Search Results: African American Experience from Eden Theological Seminary Bookstore

highly regarded pastor floyd flake, his wife co-pastor author elaine flake, and church chief financial officer edwin reed offer a design based on key needs in the black church, and their, and their experience at one of the nation's most respected and largest black churches, greater allen a.m.e. cathedral in new york. this unique, detailed, an thorough resource for black churchs of any denomination covers virtually all aspects of church management from the theoretical and theological to the practical: nuts and bolts" of church adminstration. the authors include a special section offering principles for economic development, an area in which greater allen a.m.e cathedral has experienced extraordinary success.

A New York Times Bestseller—In his groundbreaking young adult memoir, prominent writer and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson shares both glorious and gut-wrenching memories of growing up Black and queer in America....As a rising star in cultural criticism, Johnson turns his passion for exploring intersectional identities to his own life by weaving questions of gender, masculinity, brotherhood, family, and Black joy throughout his stories. Posing the same questions to the reader, he invites us to consider what social influences have governed our own lives.—from the book jacket

Lauded by theologian Dwight Hopkins as an "original argument" and as an excellent example of "religious studies engaging culture and politics," Black Abolitionism reveals how the black abolitionist movement ws a powerful force in eliminating slavery. Even more significant, it was also an independent movement "distinct from and parallel with the larger white abolitionist movement." Its primary goal was to seek full human dignity and justice for black people, going far beyond the elimination of slavery.

New copy; top of spine slightly damaged.

New copy
The Black Church Studies Reader addresses the depth and breadth of Black theological studies. The volume examines salient themes such as gender, sexuality, race, social class, health care, and public policy. The focus of the volume while African American attends to broader African continental and Diasporan religious contexts

Can a Sistah Get a Little Help? Encouragement for Black Women in Ministry focuses on how Black women can faithfully continue to navigate the internal and external challenges of ministry. Drawing from experiences throughout her twenty-two years in ordained ministry and as a seminary professor, Teresa L. Fry Brown asserts she has learned that with a set of cultural coping mechanisms and values, African American women can not only survive but thrive as leaders and mentors in spite of the brick ceiling. These coping mechanisms and values include survival skills; network and support systems; a work ethic; mentors and sponsors; a sense of self-worth and self-confidence; spiritual values; a balance in life; a leadership style; and acultural identity. In preparation for the book, Brown spoke with approximately 200 ordained and 450 laywomen in ministry about the issues most relevant to them. Here, in the form of remembrances, vignettes, and discussions, and interwoven with common concerns raised by these… Read More

In this accessible and provocative study, Brian Blount reads the book of Revelation through the lens of African American culture, drawing correspondences between Revelation's context and the long-standing suffering of African Americans. Applying the African American social, political, and religious experience as an interpretive cipher for the book's complicated imagery, he contends that Revelation is essentially a story of suffering and struggle amid oppressive assimilation. He examines the language of "martyr" and the image of the lamb, and shows that the thread of resistance to oppressive power that runs through John's hymns resonates with a parallel theme in the music of African America.

The African American population in the United States has always been seen as a single entity: a "Black America" with unified interests and needs. In his groundbreaking book, Disintegration, Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson argues that over decades of desegregation, affirmative action, and immigration, the concept of Black America has shattered. Instead of one black America, now there are four:
- a Mainstream middle-class majority with a full ownership stake in American society;
- a large, Abandoned minority with less hope of escaping poverty and dysfunction than at any time since Reconstruction's crushing end;
- a small Transcendent elite with such enormous wealth, power, and influence that even white folks have to genuflect;
- and two newly Emergent groups--individuals of mixed-race heritage and communities of recent black immigrants--that make us wonder what "black" is even supposed to mean.

New copy
A revealing look at the identity and mission of the Black church
What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.
For decades the Black church and Black theology have held each other at arm's length. Black theology has emphasized the role of Christian faith in addressing racism and other forms of oppression, arguing that Jesus urged his disciples to seek the freedom of all peoples. Meanwhile, the Black church, even when focused on social concerns, has often emphasized personal piety rather than social protest. With the rising influence of white evangelicalism, biblical fundamentalism, and the prosperity gospel, the divide… Read More

Required text for Eden Seminary Course HT101 Christian Ethics (Williams).
Being human is neither abstract nor hypothetical. It is concrete, visceral, and embodied in the everyday experience and relationships that determine who we are. In that case, argues distinguished theologian Shawn Copeland, we have much to learn from the embodied experience of black women who, for centuries, have borne in their bodies the identities and pathologies of those in power.
With rare insight and conviction, Copeland demonstrates how black women's experience and oppression cast a completely different light on our theological theorems and pious platitudes and reveal them as a kind of mental colonization that still operates powerfully in our economic and political configurations today. Further, Copeland argues, race and embodiment and relations of power not only reframe theological anthropology but also our notions of discipleship, church, and Christ as well. In fact, she argues, our postmodern situation – marked… Read More

Homer Ashby presents a realistic picture of the African American situation with regard to a variety of socioeconomic indices. Using the book of Joshua as his guide, he presents a process of discernment about critical issues facing African Americans and leads readers through a discussion about the assets and liabilities of blackness and a vision for moving over the Jordan into a place where full humanity is realized.—Publisher

New copy
Growing up in the American South, Esau McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. A key element in the fight for hope, he discovered, has long been the practice of Bible reading and interpretation that comes out of traditional Black churches. This ecclesial tradition is often disregarded or viewed with suspicion by much of the wider church and academy, but it has something vital to say.
Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an… Read More

A moving essay collection promoting freedom, self-love, and divine wholeness for Black women and opening new levels of understanding and ideological transformation for non-Black women and allies "Candice Marie Benbow is a once-in-a-generation theologian, the kind who, having ground dogma into dust with the fine point of a stiletto, leads us into the wide-open spaces of faith."--Brittney Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage and co-editor of The Crunk Feminist CollectionBlurring the boundaries of righteous and irreverent, Red Lip Theology invites us to discover freedom in a progressive Christian faith that incorporates activism, feminism, and radical authenticity. Essayist and theologian Candice Marie Benbow's essays explore universal themes like heartache, loss, forgiveness, and sexuality, and she unflinchingly empowers women who struggle with feeling loved and nurtured by church culture. Benbow writes powerfully about experiences at the heart of her Black womanhood. In honoring her single mother's love and… Read More

Very good copy; highlighting and pen markings on some pages.

By challenging some of the most cherished theological beliefs to emerge within black Christian communities, Pinn encourages us to extend the range of our religious world views and embrace black cultural expressions that have been ignored and despised ... This book marks the debut of an important and exciting new voice in black religious thought. --Michael Eric Dyson, author of Between God and Gangsta RapAnthony Pinn's splendid book explores theological texts, folklore, preaching, spirituals, blues, and rap to unleash a tradition of African-American humanism. A remarkable tour de force not to be missed by anyone concerned with the religious and theological problems of evil and suffering. --Terrence W. Tilley, author of The Evils of Theodicy The book is thought-provoking, schematic, and theologically unsettling. Not since William R. Jones' Is God A White Racist? Has the theodical problem been so central to the critique of African-American theology and ethics. --Religious Studies Review