On Being Black and Reformed: A New Perspective on the African-American Christian Experience |...

On Being Black and Reformed: A New Perspective on the African-American Christian Experience | Anthony J. Carter | To Glorify God and to Comfort the Saints

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On Being Black and...

	On Being Black and Reformed: A New Perspective on the African-American Christian Experience Anthony J. Carter P & R Publishing, 2003 - 153 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"My goal," writes Anthony J. Carter, is to redeem and reform our understanding of "the Black American experience through the most legitimate lens available to us?theology. And the most legitimate theological perspective through which to attain this goal is the biblically based and historically grounded Reformed perspective."

"A Black Reformed theological perspective on history has the primary goal of glorifying God," Carter continues. "In doing so we are confident that in turn it will be a comfort to the people of God."

Carter does not flinch from tackling the toughest questions:

- Where was God in the Atlantic Slave Trade and the subsequent slavery perpetrated on these African people?

- How does Christianity triumph among a people oppressed in a so-called Christian society by so-called Christians?

"It is my hope," writes Carter, "that the reader will find in these pages a pointer in the direction of him who can answer every question and resolve every issue, . . . Jesus Christ." Carter prays that his readers will find here "the glories of God in Christ . . . made more plain and lovely."

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A Short, Simplistic, but very Important Read

Anthony Carter has done the church a great service in giving us this book. While Carter focuses on the relationship between African Americans and the Reformed church community, much of what he says is also applicable to wider evangelicalism. Evangelicals really need to hear Carter on a number of things.

First, white evangelicals have to realize that their Christian experience is predominately a Caucasian-cultured experience. Too many white evangelicals tacitly walk around assuming that their Christianity is a universal expression that is universally applicable, rather than a culturally conditioned expression that only represents a slice of the Christian experience. This is vitally important to reckon with. Most evangelicals are not racist, and their top-level orientation is desirous of racial reconciliation within the church and larger culture. This is very good. But in failing to realize the degree to which our Christianity is a 'white Christianity', we greatly hinder our efforts at diversity and fail to realize how inhospitable and exclusive we are, even though our church doors are wide open. A rather vicious circular state results, in which we desire greater diversity, but are too inflexible about our worship and preaching to encourage it, so diversity never happens even though we say we're committed to it. All of this is the result of believing that our particular expression of Christianity is universally normative. This is what needs to change, and Carter does a great job of demonstrating this.

Carter also highlights the very real power of worship to supernaturally change things. This is one of the great truths of Christianity that the African American Christian expression gives such wonderful voice to. But too often, white evangelicals, and Caucasian Reformed folks in particular, don't see worship this way. The result is that great transformative power is often not tapped. This is an area where white evangelicals desperately need to learn from their African American brethren. Personal and societal transformation on a radical scale has and can result from worship that is seen as a real source of supernatural power to shape God's people.

Lastly, I thought Carter made a great point in saying that the tremendous hardships and injustice inflicted upon the African American community throughout its history are not a sign of divine curse as some have suggested. Instead, the very existence of the African American church and its thriving worship is powerful evidence that God loves African Americans and has uniquely sustained and strengthened them. Carter's basic point is that if God didn't radically love African Americans, the black church simply wouldn't exist because the hardships and injustice inflicted upon this community would have been too great absent divine protection and fortification. Again, this entire experience, for the African American, is simply a given; it is simply understood. Yet, how many Caucasians are at all in touch with this experience? The answer, of course, is very few, so we should hardly wonder why African Americans often look upon us with suspicion and disappointment when we sit on the sidelines in the midst of acute episodes of racial injustice (as many of us did during the whole Rodney King thing).

An inability to get in touch with the black experience in America often prevents us from seeing God's providential and loving care for this community. When we fail to see this, we miss something about God, and miss opportunities for reconciliation and greater love in the Body. It's a serious problem that has plagued the American church from the beginning and continues to haunt us now. Carter's book, while short and simple, begins to provide a needed antidote. For those who take Scripture's demands for unity seriously, this is necessary reading.

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To Glorify God and to Comfort the Saints

With one succinct sentence, Anthony Carter integrates historical Reformation theology and historical African American experience. "Our primary goal as theologians is to glorify God and to comfort the saints."

Some may wonder what's so novel about that declaration. A careful reading of most modern presentations of Reformed theology exposes the truth that God's glory is always emphasized (rightly so), while the saints' comfort is often minimized (sadly so).

Reformation theology has historically offered great treatises on anthropology (human creation and God's design), hamartiology (human sin and depravity), and on soteriology (Christ's salvation and human deliverance). Historically, what has been lacking is a biblical sufferology--a theology of suffering that brings comfort to human misery, that brings hope to the hurting.

Throughout "On Being Black and Reformed" Carter's subtext reverberates. Reformed theology has much to offer African American Christians. And, African American Christians have much to offer Reformed theology. When separated from Reformed theology, African American Christians, according to Carter, are tempted toward a lower view of God, truth, and theology. When separated from African American Christianity, Reformed theology, according to Carter, is tempted toward a lower view of comfort, love, and contextual experience. Reformed theology and African American Christianity need each other equally.

Nowhere is this juxtaposition more clearly revealed than in the Reformed African American theological interpretation of American enslavement. How could a good and sovereign God allow an entire people group to be enslaved for centuries? African American pastors like Lemuel Haynes, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones, and writers like Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, and Quobna Cugoano all offer the "Joseph Answer." "You meant evil against me, but God intended it for good." In God's affectionate sovereignty, He shepherds good from evil, He creates beauty from ashes.

Anthony Carter's retelling of this historical merging of African American Christian experience and Reformed theology is a gift to all people of all races.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians," and "Spiritual Friends."

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Clear, Precise, Biblical and Culturally Relevant

I am not going to give a bunch of verbiage. Please purchase this book, read it and pass it along. It is conversational without being shallow, informative without being wordy, and clear without being overbearing. i love this book and I read it in about week (amongst my other reading).

A New Perspective

Anthony Carter makes the case that reformed theology is the only theology that can sufficiently explain the African-American experience. Reformed theology has traditionally been viewed and explained through the eyes of white Europeans; Mr. Carter gives us a new perspective. And he understands the sovereignty of God like very few in the church today. This book exalts God and Christ, not man. It is sound, thought provoking, and edifying, and should be widely read.

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Thoughtful analysis, theologically & historically sound.

Anthony Carter is one of the leading voices in a small but growing movement of black Reformed pastors and churches. This short book (about 100 pages plus appendices) is a sort of manifesto for the black Reformed movement. Carter opens with a question: "Do we need a black theology?" He suggests two answers. First, yes, we emphatically need a black theology, and second, yes, we unfortunately need a black theology. Emphatically, because all theology is done from within a cultural context, and because of the presence of unsound black theology. Unfortunately, because conservative theology typically fails to answer the questions of the black community regarding their own suffering, and because the troubles inflicted on blacks in this country tended to have a "Christian flavor." For these reasons, we do need a black theology--and it must come from the faithful interpretation of Scripture in the context of our history, tradition and Christian experience.

This book is a good read. Carter writes well, knows his history, and is passionate about the need for black and white Christians to hear each other. His thoughts here helped open my eyes and gave me a greater appreciation for the history and contributions of the black church. It made me long for the kind of reconciliation we will see in heaven as the great multitude sings the praises of the Lamb, and it made me want to see that realized more in the here and now.

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