What's Faith Got to Do with It?: Black Bodies/Christian Souls - Softcover

Douglas, Kelly Brown

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1570756090 ISBN 13: 9781570756092

Publisher: Orbis Books, 2005

Synopsis

This book was inspired by a challenge from one of Douglas's students: "How could you, a black woman, possibly be a Christian?" Reflection on the historical sins of Christians, particularly the role of white Christians in countenancing the lynching of African Americans, led her to broader questions: What is it about Christianity that could lend itself to racism and its violent abuses? What is it about Christianity that has allowed it to be both a bane and a blessing for black people? Douglas examines the various "distortions" in early Christianity--particularly the influence of platonic dualism, with its denigration of the body, and the alliance with imperial power. She shows how this later helped support white racism, just as it later fed homophobia and other distortions in the black church. Nevertheless, she ends by sharing an inspiring account of her own Christian faith, and why she is still a Christian.

About this title

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas is Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Director of the Religion Program at Goucher College, Baltimore, MD, where she holds the Susan D. Morgan Professorship of Religion. Prior to coming to Goucher College she was Associate Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, DC, and served as Assistant Professor of Religion at Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL.

A native of Dayton, OH, Dr. Douglas was ordained in 1985 at Saint Margaret's Episcopal Church --the first black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest in the Southern Ohio Diocese, and one of only five nationwide at the time. In 2012 she was the first to receive the Anna Julia Cooper Award by the Union of Black Episcopalians for her "literary boldness and leadership in the development of a womanist theology and discussing the complexities of Christian faith in African-American contexts." Essence magazine counts her "among this country's most distinguished religious thinkers, teachers, ministers, and counselors."

She is widely published in national and international journals. Her other books include The Black Christ, What's Faith Got to Do with It? (both from Orbis Books) as well as Black Bodies/Christian Souls, and Black Bodies and the Black Church: A Blues Slant. She is also co-editor of Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orbis Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1570756090
• ISBN 13: 9781570756092
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272