The Audacity of Faith: Christian Leaders Reflect on the Election of Barack Obama

by McMickle, Marvin A.

• ISBN13: 9780817015541
• ISBN10: 081701554X
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-15
• Publisher: Judson Pr

Summary

This rich and passionate compilation offers sermons and essays from religious leaders across the Christian landscape, all reflecting on the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States of America. Contributors were asked to respond to one or more of these questions: 1. In what ways does this election suggest a fulfillment of the 1968 words of Martin Luther King Jr., ¿We as a people will get to the promised land¿? 2. In what ways does this election speak to the issue of whether or not the United States has entered a post-racial era in our national life? 3. What biblical or theological language informs your reflections on an Obama presidency? The book features dynamic preachers: ¿ Tony Campolo ¿ Carolyn Ann Knight ¿ Gardner C. Taylor Respected scholars: ¿ Dwight Hopkins ¿ Anthony Pinn ¿ Emilie Townes Esteemed pastors: ¿ Brad Braxton ¿ Otis Moss II ¿ Gina Stewart And popular authors: ¿ Marvin McMickle ¿ William Willimon ¿ Philip Yancey These racially and theologically diverse Christian leaders offer a breadth of opinions and responses to Obama¿s election. Join them as they view the impact of this momentous event through distinctly Christian eyes.

Author Biography

About the Editor: Marvin A. McMickle, DMin, PhD, is pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, where he has served since 1987. In addition to being one of the most respected preachers in the nation, Dr. McMickle serves as professor of homiletics at Ashland Theological Seminary. A prolific author, McMickle has now published twelve books, including the recent Judson Press title Profiles in Black: Phat Facts for Teens (2008).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. viii
Introduction	p. xi
My Soul Looks Back and Wonders How We Got Over
At Last!	p. 1
God's Invisible Hand	p. 7
The Hopeology of Barack Obama: Biblical Reflections and Personal Musings	p. 11
Barack Obama and the Unfinished Business of America	p. 17
Dreaming Like a Fool	p. 20
On the Border of the Impossible	p. 25
This Inauguration: An Impossible Possibility	p. 27
A Giant Step Forward for America	p. 32
Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr.
No Longer a Dream Deferred: Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, and the Search for the Beloved Community	p. 35
When the Walls Came Tumbling Down	p. 41
Almost but Not Quite	p. 46
Working from the Bottom Up	p. 52
Of Dreams and Their Dreamers: A Sermonic Reflection on the Significance of the Obama Presidency	p. 55
A Lifting of the Burden	p. 60
Dreams from Our Fathers	p. 64
Can We Believe in America?	p. 70
Prophetic Rumblings for President Barack Obama
No Days Off	p. 74
Preacher-Prophet Obama	p. 81
A Hope That Does Not Disappoint: An Obama Presidency and Romans 5:5	p. 87
Hope Has Its Reasons	p. 93
The Hope That the Present Has Brought Us	p. 99
Barack Obama and a Postracial America
Barack Obama and the American Civil Religion	p. 105
Obama's Race and America's Race Relations	p. 111
Postrace America	p. 116
Bodies-American Made: The 2008 Presidential Election and the Possibility of a New Politics of Race	p. 118
This Is Our Work	p. 123
Barack Obama and the New American Civil Religion-Official Version	p. 127
Biblical and Theological Perspectives
Hope in 3-D	p. 136
A Sentence Begun	p. 142
What Mean These Stones? The Election of Barack Obama in Retrospect and Prospect	p. 148
The Obama Presidency and America's Unfinished Business	p. 154
Where Do We Go from Here?	p. 159
For Such a Time as This	p. 164
About the Contributors	p. 169
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