A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African-American Religious History

by Albert J. Raboteau

In this fascinating collection of essays, Albert Raboteau reexamines the rich history of the African-American religious experience. Through his exploration of traditions that include the Baptist revivals, the AME Church, Black Catholics and African Orisa religions, Raboteau demonstrates how the active faith of African-Americans shaped their institutions and empowered their struggle for social justice throughout their history.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 1995

About the author

Albert J. Raboteau (PhD, Yale) was the Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Dr. Raboteau came to Princeton in 1982, and is a specialist in American religious history. His research and teaching have focused on American Catholic history, African-American religious movements and currently he is working on the place of beauty in the history of Eastern and Western Christian Spirituality.

He was the first recipient of the J.W.C. Pennington Award from the University of Heidelberg and in 2012 delivered the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary. He retired in June, 2013.

Reviews

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my way to Al Raboteau’s retirement conference I decided to finally read his commendable collection of pieces on African-American religious history. Barbara Savage mentioned at the conference she assigns the first chapter in many of her classes. I myself assign Al’s famous chapter on Exodus and the American Israel. I learned a lot from each piece, and it got me thinking about the use of the “chosen people” motif in black religion. Most striking: one 19th century black preacher suggested that world history is represented by three ages, each corresponding to a son of Noah. First there is the age of Shem (the Jews), when God’s law is written down, then the age of Japeth (white Christians) when God’s law is preached to all, and now finally the age of Ham (black Christians) whose ancient curse and modern slavery is redemptive, turned into blessing by presenting the true, non-racist Christianity into practice. The book ends with a nice meditation on the MLK and Thomas Merton. Such a treat!