The Tragic Vision of African American Religion [Hardcover]

Many have used the term 'tragic' to refer to African American religious and cultural experience. After a studied meditation on and articulation of the 'tragic vision,' Johnson argues that African American Christian Consciousness is an expression of the tragic and a tragic expression of the Christian Faith.Introduction:?'Yet Do I Marvel' Seeing Through the Dark:?Elements of the Tragic Vision Sparagmous or 'The Crucified' A Look Beneath the Souls of Black Folk Deep Calls Unto Deep: African American Christian Consciousness Pt.1 Life Within the Veil: American Christian Consciousness Pt. 2 From Strength to Strength: Toward a Theology of African American Christian Consciousness Epilogue: The Fate of Dionysius

Matthew V. Johnson is one of the most profound and prophetic voices of his generation.His book is a serious and substantive probing into the tragic character and content of African American religion - a creative transvaluation of the Christianity given to Black people.Don t miss this powerful work! - Cornel West, Princeton University

W.E.B. DuBois told us some time ago that the Atlantic slave trade was a tragedy that beggared the Greeks. Matthew V. Johnsonpresents for the first time a systematic interpretation of the nature and meaning of the tragic vision expressed through the presence of African people in the United States.He opens the meaning of tragedy toits expression in performance, rhetoric, and to the discourses of philosophyand theology.This is unique among the many studies of African American religion. - Charles H. Long, author of Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion

This is an inspirational book! Looking into, around, over, and beneath African American religious experiences and employing insights from modern psychology and philosophy, he provides a new perspective on black religion; he shows how, amid their sorrows and sadness, black men and women have created faith. FlÃè