader-Response Criticism and Black and Womanist Theologies, - *The Bible and Authority in Reader-Response Criticism, - and *The African American (Christian) Interpretive Community. - Chapters in Galatians and African American Experienceare *Introduction, - *Historical Overview, - Interpretations, - and *Conclusion. - Includes a bibliography. Brad Ronnell Braxton, PhD, is the Jessie Ball DuPont Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Biblical Studies at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is an ordained Baptist minister and for five years served as Senior Pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore, Maryland. "

The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.

We live in an age when younger African-American Christians are asking tough questions that previous generations would dare not ask. This generation doesn't hesitate to question the validity of the Scriptures, the efficacy of the church, and even the historicity of Jesus. Young people are becoming increasingly curious about what role, if any, did people of African descent play in biblical history? Or, if the Bible is devoid of Black presence, and is merely a book by Europeans, about Europeans and for Europeans to the exclusion of other races and ethnicities? Dr. Theron D. Williams makes a significant contribution to this conversation by answering the difficult questions this generation fearlessly poses. Dr. Williams uses facts from the Bible, well-respected historians, scientists, and DNA evidence to prove that Black people comprised the biblical Israelite community. He also shares historical images from the ancient catacombs that vividly depict the true likeness of the biblical Israelites. This book does not change the biblical text, but it will change how you understand it.This Second Edition provides updated information and further elucidation of key concepts. Also, at the encouragement of readership, this edition expands some of the ideas and addresses concerns my readership felt pertinent to this topic.