CS251 History and Theology of the African American Church
Overview
The African-American church arose in a unique context. History and Theology of the African American Church (CS251) examines that context, taking into account the impact of the Civil War, the African-American missions movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the challenges that the African-American church faced in the twentieth century. An encouraging part of the course is seeing how the theology of the African-American church provided the foundation for the civil rights movement. The course concludes with a discussion of current challenges within the African-American church and the need for new models to meet those challenges.
Top Highlights
“It is estimated that about fifteen million Africans were captured for the slave trade over the three hundred years of American slavery. Females did not equal males until 1840.” (source)
“The church grew by leaps and bounds in Africa. As a matter of fact, at one time in northern Africa, the church had over five hundred bishops. Another great thing that we know is that some of the great church fathers, the great minds of the early church were Africans; Tertullian, Origen, and Augustine were all Africans. If it wasn’t for Augustine, we would not have had great theologians like Calvin, because Calvin got a lot of his ideas from Augustine. Athanasius was another one—from Alexandria.” (source)
“America never lived up to those core of values, and so, here was a movement that called America, as we will say, to covenant faithfulness.” (source)
“Now, in that kind of an atmosphere, are you going to teach your kids about dignity, identity, and significance, which might result in their death; or are you going to withhold those secrets from them, so they can at least survive? So, what happened then? In the South, the theology of empowerment was abandoned. And the church in the South reverted to the old theology of suffering, which developed during slavery. In essence, the church was forced to accommodate to the new racist situation in the South. And as a result, the church lost its prophetic voice, in terms of the current situation.” (source)
“The slaves were able to identify with the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. So, you had this theology of suffering that was couched in the exodus paradigm and that—so, you have the praxis and you have the biblical paradigm, and together those produced a theology.” (source)
- Title: CS251 History and Theology of the African American Church
- Author: Carl F. Ellis Jr.
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: African American churches; African Americans › Religion; Education › African American churches; Education › African Americans--Religion; Education › Religion and culture--United States; Education › United States--Church history; Religion and culture › United States; United States › Church history
- Resource ID: LLS:CS251ELLIS
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-15T04:27:27Z
Dr. Carl Ellis is the assistant professor of practical theology at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas, and the associate pastor for cultural apologetics at New City Fellowship.
In 1969, Dr. Carl Ellis began his ministry as a senior campus minister with the Tom Skinner Associates in New York. From 1979 to 1989, Dr. Ellis served as the assistant pastor of Forest Park Community Church in Baltimore, Maryland, served on the faculty at Chesapeake Theological Seminary, and as seminary instructor for Prison Fellowship, where he developed and taught “in-prison” and “in-community” seminars for inmates and community volunteers.
Between 1986 and 2009, Dr. Ellis served as an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Urban Theological Studies (CUTS), and as dean of intercultural studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ellis studied under Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri in Hermoz sur Ollon, Switzerland, completed his Masters in Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and holds a DPhil from Oxford Graduate School.