The Triumph And Tragedies Of The Black Church

Even if you’ve studied American church history, you may not have progressed beyond the basics of understanding the black tradition. I teach about the civil rights movement to graduate students, but I’m always learning more about the churches and leaders who contributed to the most effective movement for social change in American history.

I got a big boost from a new book by Walter Strickland, Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in the United States, Vol. 1 (IVP Academic). Whether you know a lot or a little, Strickland offers a fast-moving overview of black church history with all its triumphs and tragedies. Strickland writes,

Despite the justifiable departure of Blacks from White churches and denominations, the burden of explaining the proliferation of racialized congregations in America remains a wound in the Christian conscience that is yet to be healed. As the most powerful organization in the African American community, the church frequently deployed its resources in the political realm to combat the oppression that typified the Black experience.

Walter joined me on Gospelbound to discuss theological malformation, the hermeneutics of slavery, the problem of evil, whether Reformed theology is inherently racist, and more.