Black Africans in the BibleIs the Bible for White People Only?

By Dan Rogers

Copyright 2012 Grace Communion International

Published by Grace Communion International

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Table of Contents

Evidence of Black Africans in the Bible

Bibliography

Part 2: The African-American Church and Reconciliation

Black History Month

Racial Reconciliation

Meeting a Living Legend

A Sorry State of Affairs – Understanding the Power of an Apology

Modern Slavery – The Unheard Cries

The Audacity to Hope

The African-American Church in America

The Life and Times of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

William Wilberforce: Christian Abolitionist, Reformer, Statesman

Book Review: Divided by Faith

Reconciliation in Montana

About the authors

About the publisher

Grace Communion Seminary

Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

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Evidence of Black Africans in the Bible

In 1992, I took a class at Emory University in Atlanta called “Introduction to the Old

Testament.” As I read the various required textbooks for the course, I saw something I had not

noticed before. Many Old Testament scholars, particularly European scholars of the 18th, 19th

and early 20th century, had written their books and commentaries on the Old Testament from the

perspective that there were no people of color mentioned in the Scriptures.

Different peoples depicted in tomb of Ramses III: Libyan, Nubian, Syrian, Bedouin, Hittite

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Puzzled, I began to look into the topic more deeply. I studied intensively for about a year,

attending lectures and interviewing scholars. I began to realize that this was a particularly

difficult and controversial subject, and it has caused much hurt. Thankfully, times have changed,

but some of the wounds remain. So let’s look at it, and put to rest once and for all this biased and

unfair distortion of the Bible.

Let me apologize in advance for some of the terms that I will need to use as we discuss this

topic. They are not the terms we would prefer today, but they are terms that historians,

ethnologists and Bible commentators of past centuries, and even the 20th century, have

employed to explain their ideas about the origin of blacks. These ideas, steeped in racial

prejudice, were alleged to provide a biblical justification for black slavery and the subjugation of

black peoples.

When I first read about these concepts, they brought tears to my eyes. As a white person in a

predominantly white country, I also began to gain a better understanding of and a greater

appreciation for the black experience in the United States.

Is the Bible a book by a white God for white people? Of course not. God is spirit and does

not have “color” in our human and earthly sense. There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate

that people are excluded from God’s saving grace on the basis of ethnic origin or skin color. God

is “not wanting anyone to perish” (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus is the Savior of all peoples. Nevertheless, it

is a fact that the majority of European artists and Bible commentators painted and described all

biblical characters, including God, as white. This had the effect of excluding blacks from being a

part of Scripture and has led some people of color to question the Bible’s relevance to them.

Exclusion was only one side of the problem. Where the presence of blacks in the Bible was

admitted, primarily among uneducated whites, outrageous myths and fables abounded. This was

especially true among white Christians living in the southeastern United States prior to the Civil

War. These denigrating tales were believed to support the racist (and unbiblical) notion that the

Bible supported a white subjugation of black people.

What do we mean by “black”?

There are several difficulties surrounding any discussion of this sensitive topic. Some are

obvious; others are less so. Not least is the question, what do we mean by “black” people? In

America today, we mean African-Americans — those with African ancestry and dark skin color.

But is that how the people who lived when the books of the Bible were written would have

thought?

There are differences between ancient and modern concepts of what “black” means when it

is applied to people. For example, in the table of nations in Genesis 10, the word used to describe

the people descended from Ham in the ancient Hebrew, Akkadian and Sumerian languages is

related to the color black. But what does this mean? Our traditional understanding of the Old

Testament is influenced by the ancient rabbinic method of interpretation known as Midrash.

These interpretations sometimes take precedence over the literal meaning of the text being

interpreted. They also belong to another time with other socio-economic conditions and

concerns. When ancient rabbinic literature mentions black people, does it mean ethnically

“Negro” or just people of generally darker skin?

Let me give you a modern example. In a congregation I once pastored were two families

with the surnames Black and White. The Whites were black and the Blacks were white. Mr.

Black, who was white, used to talk about his lovely white grandchildren who were Blacks. And

Mr. White talked about his lovely black grandchildren who were Whites. Imagine what someone

a thousand years from now would think if they read that.

Just because some people are called by a term meaning “black” does not necessarily prove

they were what we now call black. Of course, it does not mean that they were not “people of

color” either. In ancient times, just as folks did in the old frontier societies of our country, people

often were given names that reflected their personality, where they were from or their

appearance. But names like “Slim,” “Tex,” “Kid,” “Smitty” or “Buffalo” tell you nothing of a

person’s ancestry.

Some ancient writers say that the Egyptians and Ethiopians were black. But what do they

mean? How “black” were they? Were they merely darker than those doing the writing? The wall

paintings and hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians and Ethiopians picture some people as

black in color. But this was a highly stylized art form, and may have nothing to do with their

actual skin color.

Some black people are much fairer in skin color than some we classify as “Caucasians.”

There are also social and legal definitions, based on the percentage of African or “Negro” blood

people have in their ancestry. It was not so long ago that certain states had laws that stated that

someone was a “Negro” if the person had even a single black ancestor. Physical appearance did

not matter.

These are some of the difficulties of trying to determine if people in the Bible are what today

we consider black. It is therefore irresponsible to draw superficial conclusions either for or

against a black presence in the Scriptures. But this did not stop scholars and theologians (who

surely should have known better) from suggesting that all people in the Bible were white, and

that the Bible record excludes the Asian and “Negro” races, a conclusion that is not true.

But suppose it were true? What difference would that make? The Bible account focuses on

what we now call the Middle East, and in particular the rags-to-riches-to-ruin story of ancient

Israel. It is specific to geography and to a historical period. Other people are mentioned as they

pertain to the unfolding of that story. So Eskimos (or Inuit) are not included, nor are Koreans.

Yet no one seriously believes that they are excluded from the human race. But when it comes to

the alleged absence of black people, we encounter a web of cruel deceit that makes a mockery of

the true biblical record. Only when you understand this can you begin to get a glimmer of what it

has been like to be black in America.

Several views

Among those who have accepted the presence of black people in the Bible, several different

views as to the origin of blacks were postulated. Let’s look at some of these.

The pre-Adamite view argues that blacks, particularly so-called “Negroes,” are not

descended from Adam. This view appears to have its origin in the works of such authors as

Paracelsus in 1520, Bruno in 1591, Vanini in 1619 and one of the most prolific writers, Peyrère,

in 1655. It reached a high level of development with the 19th-century scholar Alexander

Winchell in his book, Preadamites; or a Demonstration of the Existence of Men Before Adam,

published in 1880.

These writers (all of them white), argued that blacks belong to a race created before Adam

and from among whom the biblical villain Cain found his wife. Cain, by marrying one of these

pre-Adamic peoples, the reasoning goes, became the progenitor of all black people. Therefore, it

was rationalized, black people, especially “Negroes,” are not actually human, because they did

not descend from Adam but from some pre-Adamic creation, having entered the human race

only by intermarriage, and that with a notorious sinner. As non-humans, therefore, they did not

have souls, but were merely beasts like any other beast of the field. And since the Bible says God

gave humans dominion over the beasts, it was concluded that these soulless creatures exist to do

work for the humans.

This preposterous theological premise was preached in churches across the United States,

particularly in the Southeast, to reassure people that slavery was not only acceptable, but the very

will of God, rooted firmly in a “proper” understanding of the Bible.

The Cainite view argues that Cain was born white, but after his unacceptable sacrifice and

the murder of his brother, Abel, he was turned black as punishment and became the progenitor of

all black people. According to some of the rabbinic Midrashim (in both the Babylonian and

Jerusalem Talmud), because Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice, the smoke from this

unacceptable sacrifice blew back on him, turned him black and caused all of his children to be

born black. In another Talmudic story, a rabbi says that God beat Cain with hail until he turned

black. Stories vary, but it became a common Euro-American belief that God cursed and marked

Cain by turning him black. (Some teach the opposite to be true, saying that God turned Cain

white to make him easily recognizable (marked) in a Middle Eastern context. Some also teach

that leprosy (in which the skin turned white) was the curse of God, thus white people are the real

cursed ones. This view of Scripture, although equally distorted, nevertheless has had some

influence in a disenfranchised black community.)

The Noahite (or old Hamite) view can be traced to writings suggested in the Talmud and

later adopted by Jewish and Christian interpreters (especially among white southerners in the

pre-Civil War United States). In this view, Ham violated God’s supposed prohibition against

mating on the ark. Because he could not resist, he was turned black. Yet another teaching was

that Ham and/or Canaan were turned black as a result of Noah’s curse in Genesis 9:24-27. In this

view, because God cursed Canaan, that curse was to go on all of Canaan’s descendants and the

curse was, first, that they would all be turned black, and second, that they would be servants to

white people. Again, we see here a blatant attempt to interpret the Bible in a way that justifies the

institution of black slavery.

The New Hamite view is a 19th-century view that holds that Hamites were all white rather

than black with the possible exception of Cush. (Cush is a Hebrew term that means “black one.”)

Scholars, particularly in 19th century Germany, said that even if Cush were black in color, he

must be regarded as a Caucasoid black. Why? Because, in their view, Negroes were not within

the purview of the writers of the Bible. Even some modern biblical scholars hold this view. For

example, Martin Noth, considered to be one of the most respected Old Testament scholars of all

time, states on page 263 of his book The Old Testament World (Fortress, 1966) that the biblical

writers knew nothing of any Negro people.

Understandably, there has been a reaction among black theologians and black people to

these ideas. Some have tended toward the opposite extreme, arguing that everyone in the Bible

was black. Dr. Charles B. Copher, professor of African American Studies at Interdenominational

Theological School in Atlanta, says this view is patently outlandish. He believes that this notion

is an overreaction that can lead to another kind of extremism.

The Adamite view is the orthodox Jewish, Christian and Islamic view. It is based (for

Christians) on Acts 17:26, which states that God made all people from one original bloodline, or

one source. This, we emphasize, is the only view that is consistent with the true message of

Scripture. Nevertheless, these other hideously distorted ideas have been promulgated, and some

still have a degree of influence even today.

So what?

So, where does that leave us? Feeling slightly nauseated, I hope, over the amazing ability we

have to delude ourselves and bend the word of God in any direction that suits our purposes.

The overall and surely indisputable message is that God has created us all in his image and

has included all members of the human race in the saving work of his Son. Nowhere does the

Bible give any indications that black people, or any people, whether “of color” or not, are outside

the embrace of his love. But the fact remains that people have believed and taught this error, and

sadly, it has been a teaching that still affects the way many of us think about each other, and

perhaps even ourselves. The Bible does not focus on skin color as any form of criterion. All have

sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God, and all are recipients of his grace through Jesus

Christ.

But what about the question of whether black people are mentioned in the Bible?

Admittedly it is difficult to build a definitive case, based on textual evidence, to prove beyond all

doubt that black people are mentioned in its pages. But why should we have to? Let’s turn the

question around. There is no evidence whatsoever that black people — or any people for that

matter — are excluded from the purview of the writers of the Bible. Let us put the burden of

proof on those who would teach otherwise.

Evidence in the Bible

The stories of the Bible took place in and around what we now call the Middle East, and

people moved on and off its stage based on their relationship with the nations of ancient Israel

and Judah. Consequently the vast majority of the world’s ethnic and racial groups are not

specifically identified. But some of those who are identified were black.

From the tomb of Seti I: Syrian, Nubian, Libyan, Egyptian

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There is a strong tradition that some of the descendants of Noah through his son Ham were

black. Ham had a son named Cush, which means “black” in Hebrew. Cush is the most common

term designating color in reference to persons, people or lands used in the Bible. It’s used 58

times in the King James Version. The Greek and Latin word is Ethiopia. In classical literature,

Greek and Roman authors describe Ethiopians as black. Archaeology has found these people to

be black. In the book of Jeremiah, the question is asked, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin?”

Genesis 10:6-20 describes the descendants of Ham as being located in North Africa, Central

Africa and in parts of southern Asia. Psalm 105:23 mentions the “land of Ham” in Egypt, and

Psalm 78:51 connects the “tents of Ham” with Egypt.

Other Old Testament evidence

In Genesis 10, Nimrod, son of Cush (whose name means “black”), founded a civilization in

Mesopotamia. In Genesis 11, Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldees, a land whose earliest

inhabitants included blacks. The people of the region where Abraham came from can be proven

historically and archaeologically to have been intermixed racially. So it is possible that Abraham

and those who traveled with him could have been racially mixed.

Genesis 14 tells how Abraham’s experiences in Canaan and Egypt brought him and his

family into areas inhabited by peoples who were very likely black. Both archaeological evidence

and the account in 1 Chronicles 4 tell us that the land of Canaan was inhabited by the

descendants of Ham.

Further black presence can be found in the accounts of Hagar the Egyptian, Ishmael and his

Egyptian wife, and Ishmael’s sons, especially Kedar. The Kedarites are mentioned many times in

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Nehemiah, and the word kedar means “blackness.”

Still further evidence of black presence in the patriarchal period appears with Joseph’s

experiences in Egypt. Joseph married an Egyptian woman, Asenath, who was descended from

Mizraim, which made her Hamitic. Thus there is a strong possibility that Asenath was black. She

was the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh.

The New Testament

The New Testament also contains ample evidence of a black presence. Acts 8 tells the story

of the Ethiopian eunuch, one of the first Gentiles to be baptized. He came from a black region, so

he may have been black. In Acts 13 we read of Simeon, called Niger, the Latin term for black.

There is also Lucias from Cyrene, a geographical location of black people.

Do these references give us absolute proof? No. But the weight of evidence indicates that

blacks were not excluded from “Bible action.” Modern scholarly opinion refutes the theologians

who argued against a black presence in the Bible. But sadly, the past Euro-centrist interpretation

of the Bible, which did recognize a black presence in the Bible, was deliberately used by some in

the past to justify the subjugation and enslavement of peoples of color.

I believe it can be argued that there is a black presence in the Old and New Testaments. But

either way, what is certain is that the Bible teaches that God has made all people of one ancestry.

All humans — male, female, black, white, red, yellow and brown, are God’s children. They are

all made in the image of God for salvation through Jesus Christ.

The New Testament makes it clear that no one is excluded from God’s love and purpose.

Paul tells us that there is “neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all

one in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:26-29). God’s Word concerns, involves and speaks to all people

inclusively.

We could sum it up in the words of the popular song:

Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

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back to table of contents

Bibliography for Black Africans in the Bible

Chapter 1 of this e-book is based on a paper I wrote while studying at Emory University in

Atlanta. It was the product of much research, in the process of which I amassed a large

bibliography. Although this bibliography does not include the more recent books on the topic, I

include it here in case it might help some future researchers.

Albright, William F. From the Stone Age to Christianity: Monotheism and the Historical

Process. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1946.

———. “The Old Testament World,” George Arthur Buttrick (ed.) The Interpreter’s Bible. New

York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1952.

———. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1968.

Anati, Emmanual. Palestine Before the Hebrews: A History from Earliest Arrival of Man to the

Conquest of Canaan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963.

Ariel [Buchner H. Payne]. The Negro: What Is His Ethnological Status? Cincinnati: Proprietor,

1872.

Brenner, Athalya. Colour Terms in the Old Testament, Journal for the Study of the Old

Testament Supplement Series, no. 21. Sheffield, Eng.: JSOT Press, Department of

Biblical Studies, The University of Sheffield, 1982.

Bringhurst, Newell G. Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People within

Mormonism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981.

Brodie, Fawn M. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, 2d ed., rev. and

enlarged. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.

Brunson, James E. Black Jade: The African Presence in the Ancient East and Other Essays.

Dekalb, IL: James E. Brunson and KARA Publishing Co., 1985.

Buttrick, George Arthur (ed.). The Interpreter’s Bible. New York: Abingdon Press, 1956, s.v.

“The Book of Amos, Introduction and Exegesis,” by Hughell E. W. Fosbroke, vol. 6,

848.

Carroll, Charles. The Negro a Beast or In the Image of God. 1900; reprint, Miami: Mnemosyne

Publishing Co., Inc., 1969.

Childe, V. Gordon. The Most Ancient East: The Oriental Prelude to European History. New

York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929.

Comas, Juan. Racial Myths. 1951; reprint, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976.

Copher, Charles B. The Black Presence in the Old Testament, Stony the Road We Trod: African

American Biblical Interpretation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991.

Crim, Keith (gen. ed.). The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, sup. vol. Nashville: Abingdon,

1976, s.v. “Slavery in the New Testament,” by W. G. Rollins.

De Gobineau, J. A. The World of the Persians. Geneva: Editions Minerva S. A., 1971.

De Vaux, Roland. The Early History of Israel, trans. David Smith. Philadelphia: The

Westminster Press, 1978.

Dieulafoy, Marcel. L’Acropole de Suse d’après les fouilles executeés en 1884, 1885, 1886 sous

les auspices du Musée du Louvre. Paris: Libraire Hachette et Cie, 1890.

Diop, Cheikh Anta. Origin of the Ancient Egyptians, in Ancient Civilizations of Africa, vol. 2 of

General History of Africa. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 1981.

———. The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality? trans. Mercer Cook. New York:

Lawrence Hill and Company, 1974.

Du Bois, W. E. B. The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa Has Played in

World History, enlarged ed. New York: International Publishers, 1965.

Epstein, I. (ed.) Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, trans. Jacob Shacter and H.

Freedman, rev. ed. London: The Soncino Press, 1969, Sanhedrin.

Fohrer, George. Introduction to the Old Testament, trans. David E. Green, rev. ed. Nashville:

Abingdon Press, 1968.

Frederickson, George M. The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American

Character and Destiny 1817-1914. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.

Freedman, H. and Maurice Simon (eds.). Midrash Rabbah, Genesis. London: The Soncino Press,

1939.

Ginzberg, Louis. Bible Times and Characters from the Creation to Jacob, vol. 1 of The Legends

of the Jews, trans. Henrietta Szold. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of

America, 1913,

Glatz, Gustave. The Aegean Civilization, The History of Civilization, C. K. Ogden (ed.). New

York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1968.

Gossett, Thomas F. Race: The History of an Idea in America. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.

Grant, Robert M. The Bible in the Church: A Short History of Interpretation. New York:

Macmillan Co., 1948.

Graves, Robert and Raphael Patai. Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. New York: Greenwich

House, 1983.

Harris, Joseph E. (ed.) Africa and Africans as Seen by Classical Writers, The William Leo

Hansberry African Notebook, vol. 2 Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1977.

Hasskarl, G. G. H. The Missing Link or the Negro’s Ethnological Status (borrowed mostly from

Ariel). 1898: reprint, New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1972.

Hastings, James (ed.) A Dictionary of the Bible. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911, s.v.

“Ethiopian Woman,” by D. S. Margoliouth.

Heinisch, Paul. History of the Old Testament, trans. William G. Heidt. Collegeville, MN: The

Order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1952.

In the Image of God, rev. ed. Destiny Publishers. Merrimac, MA: 1984.

Jagersma, J. A History of Israel in the Old Testament Period, trans. John Bowden. Philadelphia:

Fortress Press, 1983.

Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews, trans. William Whiston, in The Works of Flavius

Josephus.

Landman, Isaac (ed.) The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Ktav Publishing House,

Inc., 1969, s.v. “Race, Jewish,” by Fritz Kahn.

Larue, Gerald A. Old Testament Life and Literature. Los Angeles: University of Southern

California Press; Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1968.

Maloney, Clarence. Peoples of South Asia. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1974.

Maspero, G. The Struggle of the Nations: Egypt, Syria and Assyria, ed. A. H. Sayce, trans. M. L.

McClure, 2d ed. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1925.

Mellinkoff, Ruth. The Mark of Cain. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1981.

Miller, J. Maxwell and John H. Hayes. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Philadelphia: The

Westminster Press, 1986.

Montefiore, C. G. and H. Loewe (eds and trans). Tanhuma Noah from A Rabbinic Anthology.

1983: reprint, New York: Schocken Books, 1974, 56.

Newby, I. A., Jim Crow’s Defense: Anti-Negro Thought in America, 1900-1930. Baton Rouge:

Louisiana State University Press, 1965.

Noerdlinger, Henry S. Moses and Egypt: The Documentation to the Motion Picture, The Ten

Commandments. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1956.

Noth, Martin. The Old Testament World, trans. Victor I. Gruhn. Philadelphia: Fortress Press,

1966.

Oesterly, W. O. E. and G. H. Box. A Short Survey of the Literature of Rabbinical and Medieval

Judaism. 1920; reprint, New York: Burt Franklin, 1972.

Olmstead, A. T. History of the Persian Empire. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1948.

Peterson, T. The Myth of Ham among White Antebellum Southerners. Ph.D. diss., Stanford

University, 1975.

———. Ham and Japheth: The Mythic World of Whites in the Antebellum South. Metuchen, NJ

and London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., and The American Theological Library

Association, 1978.

Prichard, James Cowles. Researches into the Physical History of Man, ed. and with an

introductory essay by George W. Stocking, Jr. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,

1973.

Priest, Josiah, Slavery as It Relates to the Negro, or African Race. . . Albany: C. Van Benthuysen

and Co., 1843.

———. Bible Defense of Slavery or the Origin, History, and Fortunes of the Negro Race.

Louisville: J.F. Brennan, 1851.

Rawlinson, George. The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient World, 2d ed. New York:

Scribner, Welford, and Co., 1871.

Rice, Gene. The African Roots of the Prophet Zephaniah, The Journal of Religious Thought 36,

no. 1. Spring-Summer 1979.

Rowley, H. H. The Servant of the Lord and Other Essays on the Old Testament, 2d ed, rev.

Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965.

Sanders, Edith R. The Hamites in Anthropology and History: A Preliminary Study. M.A. thesis,

Columbia University, n.d.

———. The Hamite Hypothesis: Its Origin and Function in Time Perspective, Journal of

African History 10, no. 4. 1969; 521-32.

Sarna, Nahum M. Understanding Genesis. New York: L Schocken Books, 1970.

Sayce, A. H. Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the

Ancient Babylonians (The Hibbert Lectures, 1887), 2d ed. London: Williams and

Norgate, 1888.

Silberman, Charles E. Crisis in Black and White. New York: Random House, Inc., Vintage

Books, 1964.

Smith, George Adam. The Book of the Twelve Prophets, rev. ed. New York: Harper and Brothers

Publishers, n.d.

Smith, Henry Preserved. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Samuel, The

International Critical Commentary. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899.

Smith, Joseph. The Holy Scriptures: Inspired Version and The Book of Moses.

Snowden, Frank. M., Jr. Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman Experience.

Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1970.

Snyder, Louis L. The Idea of Racialism: Its Meaning and History. Princeton, NJ: D. Van

Nostrand Company, Inc., 1963.

Tanner, Jerald and Sandra. Mormonism: Shadow or Reality, enlarged ed. Salt Lake City, UT:

Modern Microfilm Company, 1972.

Turner, Wallace. The Mormon Establishment. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1966.

UNESCO. The Race Question in Modern Science: Race and Science. New York: Columbia

University Press, 1961. In this latter volume, see Harry L. Shapiro, The Jewish People: A

Biological History.

Unger, Merrill F. Archeology and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing

House, 1954.

Van Sertima, Ivan and Runoko Rashidi (eds.). African Presence in Early Asia, rev. ed. New

Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1988.

Von Rad, Gerhard. Genesis: A Commentary, trans. John H. Marks. Philadelphia: The

Westminster Press, 1961.

Wells, H.G. rev. Raymond Postgate. The Outline of History. Garden City, NY: Garden City

Books, 1949.

Whalen, William J. The Latter Day Saints in the Modern Day World, rev. ed. Notre Dame, IN:

University of Notre Dame Press, 1967.

Wilson, Robert R. Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980.

Winchell, Alexander. Preadamites: Or a Demonstration of the Existence of Men before Adam,

2d ed. Chicago: S. O. Griggs and Company, 1880.

Woodbury, Naomi Felicia. A Legacy of Intolerance: Nineteenth Century Pro-Slavery

Propaganda and the Mormon Church Today. M.A. thesis, University of California, Los

Angeles, 1966.

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Black History Month

J. Michael Feazell, then Vice President of Grace Communion International, interviewed Curtis

May (shown above), director of the Office of Reconciliation & Mediation, an outreach ministry

of Grace Communion International, about Black History Month.

JMF: What is Black History Month?

CM: Black History Month began in 1926 as Negro History Week. It was established by

Carter G. Woodson as a way to bring attention to the positive contributions of black people in

American history. In 1976 Negro History Week became Black History Month.

JMF: Who was Carter G. Woodson?

CM: Dr. Woodson was a son of former slaves. He worked in the coalmines in Kentucky to

put himself through high school. He graduated from Berea College in Kentucky in 1903, and

then went on to Harvard for his Ph.D.

It bothered Woodson to find that blacks had hardly been written about in American history

books, even though blacks had been part of American history from as far back as colonial times.

And when blacks were mentioned, it was not in ways that reflected the positive contributions that

they had made.

So he wanted to do something about that. In 1915, he established the Association for the

Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American

Life and History) and then founded the Journal of Negro History and Negro History Bulletin.

Then in 1926 he started promoting the second week of February as Negro History Week.

JMF: Why February?

CM: Woodson chose February because the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist

Frederick Douglass were in that month. These were two men who had a great influence on black

Americans.

In addition, several other important events took place in February. For example, the 15th

Amendment, which said that the right to vote could not be denied on account of race, was

ratified on Feb. 3, 1870.

W.E.B. DuBois, educator and writer, was born in February 1868. The first black U.S.

senator, Hiram Revels, took his oath of office in February 1870. The founding of the NAACP in

1909 took place in February, as did the murder of Malcolm X in 1965, and the Greensboro,

North Carolina, sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960.

JMF: Why is Black History Month important today?

CM: All young people need positive role models to inspire them and spur them on and to

help them know that they, too, have the potential to achieve their dreams and accomplish

worthwhile and important things.

Young blacks need to know about the many positive achievements of black men and women

throughout history in every field of endeavor. Knowing what others have done inspires

confidence in young people to know that they can do worthwhile things too.

Knowing about the achievements of black doctors, scientists, lawyers, economists and

journalists provides encouragement and incentive to black young people to strive for excellence

themselves. Without such knowledge and encouragement, young people can end up wasting

precious time and energy blaming the system and feeling victimized.

JMF: How would you describe the value of Black History Month for nonblack people?

CM: Black history is not merely black history; it is American history. By better

understanding the positive contributions of another ethnic group, all Americans benefit. When

we understand one another better, we are that much closer to having positive relationships with

one another.

Many nonblacks, even many blacks, have erroneous stereotypes in their minds about blacks

and their history in the United States. These negative ideas and impressions create barriers to

good relationships and to the true potential that all Americans have for working together toward

our common goals for freedom, peace and achievement.

Black History Month provides a focus on the positive history, achievements and

contributions to American ideals that blacks have made throughout history. And that helps to

dispel the negative ideas and stereotypes that invariably spring up when the truth is not given the

light of day.

The experience of black Americans in our history can be a further inspiration to all

Americans that no matter how tough the struggle, no matter what the odds, when we don’t give

up, when we stand together firmly for the right and the truth, great things can happen. And

there’s nothing more truly American than that. It’s our collective legacy and heritage.

JMF: How can Christians benefit from Black History Month?

CM: The civil rights movement was born in Christian faith and values. The early leaders of

the movement were Christian ministers, black and white alike, who saw injustice and worked in

nonviolent ways to bring the love of Jesus Christ to bear on a system that reflected neither the

gospel itself nor the deepest values of the U.S. Constitution.

As Christians, when we rehearse that struggle and celebrate the positive achievements of

Americans who excelled despite having been socially marginalized, we affirm the values and

responsibilities of our faith.

JMF: Can you give me one word that in your mind characterizes Black History Month?

CM: Well, I think I’d have to say hope. It’s all about promoting hope — hope for a better

tomorrow that springs from the lessons, the tears and the joys of what has gone before. It’s a

hope that grows from understanding and from truth — and from the power of love.

And I thank Jesus Christ, because he takes all our meager efforts and turns them into a real

and true hope that sees past all the challenges of the present and into a future where his love

binds all people together, all people of all backgrounds and ethnicities and histories all bound

together as one in him.

back to table of contents

Racial Reconciliation

J. Michael Feazell: There’s a lot we’re going to talk about today. Let’s begin by just telling

us about the reconciliation ministries that you’re involved with.

CM: It’s called the Office of Reconciliation and Mediation, Spiritual Mediation, and we

mediate with people who have problems. We do reconciliation, which means to bring people

together. Mending Broken Relationships is the title of our book, that’s what we try to do. And it

doesn’t matter what kind of conflict or broken relationship, we try to deal with any that comes

our way.

JMF: Let’s start with reconciliation, and then we’ll talk about spiritual mediation. What

does it look like? In other words, what is being reconciled, who is looking for reconciliation?

You have to have both parties looking to do it, I presume, but how does that work with your

ministry? What do you do? How do people get in contact with you? And what are some of the

stories you can tell without breaking any confidences and so on.

CM: Great. You left me a lot of space to be able to speak. There are all kinds of splendid

relationships in the world, as you know. Denominational, internal church conflicts, inter-church

conflict, police and community, companies, just all kinds of… Anywhere there’s a relationship,

it can be broken, and it has been broken, and we’ve been asked to help to put them back together

through our ministry. For the last decade or so, we’ve been working with the Pasadena Police

Department and the community. We’ve worked in the school system in Pasadena and other

places as well. Like you said, not everybody’s going to ask for help; those who badly need it

won’t ask for it.

JMF: How did you get involved with the police department? Did they hear about the

organization, or how did it come to pass that the request came about to get involved between

Pasadena Police and you?

CM: Interesting question. My son is a police officer in Pasadena. And when I was pastoring

at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, one of the lieutenants talked with my son who

worked with him, and they found out that I’m a pastor. Well, they were having all kinds of

conflict. About five or six young people of color had been shot and killed by the police in

Pasadena. Now the right or wrong of those people who were shot, I’m not saying, but it was a

problem.

JMF: Between the community and the police department.

CM: The community and the police department, right. And they saw the need to reach out

and try to un-tarnish the name of the Pasadena Police Department. So then the chief of police

came and asked me if he could take me to lunch along with my son. And I said yes. His name is

Bernard Melekian. He took us to lunch and he asked, “Can I speak in your church?” I asked,

“What would you talk about?” He said, “I would talk about the Centurion Servant and the

humility shown there, and I would like to see that among my police officers.” We talked further,

and I decided to let him do it. He gave a tremendous message, about a 40-minute message, on the

Centurion Servant.

He showed himself to be a humble man. I saw him at a funeral, a memorial service for a

police officer who had been killed, and while the priest was praying, he got on his knees in front

of all of his officers during the prayer. A humble man. So I said, “I think I can work with him.”

After he spoke, I went to his office, I prayed with him and found out that he was very open to

reconciliation work, to my ideas about how to go about settling some of the problems.

From then on, we got together with a group of people from different ethnic groups, different

denominations, the Western Justice Center Foundation joined us, some of the other groups out

there, and we formed a team and began to have dialogue between the police and the community.

We drew guidelines on how to discuss this conflict. Everybody was in agreement on reaching out

gently and kindly and trying to find out as much as we could about what the problems were and

how can we take steps to resolve them. That’s how it got started.

JMF: So you focus a lot on understanding the viewpoint of each other.

CM: Yes.

JMF: And just discussions, getting to know one another, and those principles come across

into church conflicts, too. What are some of the kinds of conflicts you have in churches that have

asked you to come and help find reconciliation?

CM: Some of the conflicts are just the pastor and maybe the other leadership having trouble

with some of the lay members. Some of the lay members are having trouble with them, and

they’re just at a stalemate and they can’t seem to resolve their issues. We’ve been able to sit

down and talk with both the leadership and some of the membership to talk about how can we

get together. The first step we take is we must be willing on both sides to acknowledge the

issues.

JMF: So you have to get together with leaders from both sides to talk about whether this is

worth doing, and whether this is going to work.

CM: And whether or not they will get together.

JMF: Yeah. Because it sounds kind of like Judge Judy or something — they have to

agree…

CM: Have to agree to get together. They have to agree to work on the problem, otherwise

there’s no reconciliation.

JMF: Have you had situations where they’ve taken that first step but they haven’t been

willing to go further?

CM: Yes, we’ve had people just say, “I don’t think I want to go down that road.” Yes.

Because once they start talking about what it takes and acknowledgment of the issue, which may

incriminate one group, they will just not want to go down that road. But when they’re pretty

open and when we can do a seminar and we’re not talking specifically about any particular

group; we’re saying that you’re having conflicts, let’s just do a full-church seminar and not put

anybody on the spot.

JMF: About conflicts in general.

CM: In general. That’s the best way we find that works. Step number one is to get people to

acknowledge that there is a problem, what the problem is. Step number two is being willing to

change. Okay, we know where the problems are…

JMF: Each side would usually have a slightly different perspective on what the problem is.

CM: That’s right. Yes. But then, are we willing to change and make things better, whatever

it takes? You get them that far and then the third step is okay, the change means building a

relationship enough to be able to resolve these issues no matter who was right and no matter who

was wrong. It’s not a matter of who is right or wrong right now, it’s a matter of do we want to

solve this problem? If we do, we can, because now let’s fellowship in the name of Jesus because

he is our reconciler. So let’s get together, let’s have dinners together, let’s have lunch together,

whatever it takes, sit down and talk about these issues. Talk through it over a meal. That’s the

third step.

The fourth step is restoration. If I’ve wronged you in some way that’s hurt you, am I willing

to restore the damage by first of all maybe just apologizing? That may be all it takes. Anything

short of those four steps I don’t think would work. People have to be willing.

Another example…the chief of Pasadena apologized to the city residents for any bad things

the police had done. He said there had been some bad things because, he said, “We’re human.

When we go out on the street we carry our prejudices with us – all our biases in our minds and in

our hearts.”

But he tells his officers to take a look at their biases and try to act as fairly as you can when

you go out there. Be a good representative of this department. He was willing to stand behind

that, and that’s why it worked. I think that those steps work anywhere if people are willing to do

it. I’m so amazed and so excited about the fact that Grace Communion International members

have been willing to do that more frequently than any other fellowship that I’ve dealt with. Of

course that might be because I’m a part of it and they know me, but it’s been exciting to see

people change, to see people get up and apologize and see other people weep, weep as they are

released of their pain. It’s like wow, I never would have expected this to happen, but I’m so glad

it did.

JMF: What is behind this power that’s in an apology, both for the person giving it on behalf

of a group, and those who are receiving or hearing it? What’s going on?

CM: That’s a great question. I used to think well, there’s no connection. But there is a

connection. I mean, just to have somebody… John Dawson is great on this, he’s one of my

mentors. He is the president of Youth with a Mission and also the International Reconciliation

Coalition. He’s been over to Spain having them address the inquisition – the Christians and the

Jews and the tortured Jews and all that. And they apologized to the Jews. He said the healing that

took place was unbelievable. For something that happened in the 16th century to have that kind

of impact in the 21st century is just amazing.

I was not really concerned about getting any kind of reparation, any kind of apology or

anything from slavery as the descendant of a slave. But I was absolutely stunned at the impact

that apology had on me — that a white person would stand up and stand in the gap and say,

“Look, I didn’t do this, but I apologize on behalf of those who did.” And it did make a difference

to me. I didn’t realize it would. But somebody, and John Dawson said, when somebody stands up

and says on behalf of these people who look like me, we wronged you, I want to stand and

apologize to you, it never should have happened to you, there’s an impact there that I didn’t even

know was there. I felt, like, I was over all that stuff.

When that happened with the Archbishop, it’s just, like, a tremendous breath of fresh air,

like a glass of cold water. It’s just like, he didn’t have to do that, but he did. Chief Melekian

transformed the city of Pasadena by apologizing on behalf of the police. He said, “Look, during

the civil rights movement, U.S. police officers were told to enforce the status quo, but the status

quo was wrong. Let me be the first to tell you. I was part of it. And I apologize, we were wrong.”

Boy, it just melted the community. So there’s healing in it.

We had an article in the Reconcile newsletter back a few years ago that talks about, not this

particular issue, but the power of an apology. Neil Earle wrote that, and he talks about places like

Bosnia and the conflict that’s been going on for so many years and different countries that don’t

get together — nobody’s stood up to apologize or say let’s resolve this conflict. And so it

continues, and people continue to die because nobody will break the cycle of this evil.

JMF: So acknowledgment, I guess.

CM: It’s acknowledgment, just acknowledge…

JMF: The pain and the history is real.

CM: Yes.

JMF: Real and wrong.

CM: Right.

JMF: It’s very difficult to have to carry something when the opposing side won’t admit it.

CM: Right. Won’t even admit it.

JMF: Is…some kind of emotional thing going.

CM: That’s right. I did not realize that.

JMF: It’s a spiritual thing.

CM: It’s a spiritual thing. You know, Jesus Christ came along. He didn’t sin, but he broke

that cycle in the sense of providing salvation for us. You think about how all of mankind has

been reconciled through Jesus Christ. By the Father through Christ and redeemed by the Holy

Spirit — and he broke that cycle. He came and stood in for all mankind and took all the sins of

mankind on himself and now we can all be free and let it all go.

JMF: There’s a freedom in knowing that we’re safe in Christ.

CM: Right.

JMF: There’s a freedom to confess, even to yourself…to recognize your own sins, face

them, because it’s safe, because he has created a safe space for us to be able to do that. And

that’s what you’re doing with Reconciliation Ministry is bringing people together and helping

them find for each other a safe space to be able to engage in this process that does promote

healing in a much deeper way than it could otherwise.

CM: It does. And here I am, an African-American who came into, at that time, Radio

Church of God, in 1964. We went through a lot of the British Israelism teachings and all of that,

which were…of the church, I guess you might say. But at the same time, I have apologized to

more church audiences than I ever imagined I would. As an African-American, I was part of the

power structure, so I can’t just say I was mistreated because I was black, because whites were

mistreated because I was in the power to do so.

JMF: As an elder.

CM: As a pastor. As an elder, yes. So therefore I have apologized to audiences on behalf of

the whole church and organization that we’re a part of and said, you know, “That never should

have happened to you.” It’s amazing that people come up and they hug you and they cry. You

think, you had this happen to you 30, 40 years ago, some incident. But it’s still there. “This

pastor said this to me and it was mean, and 40 years…”

JMF: It doesn’t go away just because it’s 40 years ago — it’s like yesterday.

CM: She said, “And now that a pastor has apologized, it makes me feel so good.” I think

that’s part of our job, to let Jesus heal people that way — be used as an instrument in his hands

so people can heal.

JMF: And who is going to do it if a leader doesn’t?

CM: That’s right, exactly.

JMF: Well, Office of Reconciliation but also Spiritual Mediation. How do those fit

together, and what’s the difference?

CM: The Office of Reconciliation Ministries is the original name of the ministry, ORM, we

had that as our logo. And we inserted Spiritual Mediation to keep it, first of all, from looking like

a legal thing that we do, and it’s a legal word as well as a spiritual word. So we want to make the

distinction between that, and say we do spiritual mediation because Jesus Christ is our mediator.

JMF: Yeah, legal mediation is a different kettle of fish altogether. We’re talking a spiritual

mediation.

CM: A spiritual mediation, and so most of our mediation has to do with spiritual stuff. We

take out the Bible, we talk about scriptures.

JMF: So is the spiritual mediation part of that process where you are getting together to

discuss how to get to this, to the reconciliation?

CM: Yes. We even have to mediate sometimes to find out if people will actually come

together, and we have to convince people sometimes on this side and then go back to that side

and say, “Can we get together? We believe that if you do get together, you’re going to find that

it’s easier than you thought it would be.”

JMF: So it’s part negotiation.

CM: Almost part negotiation.

JMF: Start where people would like to see some change and they’re looking for some help

to walk them through it. And so you’re the ambassador.

CM: The liaison. The one who is willing to go over to this side and say, I think we can

make a breakthrough, and then go over to this side over here as kind of the mediation process,

and try to convince them that it’s not going to be as difficult as you think. It’s going to be a God

thing if you can come together and love each other and go together in the future.

JMF: And the goal is to get to some kind of reconciliation, if they’re capable of walking

through the process. I’m sure you’ve had some situations where it didn’t go anywhere and didn’t

work out. But you’ve probably had some very meaningful and positive outcomes as well…

CM: Yes. Speaking of networking out, I had a man, he was a part of our fellowship and

eventually he left. He had attended Ambassador College and had been mistreated. He gave many

examples and…I was beginning to develop a relationship with him on e-mail back and forth.

We’d talk back and forth. And he was getting there — really believing in reconciliation ministry

that it would work, because it comes from Jesus Christ. As far as him being willing to take

another step and get together with others and sit down and talk it through and work it through, he

just gave up. He felt it was just too much. He had much too much baggage, to difficult, it’s been

too long ago, it’s not going to work. He just fizzled out. I always leave my door open when

people do that. But yeah, sometimes they just don’t…

JMF: Does the hurt and maybe the bitterness over that become such a part of you that you

don’t really want to let go of it?

CM: Yeah, I think so. I’ve been a pastor for a long time. I think some people seem to nurse

and nurture their pain, their hurt. It’s a story that they can tell anybody — what they went

through. They seem to never want to let go of that. Some have been apologized to by me and by

others, and they just won’t let it go. It’s almost like “this is part of me now.”

JMF: I wonder if we all don’t have a little of that in some ways, even with maybe a sickness

because sometimes with an illness, that’s the thing that makes people feel sorry for you…

CM: That’s right, give me some attention.

JMF: And if you didn’t have that anymore, what would you do? And so you’d really rather

it not go away because…

CM: That’s right. We get a little bit of self pity and all of that, so…

JMF: I imagine we’re all like that in certain ways and hold onto things…our claim to fame,

you know? The thing that happened to us that we don’t want to let go of. But there’s such

healing if we can move in a positive direction. Sometimes it just takes some help to see how that

could work and how it might work for us.

CM: Right, right.

JMF: If I understand the way you work with congregations and with institutions that have

asked you to be involved, there’s never any pushiness about it. It’s a “how can we make this

work and let’s take the steps, let’s see how you feel and how far you can come and what your

expectations are.” A lot of patience must be involved in that process.

CM: That’s right. I’m thinking as you talk about some things I went through in the South, in

the ‘60s, you know, Governor Wallace was my governor. He had two terms — one in the early

‘60s, about ‘64 to ‘67 and then ‘70 to ‘74. In Dallas recently there was a pastor who was an aide

to Governor Wallace. When Governor Wallace was shot, he repented of his evil…his racism and

all the things he had said to people and the names that he had called. He repented. He was

wheeled into a room of all African Americans, including the students who he had blocked out of

the University of Alabama, and Jesse Jackson was there. He said, “I apologize to you. I’m

sincere. I really am sorry about calling you all these bad names. And just please forgive me.”

And they did.

He ran for governor later, and I didn’t know this until this man told me, 99 percent of black

voters voted for Governor George Wallace. That blew me away. I knew it was large, but 99

percent — they said it’s never happened before in Mississippi and it never will happen again.

But this is how much they appreciated the apology — just the apology! He didn’t go back and

say, “Well, I wonder how many people did my state troopers kill?” and some were killed. “I

wonder how many people were hurt by my administration?” No, he said, “I’m sorry.” And they

accepted it, and they voted for him. They started to love Governor George Wallace.

JMF: That’s really a remarkable story. I don’t know how many people know how that

ended as opposed to…

CM: I didn’t know about the voting percentage, but I did know a lot about Governor

Wallace and his stuff because I got out from down there during his administration.

JMF: Oh yeah, it was…

CM: When the dogs were being put on people and the water hoses, that’s when I left. The

state troopers were not your friends. They had confederate flags on their license plates, you

know.

JMF: It was frightening to see them coming.

CM: It really was. You were absolutely powerless. Because you had no rights, none. You

could cross the line just by mistake — drinking out of the wrong water fountain or going into the

wrong restroom, and be killed! That’s the world I lived in. And yet these people down there

forgave him because he apologized, and they went on with their lives, and they showed that they

were sincere by voting for him.

JMF: It shows the power that can come from the process if people are willing to take it.

And your ministry is there to be available to those who see something… where they see the need

and they’d like to find some reconciliation, and like to be walked through that process in a

positive way. And you’re there to help out. Your website is…

CM: It’s www.atimetoreconcile.org. We’d love to have people contact us. And any kind of

conflict that people…we’re willing to say “I don’t know” if it’s something that we feel we

shouldn’t do, maybe it should be done by a legal staff. But we’re willing to do what we can. Part

of our mediation and reconciliation is prayer, is through prayer. And so it’s a spiritual thing.

JMF: Well, thank you for the great work you’re doing. And it’s been going on for how

many years now?

CM: 15. We’re on our 16th year.

JMF: And you’re actually retired now.

CM: That’s what they tell me.

JMF: Now you just get to do the same work but not get paid for it.

CM: That’s right. I think there’s a spiritual thing about that.

JMF: There must be. It’s a labor of love for sure.

CM: A labor of love. Morgan Freeman said recently, I was watching a movie, to a young

lady, he said, “Do what you’re made to do.” In other words, you’re made to do something in life.

She asked, “What should I be?” He said, “Do what you want to be.” That’s what I do. I do what I

was made to do. I believe. It just comes so naturally, but I know it’s a spiritual thing. It really is

something I enjoy.

JMF: Thanks for the good work that you’re doing, and it’s really good to see you again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

back to table of contents

Meeting a Living Legend

By Curtis May

It isn’t often that a man gets to meet one of his boyhood heroes. I grew up in the racially

segregated South of the mid 20th century. For me, an African American, segregation was a fact

of life. We went to different schools from whites, drank from different water fountains and sat in

the back of the bus. I suppose I accepted it — that was the way it always had been; the way it

always would be.

But in a tense summer, nearly 50 years ago, we sensed that a change was in the air. A

nonviolent campaign against segregation had begun to gather momentum. Three names

dominated the news. They were Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth.

King and Abernathy are both dead now. But Fred Shuttlesworth is alive and well in semi-

retirement in Cincinnati. So when my friend, Pastor George Hart, asked me if I would like to

meet him, I jumped at the chance.

Fred Shuttlesworth, age 85, is not as well-known as some of the other leaders of the civil

rights movement. As a young man he was aggressive and passionate, and he espoused the

nonviolent agenda of his compatriots — he was proactively nonviolent in advancing the cause at

every opportunity.

As I sat and talked with this elderly gentleman in the sanctuary of the Greater New Light

Baptist Church, which he founded in Cincinnati, I could still feel the passion and energy that

drove him to face police batons, savage dogs and angry mobs in those desperate times.

Fred Shuttlesworth was born in Alabama on March 18, 1922. After graduating from Selma

University in 1951 and Alabama State College in 1952, he became pastor of the Bethel Baptist

Church in 1953. In May 1956, Shuttlesworth established the Alabama Christian Movement for

Human Rights (ACMHR). In December 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation in

Montgomery was illegal. Immediately, Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would test

segregation laws in Birmingham.

In 1957 Shuttlesworth joined Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and Bayard

Rustin to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Based in Atlanta,

Georgia, the main objective of the SCLC was to coordinate and assist local organizations

working for the full equality of African-Americans. The new organization was committed to

using nonviolence in the struggle for civil rights, and adopted the motto: “Not one hair of one

head of one person should be harmed.”

Fred Shuttleworth’s enemies did not share the nonviolent agenda. On the evening of

December 25, 1956, 16 sticks of dynamite destroyed his house, even shredding the mattress of

the bed he was lying on. Miraculously, he survived. The following year a white mob beat him

with whips and chains during an attempt to integrate an all-white public school. During this

period Martin Luther King described Shuttlesworth as “the most courageous civil rights fighter

in the South.”

I asked him if, looking back, he would do anything differently. “I would not leave anything

out,” he said without hesitation. “Including the beatings and the bombing. I never felt more safe

and secure. I could hear God saying, ‘I’m here; be still and know that I am God.’”

Fred Shuttlesworth (left) with Curtis May

It was obvious talking to this dignified man that he is still an uncompromising, Christ-

centered and Scripture-focused leader. He is still concerned and involved with civil rights. He

told me that the movement needed to find its way again. “There is too much money involved,”

he said. “We need to find humble, Christ-centered leadership that characterized the movement in

the past.”

As we talked, I reflected on how much people like me owe to the courage and faith of

people like Fred Shuttleworth. As he was getting his head beaten in, blown out of his bed and

arrested 38 times, I was in the “safe haven” of grade school. Even then I admired his raw courage

and dogged tenacity as he taught us not to hate anybody, although my friends and I did not

always succeed in living up to this ideal. Given half a chance, though, I would have been out

there working alongside him.

Thousands of grade school and college students did march, even elementary students,

especially those who lived in and around Birmingham. They were arrested, beaten, attacked by

police dogs and knocked down by water hoses. They were fighting, even sacrificing their lives

for racial equality and human dignity, to not be called the “N” word by state officials, for the

right to a good education, access to job opportunities, for enfranchisement and basic civil rights,

such as defending our families, eating in a restaurant, using a public restroom or riding on a bus.

Our educational resources were severely limited. Most black schools were supplied with the

used books that white schools were finished with. But armed with courage inspired in large part

from heroes like Fred Shuttlesworth, I graduated in 1963 from Sunshine High School in

Newbern, Alabama, as valedictorian. Even so, no scholarships were available. They were for the

white schools down the road. Later I moved to New York, where I had relatives. I worked and

attended night school. Then I got married and moved with my wife, Jannice, to California and

attended college.

We have been tremendously blessed over the years, pastoring churches and traveling

internationally.

Our children both graduated from college and are married. Our daughter Angela is a CPA

and real estate agent. Our son Bradley is a police officer in flight operations. They both have

healthy relationships across racial and ethnic lines.

Fred Shuttlesworth’s life shows that we can change things. Sometimes the task may seem

impossible. There are days when we might even seem to be losing ground. But I believe to work

for justice and understanding is part of every Christian’s responsibility, and Fred Shuttlesworth

showed how faith, hope and clarity of vision will eventually win the day.

He reminded me that the struggle is not over. America may be a freer, less racist place than

it was 50 years ago, although there are still pockets of ignorance and prejudice on all sides. But

there are still too many places in our world where the struggle against prejudice is still in its early

stages. In some, it has not even begun.

I thought about this as I talked with the brave, dignified old man in Cincinnati. How

different my life might have been if he and people like him had not had the courage to say,

“Enough is enough.”

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A Sorry State of Affairs –

Understanding the Power of an Apology

by Curtis May and Neil Earle

“Why should I apologize to the descendants of slaves, or the holocaust, or the Northern

Irish? I didn’t do it. It happened before I was born. How can apologizing for things you didn’t do

help anything? Is it biblical? Can you back it up? Aren’t you just stirring up trouble?”

At the Office of Reconciliation & Mediation (ORM) we get such questions often. They are

logical questions. They deserve an answer.

Consider this. The police chief of a major American city, a leader in community

reconciliation, recently confessed to one of us a lapse in judgment. He had sat down at a

restaurant where the waiter serving him was Turkish. Suddenly, deeply buried resentments inside

the chief’s psyche rose to the surface. He proceeded to make life miserable for the young waiter.

Why?

The chief was of Armenian descent. Inside him were deep feelings he had heard around the

family table concerning the Armenian genocide, one of the 20th century’s most heinous crimes.

“The Turks have never apologized for that episode,” the chief told one of us. “Still, that was no

excuse for my behavior toward that young man.”

Events 100 years old came hurtling out of the past as if they were wounds from yesterday.

“Land of the living past”

Remember “ethnic cleansing”?

In the 1990s, millions of people in the Balkans found themselves caught up in hatreds and

resentments that went back to squabbles and atrocities of the 1300s. One journalist called this

area “the land of the living past.”

In writer William Faulkner’s words, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.”

Ancient hatreds and animosities still exist. The trouble is already out there walking around.

The dead hand of the past is not so dead. People still living carry around bitter folk memories of

wrongs inflicted on their ancestors, wounds that have been passed on down. A phrase from

Exodus 20:5 comes to mind: “the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Hatreds take on a life of their own—the Capulets and the Montagues in “Romeo and Juliet;”

the Hatfields and the McCoys in early America. In Bosnia the hurt went marching down the

generations.

In the face of deeply rooted hatreds, can a simple apology be of much help?

“Attitudes have a kind of inertia,” wrote M. Scott Peck. “Once set in motion they will keep

going, even in the face of the evidence. To change an attitude requires a considerable amount of

work and suffering.”

“Work and suffering.” That’s the hard part. So where to begin? Who is responsible for

trying to break such cycles of hatred? The dead? Obviously not. Who, then, will step into the

breach, and how?

Sins of the fathers?

Many counselors believe that an indispensable first step in shutting down any cycle of

hatred is to work toward an apology. “What—a simple apology?” Wait. No apology is simple.

That’s why it has to be “worked towards.” It’s a process. It requires emotional and spiritual

commitment on the part of the one offering it—and for the injured party to accept it. Which is to

say that neither mercy nor forgiveness are easy. On anyone’s part.

Jesus alluded to this in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar

and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of

the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Consider this: Only humble people—the meek—can offer a sincere apology.

Attitudes unchecked go from bad to worse. They harden into obsessions. On the national

scene they often show up as crusades, vendettas, pogroms, purges—the ugly lexicon of hate.

“Can a living generation be held accountable for what their ancestors did?”

But what about things that happened generations ago? Can a living generation be held

accountable for what their ancestors did? Apparently so. 2 Samuel 21 records a severe famine in

Israel in the time of King David. David sought God’s advice. He was told: “It is on account of

Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” Centuries before,

the Gibeonites had been promised protection as resident aliens in Israel (Joshua 9:15). Saul had

broken that pledge. Now David’s generation was paying the price. “David asked the Gibeonites,

‘What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends…”

Offenses are personal. To deal with them often takes a personal response. Even on the

parental level we can see the power of an apology. When a father or mother or minister sincerely

apologizes to a young person for overreacting harshly, immense goodwill can be created. It

thaws out the frozen relationship where everyone stumbles around in a half-evasive daze, not

sure of what to do next.

Breaking the cycle

Eveleyne O’Callahan Burkhard, a reconciliation specialist in Ireland with experience in

Cambodia, said, “The first step towards peace is to talk truthfully about what went wrong.” That

takes courage. A sincere apology often clears the air. “I’m sorry we’re having this problem.”

Where wrongdoing is deeply layered it takes stamina to break down barriers. “There are many

examples in history of nations who have tried to bury rather than face the past,” added Burkhard.

“If we try to ignore or bury the past it will haunt us and may even destroy us.”

Forgiveness is an act of release. It can be graciously extended after a generous apology is

offered. But when there is a refusal to admit that someone somewhere did something very

wrong, relationships remain frozen. Human nature being what it is, the next step is often to

blame the victims for inflating the situation. “You’re making it up. It’s not that bad.”

And so, the cycle continues. The sickness remains. But the good news is that there is a better

way. It often begins with an apology.

The Office of Reconciliation & Mediation, a ministry of Grace Communion International,

promotes reconciliation between different ethnic and people groups. Contact them at:

www.atimetoreconcile.org

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Modern Slavery – The Unheard Cries

By Curtis May and Neil Earle

Mention the word “slavery” and what comes to mind? Probably Abraham Lincoln and the

Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Or perhaps the long struggle of men and women such as

William Wilberforce to end Britain’s transatlantic slave trade in 1807.

Unfortunately, the systematic abuse of human persons bought and sold for the profits of

their service—legal and otherwise—is still very much with us. Consider these facts:

• There are 27 million human beings trapped in some form of human trafficking or cruel and abusive labor practices today, half of them children under the age of 18.

• 800,000 human beings are bought, sold or forced across international boundaries for exploitative purposes every year.

• Unscrupulous child labor “employers” abuse an estimated 126 million children around the world.

• In the United States, attorneys from the Department of Justice have prosecuted “slave trade” activities in 91 cities and in nearly every state.

• Between 1998 and 2000, more than 50,000 women and children from Latvia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Thailand, China, Russia and Mexico were brought into the United States to work as sex slaves.1

These shocking facts fly in the face of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and

the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and

Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Slavery has morphed, learning to fly under the

radar, but the misery it creates is unchanged. People in poor or war-torn countries are often lured

with fake visas and passes into a foreign country by an unscrupulous “employer” who controls

them through propaganda, mental or physical abuse or the threat of being handed over to the

authorities.

Modern slaves are not invisible. They could be as close as the back room of your favorite

restaurant or the construction site you pass every day.

In August 1995, Californians were shocked to learn of 72 garment workers held for seven

years in a roach-infested apartment complex behind a wire fence in a thriving suburb of

metropolitan Los Angeles. The workers, mostly women from Thailand, were promised high-

paying sewing jobs in the United States. On arrival their passports were confiscated and they

were forced to work 16-hour shifts for 70 cents an hour in a suburban garage with no ventilation

and behind shuttered windows. The slaveholders established a commissary where a bar of soap

sold for $20 and a bag of rice for $10. There was seemingly no escape.

New definitions/old problems

Thanks to an alert citizenry, the Southern California case made the headlines and became a

case study in modern slavery—working under mental or physical threats and/or abuse,

dehumanization, physical constraint and restriction. Today “bonded labor” is quite common in

the twilight zone of human misery. This refers to hapless individuals being conned into taking

loans, perhaps to pay for medicine for a sick child. People sign on to pay the debt and never get

out of servitude for the price of food and shelter. David Batstone estimates there are at least 15

million bonded slaves in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

The world refugee crisis has made the problem worse. European Union agents find

themselves awash in the flood of 120,000 women and children trafficked from Africa or the

former Soviet Union. Ninety percent end up coerced into Europe’s proliferating sex industry.

Handsome profits are made from unpaid servitude, perhaps as much as $9.5 billion each year.

It is reminiscent of the words of Ecclesiastes: “I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they

have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors—and they have no comforter. And

I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive”

(Ecclesiastes 4:1-2).

Get involved

The good news is that concerned voices—Christian and otherwise—are beginning to rise up

against these abuses. Modern-day abolitionists have been active in everything from starting

micro-enterprises to creating sustainable jobs for ex-slaves or discreetly researching overseas

projects connected to their companies, suppliers or subcontractors. Some businesses have been

persuaded by anti-slavery advocates to formally pledge zero tolerance for human trafficking and

to enhance or institute anti-slavery laws.

David Arkless of Manpower, the world’s largest private employer, is one of them. He was

so shocked by the extent of modern-day exploitation that he launched a one-man campaign to get

the world’s top corporations to sign the Athens Declaration against human trafficking.

To get started in this humanitarian outreach, contact www.antislavery.org, the world’s oldest

international human rights organization. Christian groups involved include the Salvation Army

(www.salvationarmy.org), Sojourners (www.sojo.net) and various agencies of World Vision

(www.worldvision.org).

With the help of these and other groups, Christians can organize, advertise the problem, set

up a booth in the back of the church, write letters, and make some noise in their communities.

Sometimes we read history and sometimes we are called on to make history. Our choices

will be noted by future generations, just as Christians today are inspired by the Wilberforces and

abolitionists who went before them. The words of Christ are a call to action: “He has sent me to

proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). May we answer the call! •

1 Sources: David Batstone, Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It;

Kevin Bales, Disposable People; John McKay et al., A History of World Societies: Volume B, pages 610-611.

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The Audacity to Hope

By Jeffrey Broadnax

I hadn’t yet been born when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pricked the conscience of the nation

with the audacity to hope that America would live out the true meaning of its creed that “all men

are created equal.”

Less than three weeks after I entered the world, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting

Rights Act of 1965. With the stroke of a pen, he granted fair and equal access for people of color

to exercise their right to vote. This mandated full payment of the check known as the Fifteenth

Amendment and an end to a century of justice denied.

In April 1968, a few months before my third birthday, a single gunshot echoed on a

Memphis balcony, accentuating a seismic paradigm shift that had reverberated through the

conscience and culture of American society. The shot may have silenced the dreamer, but the

seeds of Dr. King’s God-inspired vision of imminent entry into the “promised land” had already

been planted.

I am amazed that 40 years after people with the audacity to believe things could change bore

signs declaring “I Am a Man,” they can now bear signs declaring “Change We Can Believe In”

as they elect the first black President of the United States of America.

As an African-American male, I am humbled by the sweat, tears and blood of those whose

impassioned struggle enabled my children and me to live in a nation where we are judged

primarily by the content of our character. I burst with pride to realize that now for young blacks

“President of the United States” is no longer a pipe-dream answer to the question, “What do you

want to be when you grow up?”

How blessed I have been to grow up able to drink from any water fountain, gain any level of

education, ride any bus, buy any house, speak to any person and be an advocate for any cause

within my sphere of reference. My greatest joy, however, is knowing that God granted me the

ability not only to taste the fruit of the promised land called “equality,” but he equipped me, as a

pastor, to be a tour guide and an ambassador of his love, justice and peace.

As I watch President Obama be sworn in, I feel my heart, my history, my hopes and my

cultural passport indelibly stamped with the term “American.” At last the weave of history seems

to be blending black, brown, yellow, red, white and blue into one beautiful tapestry of hope.

The man who had the audacity to hope that a majority of Americans would embrace his

vision and vote for him despite color, race, name or party affiliation put his hand on the Bible

with his wife and two daughters by his side and swore to lead this nation into its God-ordained

future.

January 20, 2009, marked a new beginning. In the shadow of such luminaries as George

Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, President Barack Obama’s swearing in

synthesized a segregated American past, an integrated American present and a united American

future.

I pray that the novelty of his being the first African-American President will be eclipsed by

the content of his character. I pray his vision, his leadership, and his convictions will be seen

through his diverse upbringing and not simply the color of his skin.

I am hopeful about President Obama and excited for our generation and the generations to

follow. As I reflect on 1968 and Dr. King’s “I have seen the Promised Land” speech, it thrills me

that one more obstacle to equality for African Americans has been hurdled.

I find myself wondering how things must have changed for the Israelites when after 40 long

years of wandering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land they finally entered it.

Forty years of experience had to be converted to wisdom and action as they were no longer mere

travelers, but vested inhabitants and stewards of a great responsibility.

I think that today, like Israel, we must embrace and remember our long journey even as we

enter the new land with all the resolve and courage we can muster. There are giants in the land,

but in joy and determination we must trust God and persevere.

I believe America should feel empowered by President Obama’s election. We have a fresh

opportunity to further unite these United States of America, and if we will, we can also have the

audacity to believe that God has granted ours and future generations the strength to share, at

home and abroad, true liberty and justice for all.

Jeff Broadnax is pastor of a GCI congregation in Ohio.

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The African-American Church in America

By Paul Kroll

“Eleven o’clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour, and Sunday school is still the

most segregated school of the week,” is an oft-quoted statement from Martin Luther King Jr.

(1929-1968). King was referring to the fact that during his lifetime most African-Americans

worshiped in congregations and churches mainly or entirely composed of black people.

These African-American churches’ roots go back to the North and South of the

Revolutionary War period of the 1760s and 1770s. Like whites, blacks also began to come to

Christ during the religious revivalism of the period.

African-Americans shared a common belief with European-American evangelicals that the

biblical account of God’s past dealings with the world offered clues to the meaning of life in

America. But, there was a difference. White Protestants often likened America to the Promised

Land — the New Israel — a “city set on a hill.” Black worshipers were more likely to see

America as Egypt — as the land of their captivity. They longed for their own emancipation, just

as God had delivered ancient Israel in the Exodus.

This desire for emancipation eventually led to the African-American church movement.

Blacks in the Methodist church took the lead in creating independent denominations.

In the Revolutionary period, the impetus for blacks to have their own churches owes much

to the work of Richard Allen. He was a former slave and deacon-elder at the integrated St.

George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia. In 1787, Allen with Absalom Jones organized the

Free African Society in Philadelphia. Allen founded the all-black Mother Bethel African

Methodist Episcopal Church in 1791, after Jones and he left St. George’s over its segregationist

practice of relegating black members to the church balcony during worship services.

