Hopkins contends that the lives of enslaved African Americans were the foundational source of liberating faith and practice for African Americans today. Down, Up, and Over draws on their religious experience, and the example of their faith and witness, to develop a constructive theology of liberation. 
African American belief structures and hope practices blossom from the black folk's religious encounters with God, Hopkins contends. The first half of his ambitious work reconstructs the cultural matrix of African American religion--a total way of life formed by Protestantism, American culture, and the institution of slavery (16191865)--in which racial identities developed. Whites from Europe and blacks from Africa arrived with specific, differing views of God, faith, practice, and humanity. Hopkins recreates their worldviews and how white theology sought to remake African Americans into naturally inferior beings divinely ordained into subservience. The counter voice of enslaved blacks begets the Spirit of Liberation. 
Tracking that Spirit, Hopkins crafts an explicit black theology of the Spirit of Liberation for us (God, chapter 4), with us (Jesus, chapter 5), and in us (human purpose, chapter 6). Out of the crucible of slavery emerge the lineaments of a constructive religious vision: the constitution of a new self and a divinely purposed liberation toward full spiritual and material humanity. 
Hopkins's sweeping vision, impressive scholarship, and astute social analysis make for a fascinating and important volume, one that can help all readers find meaning and purpose in the daunting 350-year pilgrimage of African Americans.

Down, Up, and Over: Slave Religion and Black Theology (New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology)

Politics & Social Sciences

Hopkins, Dwight N.

Social Sciences

Fortress Press

Dwight Hopkins, whose important work in Black Theology has mediated class theological concerns through the prism of African American culture, here offers a fresh take on theological anthropology. Rather than defined "the human" as one eternal or inviolable essence, however, Hopkins looks to the multiple and conflicting notions of the human in contemporary thought, and particularly three key variables: culture, self, and race. Hopkins' critical reframing of these concepts firmly locates human endeavor, development, transcendence, and liberation in the particular messiness of struggle and strife.

Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion

Anthropology

Whether concerned with health, law, ethics, social relations, or relationship with God, religious thought today runs squarely into the question: what does it mean to be human? Dwight Hopkins, whose important work in Black Theology has mediated classic theological concerns through the prism of African American culture, here offers a fresh take on theological anthropology. Rather than defining "the human" as one eternal or inviolable essence, however, Hopkins looks to the multiple and conflicting notions of the human in contemporary thought, and particularly three key variables: culture, self, and race.What in a traditional framework were seen as "accidents" now take center stage, and Hopkins's critical reframing of these concepts firmly locates human endeavor, development, transcendence, and liberation in the particular messiness of struggle and strife. This major work from a leading black theologian frames the debate about being human in a way that opens rather than closes our self-questioning.

Being Human: Race, Culture And Religion

Through a critical analysis of leading religious thinkers, Hopkins explores the fundamental differences and similarities between black theology in the United States and black theology in South Africa.

Black Theology USA and South Africa: Politics, Culture and Liberation (Bishop Henry Mcneal Turner Studies in North American Black Religion)

Reference

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Orbis Books

Book by Hopkins, Dwight N., Cummings, George C. L.

Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives

History

Cummings, George C. L.

Americas

Original and far-reaching, this book shows the resources for Black theology within the living tradition of African-American religion and culture. Beginning with the slave narratives, Hopkins tells how slaves received their masters' faith and transformed it into a gospel of liberation. Resources include the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

Shoes That Fit Our Feet

Black Theology-Essays on Gender Perspectives

What do African American men have to do with gender? In this collection of riveting and wide-ranging essays, Dwight N. Hopkins draws on over thirty-five years of wrestling with these questions. Too often gender is seen as a "woman's only" discussion. But in reality, men have a gender too. Some say it is biological; others claim it has to do with socialization. Hopkins's career has focused on defining what a black American man is, and how he builds bridges of support and engagement with women. Hopkins's research as a theologian, and his experiences, substantiate that the importance of religious viewpoints, principled values, and future hope remain key to any successful creation of a new African American male and new healthy male-female interactions.

Cascade Books

What do African American men have to do with gender? In this collection of riveting and wide-ranging essays, Dwight N. Hopkins draws on over thirty-five years of wrestling with these questions. Too often gender is seen as a ""woman's only"" discussion. But in reality, men have a gender too. Some say it is biological; others claim it has to do with socialization. Hopkins's career has focused on defining what a black American man is, and how he builds bridges of support and engagement with women.   Hopkins's research as a theologian, and his experiences, substantiate that the importance of religious viewpoints, principled values, and future hope remain key to any successful creation of a new African American male and new healthy male-female interactions. ""Dwight Hopkins' Black Theology: Essays on Gender Perspective is restorative gender justice at-work! . . . Reinterpreting the headline events that reveal the psychosocial vulnerability of Black men, he walks the reader through the traumas with the hope of restoring the dignity of Black manhood. While seeking to recover the degraded Black male body, Hopkins simultaneously advocates gender equality through redefining Black male heteronormativity as a liberating presence that does not diminish other gender identities."" --Lee H. Butler, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor of Theology and Psychology, Founder, Center for the Study of Black Faith and Life, Chicago Theological Seminary Dwight N. Hopkins is Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago. He is the founder of the International Association of Black Religions and Spiritualities, a network of members from India, Japan, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii and the United States, Jamaica, Brazil, England, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. His many books include Teaching Global Theologies (coeditor, 2015), The Cambridge Companion to Black Theology (coeditor, 2012), and Walk Together Children (coeditor, Cascade Books, 2010).

