What is Protestant Art? presents an introduction to Protestant visual culture from the Reformation to the present. Examining historical images as evidence of changing practices and attitudes, Andrew T. Coates explores three major themes in the history of Protestant visual culture: 1) the religious work of images, 2) the relationship between word and image, 3) the power of the Bible and its visual representation. The book analyses images such as prints, paintings, maps of the ‘Holy Land,’ and Bible illustrations to demonstrate the broad range of images that could be classified as Protestant ‘art.’ This work argues that the variety of images and visual practices throughout Protestant history might better be described by the term ‘visual culture’ than ‘art.’

In the Dutch late modern society, the presence of thriving new evangelical and Pentecostal churches is remarkable against the backdrop of the widespread decline of "traditional", mainstream churches. Using an ethnographic approach, this book examines the experiences of newcomers to contemporary evangelicalism through the lens of two churches: an evangelical seeker church and a neo-Pentecostal, charismatic church. While both churches share an emphasis on conversion, there are substantial differences in their approach to and understanding of the Holy Spirit. By comparing the conversion experiences of newcomers with strategies of conversion employed by each church, this book sheds new light on the profound differences in orientation found within Dutch evangelicalism. Drawing upon theories of the body and embodiment, this qualitative, in-depth study departs from the notion that religion is limited to the mind, involving cognitively affirmed beliefs; conversely, it offers a semiotic approach to understanding religion that takes into account the importance of affects, emotions and desires in processes of conversion. This book also engages in an analytical comparison of the design and use of worship space, worship music and distinct language ideologies used by the two churches to stimulate conversion. It argues that the ways in which newcomers learn conversion, through the Alpha course, baptism and church participation, are anchored in embodied processes and, as such, imply a religious pedagogy of the senses. This study thus marks the need for a more sensorial and embodied approach to understand contemporary forms of Christianity in Dutch society. Miranda Klaver (1962) completed her PhD at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology (Faculty of Social Science) of the VU University Amsterdam. She obtained her Masters degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Theology.

Over twenty-two months in 1979 and 1981 nearly two dozen children were unspeakably murdered in Atlanta despite national attention and outcry; they were all Black. James Baldwin investigated these murders, the Black administration in Atlanta, and Wayne Williams, the Black man tried for the crimes. Because there was only evidence to convict Williams for the murders of two men, the children's cases were closed, offering no justice to the families or the country. Baldwin's incisive analysis implicates the failures of integration as the guilt party, arguing, "There could be no more devastating proof of this assault than the slaughter of the children." As Stacey Abrams writes in her foreword, "The humanity of black children, of black men and women, of black lives, has ever been a conundrum for America. Forty years on, Baldwin's writing reminds us that we have never resolved the core query: Do black lives matter? Unequivocally, the moral answer is yes, but James Baldwin refuses such rhetorical comfort." In this, his last book, by excavating American race relations Baldwin exposes the hard-to-face ingrained issues and demands that we all reckon with them.

The Gullah people are one of our most distinctive cultural groups. Isolated off the South Carolina-Georgia coast for nearly three centuries, the native black population of the Sea Islands has developed a vibrant way of life that remains, in many ways, as African as it is American. This landmark volume tells a multifaceted story of this venerable society, emphasizing its roots in Africa, its unique imprint on America, and current threats to its survival. With a keen sense of the limits to establishing origins and tracing adaptations, William S. Pollitzer discusses such aspects of Gullah history and culture as language, religion, family and social relationships, music, folklore, trades and skills, and arts and crafts. Readers will learn of the indigo- and rice-growing skills that slaves taught to their masters, the echoes of an African past that are woven into baskets and stitched into quilts, the forms and phrasings that identify Gullah speech, and much more. Pollitzer also presents a wealth of data on blood composition, bone structure, disease, and other biological factors. This research not only underscores ongoing health challenges to the Gullah people but also helps to highlight their complex ties to various African peoples. Drawing on fields from archaeology and anthropology to linguistics and medicine, The Gullah People and Their African Heritage celebrates a remarkable people and calls on us to help protect their irreplaceable culture.

"Published for the sesquicentenary of Wollongong 1834-1984'