Awakening to Justice
Faithful Voices from the Abolitionist Past
by The Dialogue on Race and Faith Project; Jemar Tisby; Christopher P. Momany; Sègbégnon Mathieu Gnonhossou; David D. Daniels; R. Matthew Sigler; Douglas M. Strong; Diane Leclerc; Esther Chung-Kim; Albert G. Miller; Estrelda Y. Alexander
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Pub Date Mar 26 2024 | Archive Date Apr 25 2024
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Description
"O where are the sympathies of Christians for the slave and where are their exertions for their liberation? . . . It seems as if the church were asleep."
David Ingraham, 1839
In 2015, the historian Chris Momany helped discover a manuscript that had been forgotten in a storage closet at Adrian College in Michigan. He identified it as the journal of a nineteenth-century Christian abolitionist and missionary, David Ingraham. As Momany and a fellow historian Doug Strong pored over the diary, they realized that studying this document could open new conversations for twenty-first-century Christians to address the reality of racism today. They invited a multiracial team of fourteen scholars to join in, thus launching the Dialogue on Race and Faith Project.
Awakening to Justice presents the groundbreaking work of these scholars. In addition to reflecting on Ingraham's journal, chapters also explore the life and writings of two of Ingraham's Black colleagues, James Bradley and Nancy Prince. Appendixes feature writings by all three abolitionists so readers can engage the primary sources directly.
Through considering connections between the revivalist, holiness, and abolitionist movements; the experiences of enslaved and freed people; abolitionists' spiritual practices; various tactics used by abolitionists; and other themes, the authors offer insight and hope for Christians concerned about racial justice. They highlight how Christians associated with Charles Finney's style of revivalism formed intentional, countercultural communities such as Oberlin College to be exemplars of interracial cooperation and equality.
Christians have all too often compromised with racism throughout history, but that’s not the whole story. Hearing the prophetic witness of revivalist social justice efforts in the nineteenth century can provide a fresh approach to today's conversations about race and faith in the church.
Advance Praise
"Combating racism and strengthening the beloved community are urgent tasks for all Christians, especially those of us in the United States. The authors of Awakening to Justice have rendered us a great service by revisiting and analyzing key voices from our past. Working with the newly discovered journal of abolitionist David Ingraham and accounts written by his African American colleagues James Bradley and Nancy Prince, these scholars have provided us with a helpful resource for addressing issues of race and faith in our time. It is well worth reading."
-Scott J. Jones, bishop in the Global Methodist Church
"Awakening to Justice offers profound insights and issues a compelling call to the church, urging active participation in the work of racial justice. This invitation encompasses the entirety of humanity, transcending White and Black perspectives, making it a relevant message for every church community. Together, your congregation will embark on a journey of meaningful engagement with all individuals, fostering unity and a love for neighbors that will radiate Christ's transformative power in our world today."
-David Chang, lead pastor of Open Door Presbyterian Church
"In the tumultuous present of race in America, these distinguished scholars provide a welcome window on the past stories of known and little-known abolitionists. These riveting accounts showing the deep connection of Christian faith and racial justice are sure to find a wide audience."
-Ronald C. White, author of A. Lincoln: A Biography and American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
"Brace yourself for discovery and prophetic hope! For those who think the fight for racial justice is a new one or those whose energy is flagging in the face of systemic racism, you will find solidarity in these courageous voices from the past. With surprising clarity, the witnesses in Awakening to Justice give us a through line to join the struggle for this holy work yet unrealized."
-Amy Oden, church historian and seminary professor
"In chronicling the discursive and relational space that nineteenth-century revivalist abolitionists provided for reckonings with race, contributors to this timely volume sternly but subtly suggest pathways to gospel-mandated advocacy and reconciliation to the contemporary Christian ecclesia."
-Dennis C. Dickerson, Reverend James Lawson Chair in History at Vanderbilt University and retired general officer and historiographer for the African Methodist Episcopal Church
"Awakening to Justice is an account of an evangelical reckoning with racism that is holistic, complex, and sustained over time. It includes prominent and marginalized voices, celebrates progress and laments failure, and portrays a prolonged and countercultural struggle with the evil of human slavery. Because the narratives are honest, they are also hopeful. In moving deeply and truthfully into a past we are often tempted to avoid, the members of the dialogue model what it might mean to faithfully remember a past that is too much with us."
-Ken Carter, bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781514009185 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 240 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Beyond the Pages with Eva K, Reviewer
Quick Summary: Historical nonfiction
My Review: Awakening to Justice: Faithful Voices from the Abolitionist Past by The Dialogue on Race and Faith Project is a non fiction, academic work set to be published in March 2024. Contributors to this resource include: Jemar Tisby, Christopher P. Momany, Sègbégnon Mathieu Gnonhossou, David D. Daniels, R. Matthew Sigler, Douglas M. Strong, Diane Leclerc, Esther Chung-Kim, Albert G. Miller, and Estrelda Y. Alexander.
Description: "'Through considering connections between the revivalist, holiness, and abolitionist movements; the experiences of enslaved and freed people; abolitionists' spiritual practices; various tactics used by abolitionists; and other themes, the authors offer insight and hope for Christians concerned about racial justice. They highlight how Christians associated with Charles Finney's style of revivalism formed intentional, countercultural communities such as Oberlin College to be exemplars of interracial cooperation and equality.
Christians have all too often compromised with racism throughout history, but that’s not the whole story. Hearing the prophetic witness of revivalist social justice efforts in the nineteenth century can provide a fresh approach to today's conversations about race and faith in the church.'"
My Final Say: The content in this non fiction work completely intrigued me. I have long held a desire to understand how Christianity, slavery, and abolitionists thinking, as well as their actions, merged in times past and even how the tenets of those areas influence thought processes and beliefs in present times. Through my own personal research, I have come to find such contradiction and hypocrisy in the former and to some degree even in the latter. I had hoped that by reading this book I might be able to get a fresh perspective on the subject matter. There were, of course, many aspects of the material that I found fascinating, and other aspects that I wished were explored further. All in all, this book definitely offered food for thought.
Other: The book provides a heady number of resources whereby armchair scholars and those who are focused on evidence based academics can dig deeper. With that said, I believe that it would be a good place to jump off, in terms of a conversation. The conversation may begin through this content, but it certainly should not end there.
Rating: 4.75/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status: Non fiction
Level: Academics, Reference resource, History
Note: This would be an excellent history book club recommendation.
Appreciation is extended to those associated with The Dialogue on Race and Faith Project. Additionally, I am grateful to have been granted digital access to an ARC by IVP Academic and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read this work and to further learn about this content. I look forward to acquainting myself with future material that is presented, if any
