Book Description:
"So what happened to Christianity in America? This is the question my brother Jonathan faces head-on in this book. He follows this question to the heart of America's original sin, and he invites all of us to join him there and face another question: is our God greater than America's racism? This is a question we must answer, no matter the color of our skin. Slaveholder religion has infected every corner of the church in America―including the black church. We must never forget that there were enslaved people who accepted the theology fed to them on plantations." (From the foreword by Dr. William J. Barber II)
"This book contains the message I have been longing to hear for several years now. It is the book so many of us need to read." (D. L. Mayfield, author of Assimilate or Go Home)
"Jonathan is a moral prophet and spiritual physician for our time. In this timely book, with the precision of a heart surgeon, he exposes the sickness that has long-plagued American Christianity and infected our society and politics, revealing that none of us is untouched by the disease. With the credibility of his life lived in solidarity with systemically oppressed people, he resounds a clarion call to reform the way in which we live the gospel. This is a must-read for all Christians in America. You will be humbled, enlightened, and motivated to heal the ailing heart of our country and recover its soul." (Phileena Heuertz, founding partner, Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism)
"God has entrusted Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove with a message―the gospel of Jesus Christ has been tragically defaced by American white supremacy and must be reconstructed. In this passionate, fast-paced book, Jonathan gives us a distinctively Christological, hopeful path toward faithful reconstruction. God is able! Even though we, in our structures of sin, often feel powerless to exorcise the demon of white racism, know that God’s will shall be done, and God’s reign will come because God’s purposes shall not be defeated. What an empowering, hopeful word Jonathan has for Christians, white and black." (Will Willimon, professor of the practice of Christian ministry, author of Who Lynched Willie Earle? and Preaching to Confront Racism)
"In this insightful, accessible volume readers are introduced to the original sin of racism in the United States, which was first and foremost an economic system to benefit the few at the expense of the many. Racism is woven into the fabric of American institutions, and it will require systemic change to bring about true reconciliation. ‘A gospel that doesn't confront racism is no gospel at all,’ writes Wilson-Hartgrove, for the work of the gospel is to heal that which is divided and to reconcile that which has been torn apart. This book is a must-read for the church." (Elaine A. Heath, professor of Missional and Pastoral Theology, Duke Divinity School)
About the Author:
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (MDiv, Duke Divinity School) is a writer, speaker, and activist. He and his wife, Leah, founded the Rutba House, a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless are welcomed into a community that eats, prays, and shares life together. Jonathan directs the School for Conversion, a nonprofit that pursues beloved community with kids in the neighborhood, through classes in North Carolina prisons, and in community-based education around the country. Jonathan is also an associate minister at the historically black St. John's Missionary Baptist Church. Jonathan is the coauthor of Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, a coeditor of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and the author of Strangers at My Door, The Awakening of Hope, The Wisdom of Stability, and The New Monasticism. He is also the coauthor, with Rev. Dr. William Barber II, of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement.
The Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II is a Protestant minister and political leader in North Carolina. He is a member of the national board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the chair of their Legislative Political Action Committee. Barber has served as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Goldsboro, North Carolina since 1993.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.