Deconstructing Whiteness Empire And Mission

What happens when ‘go, make disciples’ meets ‘Black Lives Matter’? Arising from the Council for World Mission’s “Legacies of Slavery” project, this book offers an unapologetic exploration of Christian Mission and its history, and the ways in which this legacy has unleashed notions of White supremacy, systemic racism and global capitalism on the world. Contributors reflect on the past and consider the future of world mission in an age of renewed understandings of empire and its impact. Contributors include Mike Higton, David Clough, Eve Parker, James Butler, Cathy Ross, Jione Havea, Peniel Rajkumar, Victoria Turner, Carol Troupe, Michael Jagessar, Paul Weller, Jill Marsh, Kevin Ellis, Rachel Starr, Kevin Snyman, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley.

Providing an accessible one-volume guide to Christian doctrine, this is a thorough re-write of the first edition. Since the original was published, many students and teachers of doctrine, in theological colleges and beyond, have been learning to take more seriously the global context of their work, and to recognise the difference made by facets of their identities and social locations like race, class, gender, and disability. In this edition, Mike Higton seeks to do justice to this learning, and invites readers to understand doctrine as an unfinished conversation between many different voices. Fully updated for clarity and yet retaining its role as a rigorous introduction to its subject, the book includes new ‘interruptions’, which introduce voices that question the book’s arguments and offer new directions for readers to pursue.

Yes, White people can be saved. In God's redemptive plan, that goes without saying. But what about the reality of white normativity? This idea and way of being in the world has been parasitically joined to Christianity, and this is the ground of many of our problems today. It is time to redouble the efforts of the church and its institutions to muster well-informed, gospel-based initiatives to fight racialized injustice and overcome the heresy of whiteness. Written by a world-class roster of scholars, Can “White” People Be Saved? develops language to describe the current realities of race and racism. It challenges evangelical Christianity in particular to think more critically and constructively about race, ethnicity, migration, and mission in relation to white supremacy. Historical and contemporary perspectives from Africa and the African diaspora prompt fresh theological and missiological questions about place and identity. Native American and Latinx experiences of colonialism, migration, and hybridity inspire theologies and practices of shalom. And Asian and Asian American experiences of ethnicity and class generate transnational resources for responding to the challenge of systemic injustice. With their call for practical resistance to the Western whiteness project, the perspectives in this volume can revitalize a vision of racial justice and peace in the body of Christ. Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the theological challenge presented by the new post-Brexit epoch. The referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union has led to a seismic shift in the ways in which parts of the British population view and judge their compatriots. The subsequent rise in the reported number of racially motivated incidents and the climate of vilification and negativity directed at anyone not viewed as ‘authentically’ British should be a matter of concern for all people. The book is comprised of a series of essays that address varying aspects of what it means to be British and the ways in which churches in Britain and the Christian faith could and should respond to a rising tide of White English nationalism. It is a provocative challenge to the all too often tolerated xenophobia, as well as the paucity of response from many church leaders in the UK. This critique is offered via the means of a prophetic, postcolonial model of Black theology that challenges the incipient sense of White entitlement and parochial ‘nativism’ that pervaded much of the referendum debate. The essays in this book challenge the church and wider society to ensure justice and equity for all, not just a privileged sense of entitlement for some. It will be of keen interest to any scholar of Black, political and liberation theology as well as those involved in cultural studies from a postcolonial perspective.

‘An incredible resource, earthed in academic rigour but packed to the gills with useful exercises that have been honed by reality and experience.’ Black Theology Commended as essential reading by reviewers, this insightful guide shows how Black theology makes a difference to Christian thought and practice. Full of Bible studies and practical exercises, here is a stimulating resource that encourages a new awareness of ourselves and others. This timely new edition includes a new afterword on the Black Lives Matter movement, and the difference it is making in the struggle for a society where we are all equally accepted and respected as God's children. ‘Forges the wisdom of Black theology into a powerful tool for change – not just to the way we think but to how we live.’ Elaine Graham, Research Professor of Practical Theology, University of Chester ‘Theological institutions, ordinary people, preachers, worship leaders and house group facilitators should wrestle with this little volume.’ Methodist Recorder

If the church is ever tempted to think that it has its theology of grace sorted, it need only look at its reception of queer black bodies and it will see a very different story. In this honest, timely and provocative book, Jarel Robinson-Brown argues that there is deeper work to be done if the body of Christ is going to fully accept the bodies of those who are black and gay. A vital call to the Church and the world that Black, Queer, Christian lives matter, this book seeks to remind the Church of those who find themselves beyond its fellowship yet who directly suffer from the perpetual ecclesial terrorism of the Christian community through its speech and its silence.

In Witnessing Whiteness, Kristopher Norris explores the challenges that lie at the intersection of race, church, and politics in America and argues for a new ethics of responsibility to confront white supremacy. Norris provides in-depth analysis of the ways whiteness, as a process of social/identity formation, is fueling racial division within American Christianity and the inadequacy of efforts at racial reconciliation to fully address the challenges posed by white supremacy poses. Seeking deeper theological reasons for racial injustice, he focuses on two of the most important thinkers in American religion of the past half century, Stanley Hauerwas and James Cone. Examining the current manifestations of racism in American churches, exploring the theological roots of white supremacy, and reflecting on the ways whiteness impacts even well-meaning, progressive white theologians, this book diagnoses the ways in which all of white theology and white Christian practice are implicated in white supremacy. By identifying the roots of white supremacy within the Christian church's theology and practice, it argues that the white church has a particular, and fundamental, responsibility to address it. Witnessing Whiteness uncovers this responsibility ethic at the convergence of two prominent streams in theological ethics: traditionalist witness theology and black liberationist theology. Employing their shared resources and attending to the criticisms liberation theology directs at traditionalism, it proposes concrete practices to challenge the white church's and white theology's complicity in white supremacy.

Black theology as a discipline emerged in 1960s America, growing out of the experiences of Black people of the African Diaspora as they sought to re-interpret the central ideas of Christianity in light of struggle and oppression. However, a form of Black theology has been present in Britain since the time of slavery. 'Black Theology in Britain' offers the first comprehensive survey of Black theology, tracing its development in Britain from the eighteenth century to today. The essays cover a wide range of topics: Black Liberation; drama as a medium for Black theology; the perspective of Black women; Black theology in the pulpit and pastoral care; and the work of Robert Beckford and Anthony Reddie. 'Black Theology in Britain' is a key resource for students of British history, cultural studies, Black theology, and religious studies.