Through the Storm, Through the Night
A History of African American Christianity
By (author) Paul Harvey Series edited by Jacqueline M. Moore, Nina Mjagkij
Not available to order
Publication date:
21 July 2011Length of book:
232 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9780742564756
Paul Harvey illustrates how black Christian traditions provided theological, institutional, and personal strategies for cultural survival during bondage and into an era of partial freedom. At the same time, he covers the ongoing tug-of-war between themes of "respectability" versus practices derived from an African heritage; the adoption of Christianity by the majority; and the critique of the adoption of the "white man's religion" from the eighteenth century to the present. The book also covers internal cultural, gendered, and class divisions in churches that attracted congregants of widely disparate educational levels, incomes, and worship styles.
Through the Storm, Through the Night provides a lively overview of the history of African American religion, beginning with the birth of African Christianity amidst the Transatlantic slave trade, and tracing the story through its growth in America. Paul Harvey successfully uses the history of African American religion to portray the complexity and humanity of the African American experience.
Through the Storm, Through the Night provides a lively overview of the history of African American religion, beginning with the birth of African Christianity amidst the Transatlantic slave trade, and tracing the story through its growth in America. Paul Harvey successfully uses the history of African American religion to portray the complexity and humanity of the African American experience.
Harvey (history, Univ. of Colorado, Colorado Springs) traces the development of African American Christianity from the transatlantic slave trade to the 21st-century megachurch, underscoring how the church served as a crucial institution and forum for African Americans in the United States as the country denied them a voice and equality. Not only did the church help African Americans endure and survive during slavery, but it functioned as a catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement. Harvey highlights important byproducts of the African American religious experience as well, e.g., music such as spirituals, gospel, blues, and even rap. He does not shy away from the criticism that African American Christianity has faced, e.g., for its exuberant style and preachers who have been accused of fraudulence. He covers today’s religious pluralism, in addition to the rise of black megachurches and the 'prosperity gospel.' VERDICT Harvey’s book is a concise and scholarly yet entirely accessible work, appropriate both for interested general readers and students. With charts, a helpful glossary, 'bibliographic essays' on primary and secondary sources, and a time line from 1491 (when the Kingdom of Kongo converted to Christianity) to Barack Obama’s 2008 election).