African-American Religion in the Twentieth Century: Varieties of Protest and Accommodation

by Hans A. Baer, Merrill Singer

Baer, Hans A., Singer, Merrill

265 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jim Gulley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Baer and Singer were American anthropologists who argued that the historiography has implied that the religious experience of blacks has been uniform or monolithic, they argue that the black religious experience has been diverse. The antebellum black church was predominantly rural and affiliated with either Baptists or Methodist Episcopals. During WWI and the Great Migration, the black church diversified and became more urban. The Civil Rights Movement was led by the urban black church.

The authors segment the black church in the 20th century into four sects: mainstream, messianic-nationalists, conversionists, and thaumaturgical. The mainstream sects are denominational and stress the social gospel. Messianic-nationalist churches are separatist, identify with the Exodus motif, and are majority Muslim. The conversionists are charismatic, Pentecostal or small Baptist churches. The thaumaturgical sect is oriented toward the prosperity gospel and often dominated by a pastoral cult.