What the Black Church Can Teach the Rest of American Christianity

2025-02-05

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Walter Strickland didn’t read a book from cover to cover until he was 18 years old. Books—from that first read, The Screwtape Letters, to Strickland’s latest work, Swing Low—have shaped his life. So, too, has the Black church. Strickland, an author, educator, and pastor, joins Moore to talk about the titles that have formed their experiences as Christians and academics. They consider how slaveholders used biblical texts to defend their actions and weaponized faith against enslaved people. Strickland and Moore observe th...

Walter Strickland didn’t read a book from cover to cover until he was 18 years old. Books—from that first read, The Screwtape Letters, to Strickland’s latest work, Swing Low—have shaped his life. So, too, has the Black church.

Strickland, an author, educator, and pastor, joins Moore to talk about the titles that have formed their experiences as Christians and academics. They consider how slaveholders used biblical texts to defend their actions and weaponized faith against enslaved people. Strickland and Moore observe the ways that God remains faithful to his Word amid oppression and explore the phenomenon of Black worshipers leaving predominantly white churches. They discuss African American theologians, the witness of the Black church, and the five anchors that Black Christianity has contributed to the body of Christ.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

Walter Strickland
Swing Low, Volume 1: A History of Black Christianity in the United States by Walter Strickland
Swing Low, Volume 2: An Anthology of Black Christianity in the United States by Walter Strickland
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity by Thabiti M. Anyabwile
“The Black Church Has Five Theological Anchors”
“A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches”