This project develops a homiletic for preaching persuasively about race in white American evangelical congregations. I analyze racism in America through the lens of critical race theory, stressing the prevalence of unconscious racism, the inadequacy of color-blindness, and the importance of sacrificing white privilege. I outline a theology of racial atonement based on Ephesians 2:11-22, arguing that Jesus Christ died to establish racial equality and reconciliation without racial sameness. In correlating critical race theory and Eph 2:11-22, I propose that white churches provide racial reparations to black churches in accordance with the biblical theme of justice, specifically the Apostle Pauls Jerusalem collection. I further argue that since racism historically has been legitimated through biblical and theological appeals, both critical race theory and Christian preaching need more critical race theology, as exemplified in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois. Finally, I propose that preachers employ Eph 2:11-22 to re-script racial reality in white evangelical churches, casting racism as a personal and social structural sin and advocating righteous race consciousness rather than color-blindness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03162012-223709 |
| Date | 30 March 2012 |
| Creators | Schoonmaker, Geoffrey Noel |
| Contributors | Professor Dale P. Andrews, Professor Amy-Jill Levine, Professor John S. McClure, Professor Brad R. Braxton |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03162012-223709/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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