
Reading While Black
African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope
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Narrated by:
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Esau McCaulley
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By:
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Esau McCaulley
About this listen
Growing up in the American South, Esau McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. A key element in the fight for hope, he discovered, has long been the practice of Bible reading and interpretation that comes out of traditional Black churches. This ecclesial tradition is often disregarded or viewed with suspicion by much of the wider church and academy, but it has something vital to say.
At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times.
He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, in which the particular questions coming out of Black communities are given pride of place and the Bible is given space to respond by affirming, challenging, and, at times, reshaping Black concerns. McCaulley demonstrates this model with studies on how Scripture speaks to topics often overlooked by white interpreters, such as ethnicity, political protest, policing, and slavery.
©2020 Esau D. McCaulley (P)2020 eChristianListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation. Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human.
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Her Anglican and woke bias
- By Mark Hara on 04-30-25
By: Carmen Joy Imes
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The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood
- How God's Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality
- By: Philip Barton Payne
- Narrated by: Josh Childs
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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"Biblical womanhood" is the idea that the Bible teaches God-ordained male leadership and female submission in the home and subordination in the church. Some say this hierarchy of authority is sufficiently evidenced by examples of male leadership (and lack of female leadership) in the Bible: the first human was male, Israel's official priests were male, most authors of Scripture were male, Jesus was male and chose twelve male Apostles. God is addressed as Father. Wives are commanded to submit to their husbands.
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Excellent
- By Julia on 07-22-23
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No God but One: Allah or Jesus?
- A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity
- By: Nabeel Qureshi
- Narrated by: Nabeel Qureshi
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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On account of the superficial points of agreement between Islam and Christianity, many don't see how tremendously deep the divides between them really are, and fewer still have considered the evidence for each faith. How is jihad different from the Crusades? Can we know the life of Jesus as well as the life of Muhammad? What reason is there to believe in one faith over the other, and what difference can the Gospel really make?
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WOW!!
- By Theresa on 08-17-16
By: Nabeel Qureshi
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Tell Her Story
- How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church
- By: Nijay K. Gupta, Beth Allison Barr - foreword
- Narrated by: Nijay K. Gupta
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Women were there. For centuries, discussions of early Christianity have focused on male leaders in the church. But there is ample evidence right in the New Testament that women were actively involved in ministry, at the frontier of the gospel mission, and as respected leaders. Nijay Gupta calls us to bring these women out of the shadows by shining light on their many inspiring contributions to the planting, growth, and health of the first Christian churches.
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Biblical exploration of women’s role in the Bible
- By Adam Shields on 08-18-23
By: Nijay K. Gupta, and others
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Lent
- The Season of Repentance and Renewal
- By: Esau McCaulley
- Narrated by: Esau McCaulley
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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"Lent is inescapably about repenting." Every year, the church invites us into a season of repentance and fasting in preparation for Holy Week. It's an invitation to turn away from our sins and toward the mercy and grace of Christ. Often, though, we experience the Lenten fast as either a mindless ritual or self-improvement program. In this short volume, priest and scholar Esau McCaulley introduces the season of Lent, showing us how its prayers and rituals point us not just to our own sinfulness but also beyond it to our merciful Savior.
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Informed
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Esau McCaulley
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The Whitewashing of Christianity
- A Hidden Past, a Hurtful Present, and a Hopeful Future
- By: Jerome Gay
- Narrated by: Donald Gadson Jr.
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Whitewashing of Christianity is informative, insightful, and inspirational, telling a history that's often hidden, ignored, revised, or unknown. Confrontational, but not combative, it details how the American church has helped create and maintain the false narrative that Christianity is a White man's religion and how it has presented almost every person in Scripture and most of Africa's theologians and martyrs as White men and women.
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Great story
- By Pastor Paige on 11-16-21
By: Jerome Gay
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What It Means to Be Protestant
- The Case for an Always-Reforming Church
- By: Gavin Ortlund
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Gavin Ortlund draws from both his scholarly work in church history and his personal experience in ecumenical engagement to offer a powerful defense of the Protestant tradition. Retrieving classical Protestant texts and arguments, he exposes how many of the contemporary objections leveled against Protestants are rooted in caricature. Ultimately, he shows that historic Protestantism offers the best pathway to catholicity and historical rootedness for Christians today.
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A must read for all Protestants
- By Daniel on 05-01-25
By: Gavin Ortlund
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Jesus and the Disinherited
- By: Howard Thurman, Dr. Kelly Douglas Rev.
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this classic theological treatise, the acclaimed theologian and religious leader Howard Thurman (1900-1981) demonstrates how the gospel may be read as a manual of resistance for the poor and disenfranchised. Jesus is a partner in the pain of the oppressed and the example of His life offers a solution to ending the descent into moral nihilism. Hatred does not empower—it decays. Only through self-love and love of one another can God's justice prevail.
