Down, Up, and Over: 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.

Author: Dwight N. Hopkins
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 11/29/1999
Pages: 316
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780800627232

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2001 pg. 1643
Books & Culture 11/01/2001 pg. 35
Black Issues Book Review 05/01/2002 pg. 52

About the Author
Hopkins, Dwight N.: -

Dr Dwight N Hopkins is currently an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Dr. Hopkins holds a B.A from Harvard University and an M.Div. degree and M. Phil degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City. He earned his PhD. from Union Theological Seminary, New York City and University of Cape Town, South Africa.

He is also a member of American Academy of Religion Society for the Study of Black Religion and the Ecumenical Association of Third-World Theologians.

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