Yale University Library Research Guides: African American Religious History: Other Case Studies

Biblical Case Studies

Examining the Record: An Exegetical and Homiletical Study of Blacks in the Bible by Alvin A. Jackson Study divided into two parts. Offers nine exegetical studies of Blacks referenced in the Bible, including Ham, Hagar, Zipporah, the Queen of Sheba, Simon of Cyrene, and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Provides thirteen brief treatments as suggested sermon topics.
Race, Racism, and the Biblical Narratives: On Use and Abuse of Sacred Scripture (Online) by Cain Hope Felder A critical essay from Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation written by the project's editor, Cain Hope Felder, now in a concise stand-alone book.
Scriptualizing Revelation: An African American Postcolonial Reading of Empire (Online) by Lynne St Clair Darden Darden's reading of Revelation examines John the Seer's rhetorical strategy, in general, and imperial cult imagery in chapters 4 and 5, in particular, through the lens of an African American scripturalization supplemented by postcolonial theory.
Toward Decentering the New Testament: A Reintroduction by Mitzi J. Smith; Yung Suk Kim An introductory text to the New Testament written by an African American woman biblical scholar and an Asian-American male biblical scholar.

Is God Funky or What?: Black Biblical Culture and Contemporary Popular Music by Theodore W. Burgh Looks at the religious rhetoric and contexts of contemporary popular black music and the religious-based biblical references and spirituality that form the true cultural context from which these genres emerge.
Reading Race, Reading the Bible by Peter T. Nash Considers the emergence of race as a formal category, the ways the Bible addresses racial difference, African roots of Old Testament peoples, and the necessity of deconstructing accepted racial categories as natural in the ancient world. Short, broad treatment of subject matter.
Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family by Cain H. Felder Examines Black heritage in biblical antiquity and contemporary social applications. Employs identity markers of race, class, and family to explore the ways biblical scholarship expanded after 1960.