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The Architecture for All Liberation Theology
- By salemowalk on 10-27-22
By: Howard Thurman, and others
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When Faith Disappoints
- The Gap Between What We Believe and What We Experience
- By: Lisa Victoria Fields
- Narrated by: David Kinnaman, Lisa Victoria Fields, George Newbern
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Living as a Black woman in America, Lisa Victoria Fields understands the tension of relying on God in a broken world. While pursuing her calling in full-time Christian ministry—an often white, male-dominated vocation—she saw the contentions many people have with Christianity. She heard the theological questions, but instead of arguing for her faith, she listened to the barriers and heard the pain in their hearts: I’m not welcomed or wanted. There is no justice in this world. God didn't intervene and protect me. Doesn’t God want me to be happy?
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Awesome
- By FavorForward on 09-16-24
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Surprised by Doubt
- How Disillusionment Can Invite Us into a Deeper Faith
- By: Joshua D. Chatraw, Jack Carson
- Narrated by: James R. Cheatham
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson help listeners rediscover a deeper faith in the midst of a confusing world. They invite skeptics and doubters to explore the ancient faith for a new perspective on contemporary Christianity. Chatraw and Carson build on C. S. Lewis's metaphor that envisions Christianity as a house with many rooms, suggesting that listeners move beyond the cramped attic of reactionary versions of the faith to explore the larger, more ancient main floors of the house.
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Doubts about the truth of Christ can be met with reason, as well as faith.
- By dr vance g blackburn on 11-23-24
By: Joshua D. Chatraw, and others
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The Lost World of the Prophets
- Old Testament Prophecy and Apocalyptic Literature in Ancient Context
- By: John H. Walton
- Narrated by: Tyler Boss
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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A fresh reading of the Old Testament text in light of the ancient Near Eastern context can open new avenues of awareness. Walton provides a clear, helpful guide to the nature of biblical prophecy and apocalyptic literature that will help listeners avoid potential misuse and reclaim the message of the prophets for their lives.
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This is the Modern “Prophecy” Book Christians Need to Read
- By Jamin D. Bradley on 08-01-24
By: John H. Walton
What listeners say about Reading While Black
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- Jen
- 12-13-21
Scripture Through A New Lens
Quick audiobook tip: For those struggling to hear the author clearly, try reducing playback speed to 0.9 and use earbuds. I did this and had no trouble understanding everything that was read.
This was an incredible look at scripture through the lens of the Black community. McCaully encourages the reader to see the bible as not only a beacon of hope for the Black community, but he also uses history and scriptural evidence to debunk the popular yet deeply incorrect notion that Christianity is just a euro/white religion. I loved this in-depth analysis of biblical history, maps and theology that show the magnificent hope and inheritance that God has woven into the Black community and African nations.
While I was not the intended audience for this book, I learned a lot and I think that everyone can benefit from a read through of Reading While Black.
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- Myron C. Russell
- 09-15-23
Intensely Insightful
Liked the delivery, study, and body of information delivered. Eye opening and satisfying to the reader that’s willing to understand the plight of African American as it pertains to belief/stance on Biblical truth and identity within the narrative. Well done.
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- Chad Miller
- 01-26-21
A much needed different perspective
This book is thought provoking and I am forced to think about how I approach my perspective on the broader community as it will be in heaven while I am here on earth. I recommend this book to all white Christians.
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- Daydreamer
- 05-15-22
Beautiful theology
Dr. McCaulley is a gentle and compassionate guide through the world of Black American Christianity. There are places for the reader of any background to connect and join the conversation. Delightful work.
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- Dr. Andreas
- 07-14-21
Superb book
Finally. The African ecclesiology al tradition has need biblical, holistic, integral, oriented to justice and supernatural from the beginning.
It is essential to study it in order to overcome the false dichotomies in the white fundamentalist/evangelical vs liberal/progressive white churches. We also needed this book to affirm our won tradition. I wanted more p, but this is an excellent introduction,
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- Tania
- 07-21-23
Great read
This book really sets your mind up to want to do research on African American Biblical literature. I loved it. I especially loved the way he went from scripture to experience.
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- Trevor Carnahan
- 04-07-25
Truly grateful for the broader perspective
It’s humbling to look at the Bible from this perspective, different from what I have gone to look for in the scripture growing up. I’m grateful for the author’s work to open my views to see it from another view.
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- R. L. Mason
- 03-23-21
Thankful for the opportunity to listen
As the title suggests, Reading While Black, was not written for me, a white woman, but I am so thankful to Esau for writing down this portion of the conversation regarding Black interpretation so I could listen in and learn.
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- Erika C
- 07-17-22
Excellent points with sound Scriptural basis
The only thing I would ask to improve this listening experience would be to have some of the theological terms defined in the written summary, as many Christian’s may not be familiar with them.
I appreciate the author being the narrator. It is meaningful to have Esau’s voice, inflection, and emphases where he intended them.
As a white woman who came to Christ in her 30’s, I greatly appreciate the insight this book gave. It opened my eyes and heart in unexpected ways. I plan recommended it to a number of friends and family.
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- adrienne
- 07-19-21
Very informative
Good book with important information. A must read. I learned a lot from reading this book
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