Over time, growing numbers of African-Americans formed their own congregations. In

1816, representatives of these congregations joined to form the African Methodist Episcopal

Church (A.M.E. church), with Allen as the first bishop. The most significant growth of this

church occurred during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

African-American churches took up what has been their historical mission to care for the

spiritual and physical needs of black people, since they were neglected and discriminated against

by white society. Yet, they did not forget the ultimate mission of the church — to make disciples

in all nations and among all peoples. The A.M.E. church sees its mission in this way: “To

minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional and environmental needs of all people

by spreading Christ’s liberating gospel through word and deed…that is, to seek out and save the

lost, and serve the needy.”

African-American churches have been a bulwark in the black community — a refuge from

the larger, cruel world. Richard Wright, in his book 12 Million Black Voices, wrote: “It is only

when we are within the walls of our churches that we are wholly ourselves, that we keep alive a

sense of our personalities in relation to the total world in which we live.”

The black church was also a sanctuary for praise and worship of Christ. Here members

could express themselves freely and unite culturally in their beliefs and life practices. As

worshipful communities, African-American Christians saw their relationship with Jesus as the

bedrock of a faith that gave them hope for a better future.

By the late 1950s, a generation of African-Americans began to drift away from the church.

The relevance of the church was dealt a serious blow, as many urban youths felt it no longer had

anything to offer — that it did not speak to the reality of their lives.

However, the African-American church continues to be for many black people the place of

worship and source of strength, though it is much more diverse than it once was.

The Sunday service may still be a time when people of different racial backgrounds to some

degree are segregated, as Martin Luther King Jr. observed. However, today even most

exclusively black churches have made connections to the larger Christian community and serve

black people as well as people of all races in ministry and the gospel of Christ.

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The Life and Times of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

By Paul Kroll

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a major leader of the civil rights movement beginning

in the mid-1950s. Americans celebrate his birthday as a national holiday each January, recalling

the struggle to end racism and bigotry in America. King was an eloquent Baptist minister who

advocated and participated in nonviolent means to achieve civil right for blacks and equality for

all.

King received a bachelor of divinity degree from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951 and

earned a doctor of philosophy degree from Boston University in 1955. He came from a long line

of Baptist ministers. His father was pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, and in 1960,

King moved to the city to pastor his father’s congregation. King was chosen as the first president

of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957.

In 1963, he was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, after a nonviolent protest that led to a

confrontation with Public Safety Commissioner “Bull” Connor and municipal authorities. While

in jail, King was criticized by a group of white clergymen who blamed him for inciting the

violence and who voiced concerns about his civil rights strategy. It was then that he penned his

“Letter From a Birmingham Jail.”

King ended his letter with these words: “I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also

hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an

integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all

hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of

misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant

tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their

scintillating beauty.”

Then in August 1963 came King’s most soaring and hopeful civil rights rally on the steps of

the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Here he delivered his rallying “I Have a Dream”

speech.”

For his work to end segregation and discrimination, King was awarded the Nobel Peace

Prize in 1964. King was only 35 years old when he accepted the prize in December of that year

on behalf of all who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, making him the youngest

recipient of the award in history.

But the seeds of human hatred and bitterness cut short King’s life less than four years later.

On April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee,

he was shot to death by James Earl Ray. King was only 39 years old. Though he did not waver

from his position and practice that nonviolence must remain the approach of the civil rights

movement, he died a martyr’s death from an assassin’s bullet.

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William Wilberforce:

Christian Abolitionist, Reformer, Statesman

By Paul Kroll

“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and

the reformation of manners,” said William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the man who would be the

driving force in the ultimate end of slavery in the British Empire.

When Wilberforce was born, English traders were raiding the African coast, capturing tens

of thousands of Africans yearly and shipping them across the Atlantic into slavery. An estimated

one in four died in route.

The economies of the British colonies depended on the slave trade. A promoter of the West

Indies trade wrote, “The impossibility of doing without slaves in the West Indies will always

prevent this traffic being dropped.”

As a young man, Wilberforce wasn’t aware of the horrors of the slave trade. After attending

St. John’s College, Cambridge, he decided on a political career. At age 21, he won a seat in the

House of Commons from his hometown, Hull. Small and frail, Wilberforce suffered throughout

his life from various ailments, sometimes being bedridden for weeks and on several occasions at

death’s door.

Conversion to Christ

In 1784, at age 25, Wilberforce became an evangelical Christian within the Anglican

Church. He questioned whether he could pursue politics and remain a Christian.

Wilberforce’s spiritual mentor was evangelical minister John Newton (1725-1807), writer of

“Amazing Grace,” and former slave trader captain. He encouraged him to remain in politics,

saying, “It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and

the good of the nation.”

Once Wilberforce learned of the evils of the slave trade, he devoted his life to its abolition.

He wrote: “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the Trade’s wickedness appear that my

own mind was completely made up for abolition.”

In 1787, abolitionists Sir Charles and Lady Middleton persuaded Wilberforce to use his

political influence as a Member of Parliament (MP) to legislate against the slave trade. He joined

the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, allying himself with such dedicated

abolitionists as Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846).

Wilberforce became associated with the “Clapham Sect” called “the Saints.” Members were

Christ-centered, Anglican evangelicals, influential in government and business. The group

included such abolitionist luminaries as Granville Sharp, Zachary Macaulay, Hannah More and

Thomas Clarkson. Wilberforce became the parliamentary “lightning rod” and team-building

leader of this group of Christian reformers. John Venn, rector of Clapham parish church, was

their chaplain.

The struggle and partial victory

In May 1788, Wilberforce introduced a 12-point motion to Parliament to abolish the slave

trade. The motion was defeated as planters, businessmen, ship owners, traditionalists, MPs and

the Crown opposed him.

The abolitionists, having to decide whether to attack the slavery institution or the slave

trade, chose the latter course. Wilberforce educated himself on its evils and gave his first

parliamentary speech in May 1789, a three-and-a-half-hour marathon. “I have proved that, upon

every ground, total abolition [of the trade] ought to take place,” he told Parliament. But

legislators were unswayed and buried his motion in committee for two years. Then, in 1791, the

bill to abolish the slave trade was put to a vote in Commons and defeated by a landslide, 163 to

88.

Wilberforce now understood the struggle would be long and bitter. He unsuccessfully

reintroduced abolition bills regularly during the 1790s. The early years of the new century were

also quite bleak for the abolitionists, as all legislation introduced in Parliament against the slave

trade failed to win passage. Then, the tide turned.

On February 23, 1807 Parliament voted in favor of Wilberforce’s Abolition of the Slave

Trade Act. Passing overwhelmingly, first in Lords and then in Commons by nearly an 18 to 1

margin, the bill received Royal Assent and became law on March 25, 1807.

Through the efforts of Wilberforce, members of the Clapham Sect and others, the slave trade

was declared illegal in the British Empire. Wilberforce wept for joy. Eighteen years he had

fought the good fight in Parliament. The struggle was not over, however. Although the slave

trade was illegal, it still flourished, and slavery itself remained in the British colonies.

Complete victory

Some abolitionists argued that the only way to stop slavery was to make slavery itself

illegal. Wilberforce was convinced of this, but also correctly understood there was little political

will for emancipation at the time. He also feared that a sudden abolition of slavery would be

disastrous for both slaves and society.

Wilberforce decided legislation was needed to plug holes in the anti-slave trade law. He

pushed for a Slave Registration Bill with other abolitionists, arguing that if a slave was

registered, authorities could prove whether the slave was recently transported from Africa. The

measure was not executed or enforced.

Finally, Wilberforce joined the campaign to end the institution of slavery, but his health was

deteriorating. Unable to campaign vigorously as he had against the slave trade, in 1821 he

offered leadership of the parliamentary anti-slavery crusade to Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786-

1845), an MP, abolitionist, social reformer and fellow evangelical.

In March 1825, at age 66, failing health forced Wilberforce’s retirement from Parliament.

His last public appearance for the abolition cause was at a meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in

1830. While Buxton, Clarkson and others were equally important to the abolitionist cause,

Wilberforce had played the key role, as team builder and inspirational, visionary leader.

Near death, on July 26, 1833, Wilberforce received wonderful news. The Slavery Abolition

Bill ending slavery throughout the British Empire had passed the Commons, with passage

assured in Lords. All slaves throughout the Empire would be freed and plantation owners would

be compensated. Wilberforce said, “Thank God that I have lived to witness a day in which

England is willing to give twenty millions sterling for the abolition of slavery.”

Three days later, Wilberforce died.

The Slavery Abolition Bill became law August 29, 1833, and came into force a year later,

abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire. On July 31, 1834, one year after Wilberforce’s

death, 800,000 slaves, chiefly in the British West Indies, were “free at last.”

A generation later, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation

freeing slaves in the United States. With the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on

December 6, 1865, the institution of slavery in America came to an end

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Divided by Faith

Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America

by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith

Reviewed by Terry Akers

As a new century emerges in black-white relations in America, sociologists Michael O.

Emerson of Rice University and Christian Smith of the University of North Carolina have

written a book examining evangelicalism’s role in this 300-year-old American dilemma.

Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, published by

Oxford University Press in 2000, is not a theological book, but it seeks to expose certain

theological weaknesses in American evangelicalism.

The purpose of this study is to educate American evangelicals toward a deeper thinking

regarding race relations — beyond the cultural tools and what they view as simplistic solutions

that have shaped a mostly one-dimensional worldview over the last several centuries.

Emerson and Smith discuss how evangelical preconceptions cause them to miss the fuller

picture in the multifaceted and complex nature of this sociological condition that exists despite

government’s and religion’s best intentions and efforts to heal it. Their analysis argues that

certain weaknesses in evangelical thought actually cause, to some extent, the perpetuation of the

very racial divisions they minister against and oppose.

As stated in the front flap, “despite their good intentions, evangelicals may actually be

preserving America’s racial chasm.” It goes on to say that “most white evangelicals see no

systematic discrimination against blacks; indeed, they deny the existence of any ongoing racial

problem in the United States.”

Evangelicals blame such things as the liberal media, the black culture, unethical black

leaders and the inability of African Americans to get over the past. The authors argue, however,

that these attitudes are the natural outgrowth of their theological worldview rooted in

individualism, free will, personal relationships, anti-structuralism and premillennial eschatology

— the belief that world conditions will only worsen until Christ returns — so there is no need to

bother with social issues.

This, along with the isolation experienced in their mostly segregated churches and

neighborhoods, makes it difficult for white evangelicals to see the pervasive and systematic

injustice that perpetuates inequality, going on every day in the real world of Black America.

Since the great civil rights legislation of the 1960s, the authors contend that there has been

little improvement in black-white relations in America. They seek, through education, to engage

the evangelical community sociologically, in the issue of race in America, so they will become a

more dynamic force toward an eventual real solution. They point out, on the one hand, the

ineffectiveness of the structural remedies of government-administered programs, but also the

incomplete spiritual resolutions offered by evangelicals.

