The Gospel Beyond the Grave: Toward a Black Theology of Hope
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Will Black lives matter beyond the grave--at history’s end and on the day of judgment? In The Gospel Beyond the Grave: Toward a Black Theology of Hope, Lewis Brogdon brings the history and experiences of Black people to bear on eschatology. Not only questioning why Black people have been ignored from the consideration of last things, he argues that a theologically sound eschatology must include a divine reckoning for slavery and racism. Brogdon also gives a fresh contextual lens to Christ’s reconciliatory work that provides hope for our salvation from the sins of racism and a future together in a new heaven and new earth.
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- Brings the history and experiences of Black people to bear on eschatology.
- Argues that a theologically sound eschatology must include a divine reckoning for slavery and racism.
- Gives a fresh contextual lens to Christ's reconciliatory work.
“Lewis Brogdon has written a profound and poignant book that reasserts bold eschatological dimensions into Black theology! From the heartfelt moments of his beloved father’s death to the providential sharing of the cross by the African Simon of Cyrene, Brogdon lays bare the genuine Christian witness of agapic love linked to the reconciliation of earthly injustice and eternal life!”
—Cornel West, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary, New York
“The formerly enslaved Baptist leader William J. Simmons, the eponym of Simmons College of Kentucky (HBCU), described American slavery as the ‘sum of human villainies.’ Slavery was not merely one injustice among many—it was the ultimate manifestation of moral evil and depravity, sustained by its brutal offspring: racial segregation, lynching, economic exploitation, and systemic exclusion. Does the claim that God is equally for both the enslaved and the enslaver render God internally divided? Does the insistence that both the oppressor and the oppressed will ultimately be saved endorse a blind and problematic form of universalism? To dismiss these questions as irrelevant is to retreat into a solipsistic denial of suffering. In The Gospel Beyond the Grave: Toward a Black Theology of Hope, New Testament scholar and theologian Lewis Brogdon confronts these theological tensions head-on, offering a renewed vision of Black theodicy and suffering through an eschatological lens of hope. Not since Major Jones explored a Black theology of hope more than fifty years ago has such a seminal work been written.”
—Kevin Cosby, President, Simmons College of Kentucky
“While white folks in the United States are well-practiced in the art of forgetting, Lewis Brogdon represents a memory community of the living and the dead that dares not forget our shared racial history. Neither, surely, does God forget. With courage and breathtaking scriptural insight, Brogdon presses traditional notions of the eschaton to their heart-rending limits. How will God reconcile the unresolved legacy of racism and white supremacy? Are we prepared to imagine a new heaven and new earth as capaciously as God? A truly groundbreaking study in Christian hope, taking no refuge in cheap grace. One of the finest works in constructive theology I’ve had the honor to read.”
—Christopher Pramuk, University Chair of Ignatian Thought, Regis University, Denver
“Lewis Brogdon brilliantly probes a question for the American church all persons concerned about this nation’s future must ask: why is ‘Americanized’ Christianity so weak when facing the issue of race? Brogdon’s book beautifully weaves history, personal narrative, and theological inquiry to not only answer the question but offer a robust alternative shaped by the rich soil and water of the radical and redeeming ‘Black Church’ tradition.”
—Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago
“A vital and bright contribution to the study of eschatology—a vision of a new world in which we all will embrace each other that takes seriously our individual and collective sin and injustice. We need Brogdon’s honest and fierce account of both reconciliation and of God, a just and incommutable lover of us all.”
—Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale Divinity School, and Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture
“Dr. Lewis Brogdon is a profound thought leader and New Testament scholar whose racial reconciliation work is critical for the days ahead. He deeply interrogates our understandings of idolatry and salvation to make the case for an eschatological reckoning with the theological sin of racism within American Christianity. This innovative book is the culmination of decades worth of research, personal experience, and deep reflection at the intersection of his personal and professional journey. His re-imagining of purgatory through a Black theology lens offers hope and prophetic insight to the personal and communal accountability required from those who bear the [salvific] name of Christ.”
—Candace Y. Smith, Adjunct Faculty of Practical Theology and Womanist Theology, BSK Theological Seminary, Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky
“The Gospel Beyond the Grave: A Black Theology of Hope will change how you think about the legacy of racism in the Christian faith. It draws attention to a long-ignored issue and provides an insightful theological analysis of why Christians cannot move beyond the ‘most segregated hour.’ Moreover, The Gospel Beyond the Grave provides a pathway forward for Christians to begin to reconcile for the social sin of racism.”
—Carey Ruiz, Associate Professor of Sociology and Justice Studies, Campbellsville University
“To be certain, Dr. Lewis O. Brogdon’s newest book, The Gospel Beyond the Grave: Toward a Black Theology of Hope, is a bonified theological masterpiece. It is a creatively thoughtful piece of critical thinking and constructive writing that goes beyond the traditional pale of postmodern reflection and religious dramatics. Brogdon’s keynote arguments about Black theology’s composite interaction with eschatology and its theological views of the demonic sins of white Christianity against the bodies, minds, pockets, and souls of innocent Black people is long overdue. While Brogdon’s basic premise has been the conversation of many concerned churches, preachers, scholars, and armchair theologians, this written account of how God might view the racist actions of white Christians—many of which major in hegemony, nationalism, oppression, supremacy, and violence—is unprecedented. One of Brogdon’s greatest attributes is that he does not let the Black church off the hook in terms of their responsibility to standing against the systemic harm that has been rendered by white Christian thought and religious practice. Lastly, Brogdon’s new volume is the materialized result of what happens when a trained New Testament scholar accepts the daunting challenge of writing a Black theology book for the contemporary context. This book is a must read.”
—Darvin A. Adams, author of Inner-City Blues: Black Theology and Black Poverty in the United States
- Title: The Gospel beyond the Grave: Toward a Black Theology of Hope
- Authors: Lewis Brogdon, Stephen G. Ray Jr.
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2025
- Logos Release Date: 2025
- Pages: 150
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Black theology; African Americans › Religion; African Americans › Race identity; Hope; Eschatology
- ISBNs: 9798385232789, 9798385232772, 9798385232765
- Resource ID: LLS:9798385232789
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-12-08T10:17:07Z
Reviews
0 ratings
Tim Bjokne
9/13/2025
A review of Galatians 3 (3:27-28) would perhaps be useful in evaluating the premise of this book.
