CRT at RTS Atlanta

https://rts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-04-04HT6210-Gospel_and_Race.pdf

SYLLABUS

04HT6210: The Gospel and Race

Dr. Sean Michael Lucas Chancellor’s Professor of Church History

Office: Independent Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN Office hours: by appointment Cell: E-mail:

Course meeting times: June 17-20, 2019, on the RTS Atlanta campus: Monday-Thursday, 9a- 4:30p.

Course description: An introductory exploration of the intersection between the Gospel and racial issues. Attention will be paid to biblical-theological material, the history of race relations especially in the United States, and sociological data. Students will seek to work through these issues toward practical steps for ministry application in their local ministry contexts.

Goals:

1. Introduce the student to biblical-theological material on race, emphasizing God’s mission to forge a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural people in and through Christ.

2. Overview the history of race relations, especially in the United States and focusing on white-black relations, engaging with key voices in the Christian tradition.

3. Begin to use key sociological terminology in thinking about race relations and develop theological constructs for understanding these issues.

4. Suggest practical steps for ministry application in local ministry contexts.

Required texts:

Anthony Bradley, Aliens in the Promised Land: Why Minority Leadership is Overlooked in White Christian Churches and Institutions (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2013); ISBN: 978- 1596382343.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me (Spigel and Grau, 2015); ISBN: 978-0812993547

W. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (Dover, 2014); ISBN: 978-0486280417

Michael Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000); ISBN: 978-0195147070.

J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race (Downers Grove: IVP, 2003); ISBN: 978-0830826162

Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity with Racism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019); ISBN: 978-0310597261

Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009); ISBN: 978-0830833603

In Pursuit of Gospel Unity: PCA Papers on Racism and Racial Reconciliation (Atlanta:

Committee on Discipleship Ministries, 2019); order here: https://www.pcabookstore.com/p-91508-pursuit-of-gospel-unity-pca.aspx

Recommended books:

Richard A. Bailey, Race and Redemption in Puritan New England (New York: OUP, 2014)

Edward Blum and Paul Harvey, The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (Marynoll: Orbis, 2013).

David L. Chappell, A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005).

Carolyn Dupont, Mississippi Praying: Southern White Evangelicals and the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1970 (New York: New York University Press, 2015).

Korie L. Edwards, The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (New York: OUP, 2008).

Carl F. Ellis, Jr., Free at Last?: The Gospel in African-American Experience (Downers Grove: IVP, 1996); ISBN: 978-0830816873.

Bryan Loritts, ed., Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chicago: Moody, 2014); ISBN: 978-0802411969

Sean Michael Lucas, Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2005).

______. For a Continuing Church: The Roots of the Presbyterian Church in America

(Phillipsburg: P&R, 2015).

Peter Slade, Open Friendship in a Closed Society: Mission Mississippi and a Theology of Friendship (New York: OUP, 2009).

Requirements and Grading:

1. Regular attendance and class participation (10%). Since we only have a week-long class, no absences are allowed; because this is a class that will have a number of discussion sessions, full participation in the discussions will be required for full points.

2. Reading (30%). You will be required to read 100% of the required texts. You will fill out a reading report that will disclosed how much of the assigned readings you have read.

3. Reflection papers (35%). You will write seven reflection papers, one on each of the

books (except for Rah, The Next Evangelicalism). Each will be one page and will be turned in at the beginning of the teaching week.

4. Final paper (25%). You will write a five-page critical interaction with Soong-Chan Rah’s

The Next Evangelicalism. 5. Grading scale (standard RTS scale):

97-100 A 94-96 A- 91-93 B+ 88-90 B 86-87 B- 83-85 C+

3

80-82 C 78-79 C- 75-77 D+ 72-74 D 70-71 D- Below 70 F

As part of our purpose to train servants of the triune God to walk with God in all of life, we expect godly integrity in the academic work done at RTS. God’s covenant with His people calls for honesty and a commitment to truth (as in the 9th commandment). As we live in that covenant and in community with one another, upholding truth is an essential duty. Specifically applied to academic labors, this means that we accurately represent our work to others. In other words, neither cheating nor plagiarism is tolerated.

Instructions on particular assignments:

1. Reflection papers (1 page each)

a. For each reflection paper, you will respond to the book assigned by answering the

following question: in what ways did this book inform or correct my understanding of how Christians have or should engage racial relations? b. Do not write more than one page. c. The reflection paper will be written with one-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 point

Times Roman font. d. You will turn in papers for all seven of the books (all except Rah, The Next

Evangelicalism) on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, at the beginning of class time. NB—that means you need to read the books and complete the assignment before the class week actually starts. e. The grade is pass/fail; if you follow instructions completely (including form requirements

stated in line b), you will receive the full amount of points (signified by a check mark). If you fail to follow instructions, then the instructor will determine how many points are appropriate.

2. Five-page response paper to The Next Evangelicalism.

• In section one, answer the following question (2-3 pages): in what ways did Rah define white privilege, superiority, captivity, and power (n.b., these words are used interchangeably throughout the book)? Did he see this as positive or negative for global evangelicalism? Give examples to support your answer.

• In section two, answer the following question (2-3 pages): in what ways did Rah’s book inform, instruct, correct, or challenge your understanding of the nature of the church? Did you agree with his insistence on the need for a more thorough embrace of a multi-cultural approach? What practical steps might your local church take to get there? a. The response will be written with one-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 point Times

Roman font. Please write in complete sentences, paragraphs, etc. b. The response will be due on Friday, July 19, 2019; no late papers will be accepted.

• Please email your paper—along with your reading report—to both of the email