This, they claim, is the result of their honest but simplistic, one-dimensional thinking. The

professors suggest that evangelicals incorporate the sociological dimension into their spiritual

faith, and begin challenging the social systems that promote discrimination and racialization.

The authors recognize the importance of racial reconciliation (repentance and forgiveness)

as a critical first step to improving race relations in America. They go on to demonstrate that the

real healing and peace that occur beyond initial reconciliation can come only through the internal

healing that is provided in the gospel of grace.

For evangelicals, this means moving beyond a mere identification of the gospel to its

internalization. For secular society, it means realizing that all human-based efforts will fail and

the pain of racialization can only be relieved through the cross of Christ. After conversion, the

old ways no longer work — true racial healing comes only through God’s redemptive work in

new creation.

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Making History in Montana

By Mike Wallace

Between 2004 and 2006, the United States commemorated the unforgettable journey made

by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery that explored the hitherto

unknown northwest. Through a series of special events, many Americans retraced this epic

adventure. As president of the area chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation

(LCTHF), I was among those responsible for organizing the local bicentennial commemorative

events. We planned a reenactment and a celebration. What happened was more than that—much

more.

In September 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition camped for several days in what is now

Travelers Rest State Park, in western Montana. After 10 years of archaeological research, our

chapter discovered the only scientifically verifiable campsite along the 8,000-mile trail. So, as

the bicentennial date approached, we planned appropriate commemoration activities in Travelers

Rest State Park at the very campsite used by the original expedition.

We were joined by members of the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, led by Bud Clark,

great-great-grandson of Captain William Clark. They set up camp beside us in the park, and we

quickly melded into one large Lewis and Clark living history re-enactment brigade.

The festivities began on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 8. Hundreds of school-age children

arrived by bus. Our job was to show visitors how Lewis and Clark's corps survived on the trail.

The day was hot and we were tired, but things went well.

Next day, Sept. 9, was the big day. Exactly 200 years earlier Lewis and Clark were right

here in our park. A formal, awe-inspiring salute was led by “Captain Clark” and “Captain Lewis”

of the Discovery Expedition from St. Charles. For one full minute we stood at attention in

silence, lost in our own private thoughts on the spot where Lewis and Clark had stood 200 years

before.

The Salish Powwow

That evening, several of us proceeded down the Bitterroot Valley to participate in another

event, at the Salish Powwow grounds three miles south of Sula, Montana. Two hundred years

and six days previously, Lewis and Clark had struggled out of the Lost Trail Pass area only to

run into the Salish peoples near what is now called Ross’s Hole, Montana.

Like Lewis and Clark, we camped near the Indians and not with them. We were asked by the

Salish to camp about 300 yards up the hill from the circle of the powwow. About 7 p.m. we went

down to the powwow and were welcomed by the Salish people. We danced with them until late

into the night accompanied by their songs and the beating of their drums. We finally retired to

our camp for some much-needed rest, but down the hill the dancing and drums continued. Drum,

drum, drum … drum, drum, drum.

At 1 p.m., the Salish powwow began again, and the elders invited us to participate with the

entire tribe in a special ceremony—the sacred Snake Dance. We felt humbled to be included in

an event so meaningful for the Salish. We were being welcomed with the kindness and

friendship the Salish have traditionally had for all people. Sadly, that kindness and friendship has

not always been returned.

Johnnie Arlee, one of the Salish tribal elders, began to recite the story of the original

meeting of Lewis and Clark with his ancestors near this spot. He explained how the lives of all

the Salish began to change the day the white man descended from the mountains and bartered for

horses.

As he spoke, we, the modern representatives of the Corps of Discovery came into the center

of the circle of drums. Three chiefs met us. As Johnnie Arlee continued to narrate the story from

the Salish perspective, the ceremony began. The chiefs greeted us in friendship, and we returned

their greeting. Then the bartering for horses began. The kinickinick (a smoking mixture made

from bark) was ceremoniously removed from its pouch and lit. Scotty Gardipee, a Salish elder,

waved the smoke over us. We all sat on buffalo and elk robes as the elders lit their ceremonial

pipe and we shared the pipe of peace and friendship.

At first, it was just another reenactment. But somewhere during this ceremony it ceased to

be acting and became new Montana history. Two hundred years and six days after Lewis and

Clark had smoked the pipe of peace, we repeated this act. Two descendants of the original Corps

of Discovery and several Salish descendants of the original Native Americans of 200 years ago,

together again, at peace in friendship.

God asks us to be peacemakers, to seek to make peace with our neighbors (compare Matt.

5:9). We can preach the true gospel of Jesus by our positive actions to build bridges of kindness

and friendship. I was lost in the moment. What started as a reenactment became a moment of real

reconciliation. When it came time to leave our Salish friends, it was hard to go.

Next day was the last day of our part in the bicentennial activities. Sept. 11 now has a

special meaning for Americans. But in 1805 it was just another day of the year, as Lewis, Clark

and the entire Corps of Discovery headed up the mountain to the west. May the next 200 years

be more peaceful than the last. In 2205, may my great-great-great-grandchildren be part of

something so rare and special.

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About the Authors

At the time of writing, Dan Rogers was the director of Church Administration &

Development for Grace Communion International. He received his doctorate in church history

from Union Institute & University in 2007. He now teaches at Grace Communion Seminary.

Curtis May is the director of the Office of Reconciliation and Mediation, a ministry outreach

of Grace Communion International. Neil Earle was a pastor in Glendora, California, and editor

of ORM’s newsletter, Reconcile. He also teaches church history at Grace Communion Seminary.

Jeffrey Broadnax is a GCI pastor in Ohio. Paul Kroll was a journalist who worked for Grace

Communion International; he is now retired. Terry Akers worked with Personal Correspondence

for GCI.

About the Publisher…

Grace Communion International is a Christian denomination with about 50,000 members,

worshiping in about 900 congregations in almost 100 nations and territories. We began in 1934

and our main office is in North Carolina. In the United States, we are members of the National

Association of Evangelicals and similar organizations in other nations. We welcome you to visit

our website at www.gci.org.

If you want to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we offer help. First, we offer

weekly worship services in hundreds of congregations worldwide. Perhaps you’d like to visit us.

A typical worship service includes songs of praise, a message based on the Bible, and

opportunity to meet people who have found Jesus Christ to be the answer to their spiritual quest.

We try to be friendly, but without putting you on the spot. We do not expect visitors to give

offerings—there’s no obligation. You are a guest.

To find a congregation, write to one of our offices, phone us or visit our website. If we do

not have a congregation near you, we encourage you to find another Christian church that

teaches the gospel of grace.

We also offer personal counsel. If you have questions about the Bible, salvation or Christian

living, we are happy to talk. If you want to discuss faith, baptism or other matters, a pastor near

you can discuss these on the phone or set up an appointment for a longer discussion. We are

convinced that Jesus offers what people need most, and we are happy to share the good news of

what he has done for all humanity. We like to help people find new life in Christ, and to grow in

that life. Come and see why we believe it’s the best news there could be!

Our work is funded by members of the church who donate part of their income to support

the gospel. Jesus told his disciples to share the good news, and that is what we strive to do in our

literature, in our worship services, and in our day-to-day lives.

If this e-book has helped you and you want to pay some expenses, all donations are

gratefully welcomed, and in several nations, are tax-deductible. If you can’t afford to give

anything, don’t worry about it. It is our gift to you. To make a donation online, go to

www.gci.org/participate/donate.

Thank you for letting us share what we value most — Jesus Christ. The good news is too

good to keep it to ourselves.

See our website for hundreds of articles, locations of our churches, addresses in various

nations, audio and video messages, and much more.

Grace Communion International3129 Whitehall Park Dr.

Charlotte, NC 28273-3335

1-800-423-4444www.gci.org

You’re Included…

We talk with leading Trinitarian theologians about the good news that God loves you, wants

you, and includes you in Jesus Christ. Most programs are about 28 minutes long. Our guests

have included:

Ray Anderson, Fuller Theological Seminary Douglas A. Campbell, Duke Divinity SchoolElmer Colyer, U. of Dubuque Theological Seminary Gordon Fee, Regent CollegeTrevor Hart, University of St. AndrewsGeorge Hunsinger, Princeton Theological SeminaryJeff McSwain, Reality Ministries Paul Louis Metzger, Multnomah UniversityPaul Molnar, St. John’s UniversityCherith Fee Nordling, Antioch Leadership NetworkAndrew Root, Luther SeminaryAlan Torrance, University of St. AndrewsRobert T. Walker, Edinburgh UniversityN.T. Wright, University of St. AndrewsWilliam P. Young, author of The Shack

Programs are available free for viewing and downloading at www.youreincluded.org.

Speaking of Life…

Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, comments each week,

giving a biblical perspective on how we live in the light of God's love. Most programs are about

three minutes long – available in video, audio, and text. Go to www.speakingoflife.org.

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Grace Communion Seminary

Ministry based on the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Grace Communion Seminary serves the needs of people engaged in Christian service who

want to grow deeper in relationship with our Triune God and to be able to more effectively serve

in the church.

Why study at Grace Communion Seminary?

• Worship: to love God with all your mind.

• Service: to help others apply truth to life.

• Practical: a balanced range of useful topics for ministry.

• Trinitarian theology: a survey of theology with the merits of a Trinitarian perspective. We

begin with the question, “Who is God?” Then, “Who are we in relationship to God?” In

this context, “How then do we serve?”

• Part-time study: designed to help people who are already serving in local congregations.

There is no need to leave your current ministry. Full-time students are also welcome.

• Flexibility: your choice of master’s level continuing education courses or pursuit of a

degree: Master of Pastoral Studies or Master of Theological Studies.

• Affordable, accredited study: Everything can be done online.

For more information, go to www.gcs.edu. Grace Communion Seminary is accredited by the

Distance Education Accrediting Commission, www.deac.org. The Accrediting Commission is

listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

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Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

Want to better understand God’s Word? Want to know the Triune God more deeply? Want

to share more joyously in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit? Want to be better equipped to

serve others?

Among the many resources that Grace Communion International offers are the training and

learning opportunities provided by ACCM. This quality, well-structured Christian Ministry

curriculum has the advantage of being very practical and flexible. Students may study at their

own pace, without having to leave home to undertake full-time study.

This denominationally recognized program is available for both credit and audit study. At

minimum cost, this online Diploma program will help students gain important insights and

training in effective ministry service. Students will also enjoy a rich resource for personal study

that will enhance their understanding and relationship with the Triune God.

Diploma of Christian Ministry classes provide an excellent introductory course for new and

lay pastors. Pastor General Dr. Joseph Tkach said, “We believe we have achieved the goal of

designing Christian ministry training that is practical, accessible, interesting, and doctrinally and

theologically mature and sound. This program provides an ideal foundation for effective

Christian ministry.”

For more information, go to www.ambascol.org

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