The Black Church in America
African American Christian Spirtuality
Religious Life in America
1. Edition June 2006
248 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-1-4051-1892-7
John Wiley & Sons
This book gives readers a broad understanding of the Black Church
in America and a sense of its uniqueness in the wider world.
* * Explores the history of the Black Church in America, its
African roots, beliefs, practices, politics, and contemporary moral
dilemmas
* Argues that in the Black Church, individual and communal
destiny are bound together
* The author is a Priest in the Episcopal Church and teaches
spirituality and Black Church studies at Duke University.
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: An Amphibious Worldview xi
1 Emergence of What is African 1
African Warnings 1
What is African? 12
2 The Particularity of African American Spirituality 23
3 The Black Church in the Shadow of Slavery 43
The Scourge of Slavery 46
The Survival of Africanism 57
The Emergence of Black Denominations 60
4 Communal Worship 66
The Controversy of Emotionalism 70
"Spiritual Song" and the Emergence of Black Denominations 72
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 77
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church 77
African American Baptists Churches 78
National Baptist Convention, USA 85
African American Pentecostalism 86
Black Worship 88
5 Inviting Others to Be Black 98
African vs. Black: Dialectic Tension 103
James Cone and Desmond Tutu 106
African and Black: Communal Synthesis 115
6 The Black Church as the Beloved Community 127
King's View: Prophecy and Nonviolence 133
African American Responses to King 144
King's Dream of the Beloved Community 152
Communal Antithesis for King 154
7 Embodying African American Spirituality 163
A Churchless Black Church 165
A Womanless Black Church 169
The Full Embodiment of the Black Church 176
Timeline of the Black Church 183
Websites for Historic Black Denominations 203
Bibliography 204
Index 216
Introduction: An Amphibious Worldview xi
1 Emergence of What is African 1
African Warnings 1
What is African? 12
2 The Particularity of African American Spirituality 23
3 The Black Church in the Shadow of Slavery 43
The Scourge of Slavery 46
The Survival of Africanism 57
The Emergence of Black Denominations 60
4 Communal Worship 66
The Controversy of Emotionalism 70
"Spiritual Song" and the Emergence of Black Denominations 72
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 77
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church 77
African American Baptists Churches 78
National Baptist Convention, USA 85
African American Pentecostalism 86
Black Worship 88
5 Inviting Others to Be Black 98
African vs. Black: Dialectic Tension 103
James Cone and Desmond Tutu 106
African and Black: Communal Synthesis 115
6 The Black Church as the Beloved Community 127
King's View: Prophecy and Nonviolence 133
African American Responses to King 144
King's Dream of the Beloved Community 152
Communal Antithesis for King 154
7 Embodying African American Spirituality 163
A Churchless Black Church 165
A Womanless Black Church 169
The Full Embodiment of the Black Church 176
Timeline of the Black Church 183
Websites for Historic Black Denominations 203
Bibliography 204
Index 216
"Michael Battle's book is a wise and bold treatment of the most
complex phenomenon in Afro-American life: The Black Church. We need
to listen to his words." Cornel West, Princeton
University
"The key to understanding Battle's fine study of the black
church is found in his background as an African American Episcopal
priest. His major thesis is that a strong sense of community
pervades African American spirituality, which comes from communal
African religious traditions and the survival needs of enslaved
Africans in a hostile American environment. Although Battle's
treatment of the historical material is not new, his emphasis on
the communal worship and spirituality of African American
Christianity is an important theological direction. Deeply
influenced by the theology of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who ordained
him, Battle (Virginia Theological Seminary) argues that the
communal spirituality of African Americans should be inclusive,
eventually "inviting others to be black." He pushes this theme of
community and reconciliation with a chapter that elaborates on
Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of "the Beloved Community,"
indicating that the black church can be the fulfillment of that
view. He concludes the study with two challenges: a "Churchless
Black Church" and a "Womanless Black Church." The book includes a
historical time line and a bibliography. Summing Up:
Recommended. Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and
specialists in the field." Choice
"The African American churches need less absolutizing in order
to undertake their great task of addressing the still rampant
inequality and structural racism that criminalizes so many of their
young males and reduces others to passivity. A radical gospel is
needed more than ever, and it is to be hoped that this book will
stimulate research to galvanize the churches into reflective
action."
Theological Book Review
"An intriguing attempt at building a case for an African
American Spirituality that is communal and relational in
nature."
Expository Times
complex phenomenon in Afro-American life: The Black Church. We need
to listen to his words." Cornel West, Princeton
University
"The key to understanding Battle's fine study of the black
church is found in his background as an African American Episcopal
priest. His major thesis is that a strong sense of community
pervades African American spirituality, which comes from communal
African religious traditions and the survival needs of enslaved
Africans in a hostile American environment. Although Battle's
treatment of the historical material is not new, his emphasis on
the communal worship and spirituality of African American
Christianity is an important theological direction. Deeply
influenced by the theology of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who ordained
him, Battle (Virginia Theological Seminary) argues that the
communal spirituality of African Americans should be inclusive,
eventually "inviting others to be black." He pushes this theme of
community and reconciliation with a chapter that elaborates on
Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of "the Beloved Community,"
indicating that the black church can be the fulfillment of that
view. He concludes the study with two challenges: a "Churchless
Black Church" and a "Womanless Black Church." The book includes a
historical time line and a bibliography. Summing Up:
Recommended. Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and
specialists in the field." Choice
"The African American churches need less absolutizing in order
to undertake their great task of addressing the still rampant
inequality and structural racism that criminalizes so many of their
young males and reduces others to passivity. A radical gospel is
needed more than ever, and it is to be hoped that this book will
stimulate research to galvanize the churches into reflective
action."
Theological Book Review
"An intriguing attempt at building a case for an African
American Spirituality that is communal and relational in
nature."
Expository Times
Michael Battle served as Assistant Professor of Spirituality and Black Church Studies at Duke University and Rector of St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Raleigh, North Carolina before moving to Virginia Theological Seminary. He was also Vice Chairman of the board of the Ghandi Institute. He is the author of The Church Enslaved: A Spirituality of Racial Reconciliation (2005), Reconciliation in a Violent World (2005) Blessed are the Peacemakers: A Christian Spirituality of Nonviolence (2004), The Wisdom of Desmond Tutu (1999) and Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu (1997).
