The History and Heritage of African American Churches A Way Out of No Way

by Whelchel, L.H.

• ISBN13: 9781557788931
• ISBN10: 1557788936
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-03
• Publisher: Paragon House

Summary

Describes the emergence of an independent church tradition among African Americans.

Author Biography

L.H. Whelchel, Jr., is a respected scholar, university professor, and civil rights activist. A successful church pastor for 25 years, he brings the meticulous research skills of the scholar together with first hand experiences as a minister and the passion of an activist. Dr. Whelchel is currently Professor of Church History at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. His published works include Hell Without Fire: Conversion in Slave Religion, How Long This Road: The Life and Legacy of C. Eric Lincoln, My Chains Fell Off: Heart Religion in African-American Tradition, and My Chains Fell Off: William Wells Brown, Fugitive Abolitionist.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xix
The Road Ahead	p. xx
Our Mother	p. 1
The African Origins of Humanity and Civilization	p. 1
The African Defenders of the Faith	p. 13
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 28
Christianity in Transition	p. 29
Roman Imperial Christianity	p. 29
African Developments Apart from Foreign Invasions and Colonization from 300 to 1450 C.E.	p. 35
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 47
The European Slave Trade	p. 49
Prelude to the Great Calamity	p. 49
The Middle Passage from Freedom to Slavery	p. 56
The American Practice of Slavery	p. 64
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 75
The Conversion of Enslaved Africans to the Practice of American Christianity	p. 77
Africa's First Encounter with Christian America	p. 77
Conversion and the Inspiration to Literacy	p. 91
The Silver Bluff Awakening	p. 97
The Age of the Heroic Preachers 1750-1800	p. 102
The Historical Role of Women in the Black Church	p. 115
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 123
The Black Church and Black Reconstruction	p. 125
The Emergence of Independent Black Churches and Preachers	p. 125
The South as a Field of Mission	p. 135
Black Preachers as Political Leaders During Reconstruction	p. 138
The Determination and Drive to Establish Independent Black Churches	p. 145
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 149
The Struggle in the Wilderness	p. 151
The Emergence of Color Consciousness and Elitism among African Americans: Background to the Plessy v. Ferguson Travesty	p. 151
From Slavery to Peonage in the Post-Reconstruction South	p. 158
The Great Migration and the Initiation of the Civil Rights Movement	p. 161
The Emergence of Nonconformists, Radicals, and Militants in the African-American Religious Experience	p. 171
The Rise of Grassroots Protests Leading to the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision	p. 177
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 186
The Civil Rights Movement as an Outgrowth of the Black Church	p. 187
The Montgomery Bus Boycott-The Empowerment of a Movement and the Coming of a Leader	p. 187
Confronting the Philistines-The Struggle to Bring Social Justice to Birmingham	p. 205
Gathering of the Masses-The Spiritual Power Base of the Movement	p. 213
Black Power Emerges out of the Movement	p. 217
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference-The Black Church as the Institutional Center of the Movement	p. 223
Discussion & Review Questions	p. 229
Conclusions	p. 231
The People Were Burdened with a Great Oppression	p. 231
And So God Called Them to Preach to the People	p. 237
Notes	p. 241
Bibliography	p. 311
Glossary of Selected Terms	p. 323
Index	p. 335
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.