slavery

Should scripture inform our ethics? How, and which parts?

African American spirituality and God’s act of solidarity

No one has done more to transform the language for thinking about America’s racial past.

No full reparation for slavery can ever be made. We should try anyway.

Lenny Duncan’s letter is full of hope and fury, love and lament—like Paul’s epistles.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice represents a watershed moment in the idea and practice of what a public memorial can be.

As Roland Boer and Christina Petterson see it, the Gospels contradict the witness of Jesus about slavery and property.

Paul Harvey's history shows how things could have gone very differently.

As a mother and a woman of color, I read Camille Dungy's book as a personal roadmap.

Theological issues might be “settled” for us, but there is a big world out there that needs to hear our voices.

Criticism of the slave trade from 200 years ago speaks to us today—and not just about race.

Yaa Gyasi's novel reveals the freedoms and captivities we all inherit.

Theologies of entitlement, enslaving, and extinguishing indigenous communities have shaped policy since the 15th century.

There’s a place in society for prophetic denunciation. There’s also a place for restraint.

Matthew L. Skinner recommends the best recently published books in his field.

Colson Whitehead has created a world as compelling—and as intolerable—as our own.

When Dylann Roof murdered the Charleston nine at a Bible study in June 2015, his intent was “to start a race war.” He didn’t succeed.

American Christianity has faced theological-political crises before. Repeatedly, visions of what is possible for the nation have fallen short of reality. In the past, periods of change pushed faithful people to reconsider what they believed, not only about the nation but also about the meaning of God’s call to justice. In each critical moment, for good or ill, Americans altered their religious views, and the horizon of what was possible expanded or contracted.

In revolutionary America, disunity resulted from debates over whether faith required obedience to the king or a revolt.

Where independence and freedom were proclaimed, dependence on African slavery persisted. As Jesus was preached in this land, everything that Jesus taught against was practiced.