The Talking Book: African Americans and the BibleYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 295 pages A striking narrative of the Bible’s central role in African-American history from the early days of slavery to the present The Talking Book casts the Bible as the central character in a vivid portrait of black America, tracing the origins of African-American culture from slavery’s secluded forest prayer meetings to the bright lights and bold style of today’s hip-hop artists. The Bible has profoundly influenced African Americans throughout history. From a variety of perspectives this wide-ranging book is the first to explore the Bible’s role in the triumph of the black experience. Using the Bible as a foundation, African Americans shared religious beliefs, created their own music, and shaped the ultimate key to their freedom—literacy. Allen Callahan highlights the intersection of biblical images with African-American music, politics, religion, art, and literature. The author tells a moving story of a biblically informed African-American culture, identifying four major biblical images—Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel. He brings these themes to life in a unique African-American history that grows from the harsh experience of slavery into a rich culture that endures as one of the most important forces of twenty-first-century America. |
From inside the book
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... chapters in draft and proposed im- portant suggestions and corrections. I have learned much from each of these kind and learned colleagues. In addition, portions of this manuscript have benefited from the editorial attentions of Missy ...
... chapter on Exile elaborates on thinking reflected in essays I wrote treating the biblical figures Nehemiah and Ezekiel and in a lecture on the biblical imagery of Babylon that I delivered in Cuba in the summer of 2001. I developed the ...
... ; that the judgment of God would be the justice of the slave. From the periphery of a hostile world, slavery's children found that justice at the center of the Bible. CHAPTER ONE The Talking Book And I longed to read XIV PROLOGUE.
African Americans and the Bible Allen Dwight Callahan. CHAPTER ONE The Talking Book And I longed to read my Bible, For precious words it said; But when I begun to learn it, Folks just shook their heads, And said there was no use trying ...
... chapter of John / In the beginning was the word / And the word was with God / And the word was God , ” the opening words of the Gospel of John in the New Testament.1 African Americans first encountered the Bible as strangers in a ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
41 | |
49 | |
5 Exodus | 83 |
6 Ethiopia | 138 |
7 Emmanuel | 185 |
Postscript | 240 |
Notes | 247 |
Subject Index | 275 |
Scripture Index | 284 |