Down, Up, and Over: by Dwight N. Hopins

Author: Dwight N. Hopins

[Image: Down, Up, and Over: by Dwight N. Hopins]

Slave Religion and Black Theology

Hopkins contends that the lives of enslaved African Americans were the foundational source of liberating faith and practice for African Americans today. Down, Up, and Over draws on their religious experience, and the example of their faith and witness, to develop a constructive theology of liberation.

"African American belief structures and hope practices blossom from the black folk's religious encounters with God," Hopkins contends. The first half of his ambitious work reconstructs the cultural matrix of African American religion, a total way of life formed by Protestantism, American culture, and the institution of slavery (1619-1865), in which racial identities developed. Whites from Europe and blacks from Africa arrived with specific, differing views of God, faith, practice, and humanity. Hopkins recreates their worldviews and how white theology sought to remake African Americans into naturally inferior beings divinely ordained into subservience. The counter voice of enslaved blacks begets the Spirit of Liberation.

Tracking that Spirit, Hopkins crafts an explicit black theology of the Spirit of Liberation for us (God, chapter 4), with us (Jesus, chapter 5), and in us (human purpose, chapter 6). Out of the crucible of slavery emerges the lineaments of a constructive religious vision: the constitution of a new self and a divinely purposed liberation toward full spiritual and material humanity.

Hopkins sweeping vision, impressive scholarship, and astute social analysis make for a fascinating and important volume, one that can help all readers find meaning and purpose in the daunting 350-year pilgrimage of African Americans.

About the Author
Dwight N. Hopkins is Associate Professor of Theology at the Divinity School, University of Chicago. He is author of Shoes That Fit Our Feet: Sources for a Constructive Black Theology (1993), and co-editor of Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives (1991).

Series: New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology
Features: Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
Physical Info: 0.78" H x 9.2" L x 6.0" W (1.13 lbs) 300 pages
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
US SRP: $ 20.00 US
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: December 1999

Additional Information
CPC Categories:
- Theology | Theology & Doctrine | Contemporary Theologies
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Christian Theology | General
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | African American Studies - General
- Social Science | Sociology of Religion
- Religion | Theology
LC Subjects:
- Black theology
Themes:
Theometrics | Academic
Ethnic Orientation | African-American
Religious Orientation | Christian
Theometrics | Mainline

Down, Up, and Over: by Dwight N. Hopins Author: Dwight N. Hopins
	Item#	Binding	isbn - 10	Price
	9780800627232	Paperback	0800627237	13.95
Slave Religion and Black Theology: Hopkins contends that the lives of enslaved African Americans were the foundational source of liberating faith and practice for African Americans today.

Need Help? Call Customer Service at 608-723-5867
8:00AM - 5:00PM Monday-Friday 9:00AM - 11:45 AM Saturday Central Standard Time

Need books or bibles by the case? Special discounts for churches or individuals by the case, ask for ext. 100