Wipf and Stock

Black Theology-Essays on Global Perspectives

Since its start in 1966, black liberation theology in the United States has continually engaged international developments with Africa and the entire world. But after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, there has been an almost twenty-year break in books on black theology and international affairs. Black Theology--Essays on Global Perspectives bridges that post-1990 gap and makes a vital contact with Africa again. This book conceptualizes black theology to take on the global reconfigurations and opportunities brought about by the rapidly shrinking earth of fast-paced, worldwide contacts. In other words, in the specificity of the genealogy of black theology, we need to reforge ties with Africa. This claim is based on tradition. And in the generality of the larger worldwide intertwining of technologies and economics, we need a new type of black theological leadership for the twenty-first century. This claim is based on today's international challenges. The essays in this book draw on tradition and point forward in the midst of today's worldwide challenges and favorable possibilities, given the closeness of all nations and the varieties of cultures.

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Since its start in 1966, black liberation theology in the United States has continually engaged international developments with Africa and the entire world. But after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, there has been an almost twenty-year break in books on black theology and international affairs. Black Theology--Essays on Global Perspectives bridges that post-1990 gap and makes a vital contact with Africa again.   This book conceptualizes black theology to take on the global reconfigurations and opportunities brought about by the rapidly shrinking earth of fast-paced, worldwide contacts. In other words, in the specificity of the genealogy of black theology, we need to reforge ties with Africa. This claim is based on tradition.   And in the generality of the larger worldwide intertwining of technologies and economics, we need a new type of black theological leadership for the twenty-first century. This claim is based on today's international challenges.   The essays in this book draw on tradition and point forward in the midst of today's worldwide challenges and favorable possibilities, given the closeness of all nations and the varieties of cultures. ""Black Theology--Essays on Global Perspectives displays Dwight Hopkins' unrivaled expertise in the internationalist dimensions of the discipline. Hopkins has always been at the forefront of the global developments in Black, theo-political discourse, from his formative engagement with EATWOT to his founding of the International Association of Black Religions and Spiritualities. This text outlines a lifetime commitment as a Black liberation theologian committed to the emancipation and full life of all marginalized peoples across the globe. The essays in this book outline a bold and imaginative trajectory for Black Theology. This is a must-read."" --Anthony Reddie, Extraordinary Professor, Theological Ethics, The University of South Africa; Editor, Black Theology: An International Journal  ""Black Theology reflects the tremendous breadth and depth of issues that Dwight N. Hopkins has been committed to throughout his accomplished career as a scholar, griot, activist, father, brother, and son. Hopkins represents Black American theology at its best--fierce and hopeful, reflective and expansive, centered and global. This select collection of his essays is deeply contextual, intergenerational, material, and spiritual. His is a stirring testament to the power of progressive theological witness, grounded in the experience of America's communities of Blackness, giving expression to that which is universally human and life-giving."" --Alton B. Pollard, III, Dean and Professor of Religion and Culture, Howard University School of Divinity FOR FRONT MATTER: ""In this text, Dwight Hopkins does a great service to Black Theology: he offers up the global diasporic beginnings of this discourse in order to chart its continued relevancy for today's social justice movements. Such African diasporic consciousness helps one see the interconnected nature of racial, economic, and political struggles around the world. Hopkins looks to the past in order to cast visions of hope for the future of Black Theology."" --Keri Day, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University; Author of Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism ""Black Theology: Essays in Global Perspectives is a revelation. With this work Dwight Hopkins gives us a gift. This intellectual autobiography takes us on the journey that is the diasporan story of Black Theology. Through narrating his intellectual passions as they grow and change over time, Hopkins makes Black Theology a living and breathing project and not just an intellectual curiosity. For this he is to be thanked, many times over."" --Stephen G. Ray, Jr., President, Society for the Study of Black Religion Dwight N. Hopkins is Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago. He is the founder of the International Association of Black Religion

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hopkins, Dwight N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hopkins, Dwight N.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hopkins, Dwight N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Down, Up, and Over: Slave Religion and Black Theology (New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology)

Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion

Being Human: Race, Culture And Religion

Black Theology USA and South Africa: Politics, Culture and Liberation (Bishop Henry Mcneal Turner Studies in North American Black Religion)

Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives

Shoes That Fit Our Feet

Black Theology-Essays on Gender Perspectives

Black Theology-Essays on Gender Perspectives

Black Theology-Essays on Global Perspectives

Black Theology-Essays on Global Perspectives