Black Lives Matter and the Image of God

Josiah U. Young III is professor of systematic theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.

Introduction: Black Lives Matter! Faith Seeking Understanding

Part One: Theological Waters

Chapter One: The Image of God Far above the Primal Waters

Chapter Two: “Slaves Obey Your Earthy Masters”: The High Cost of Baptism

Part Two: Protestant

Chapter Three: Descending Jacob’s Ladder with Emmanuel Levinas and Mordecai Kaplan

Chapter Four: We Won’t All Die, But We’ll All Be Changed?

Chapter Five: Those Who Died Young, Pyros, and A Black Professor

Chapter Six: Self-Consciousness and Self-Direction: Dr. King and Theological Liberalism

Part Three: Afro

Chapter Seven: The Lost-Found Tribe of Shabazz: For Josh and Minister Malcolm X

Chapter Eight: Afro-Aesthetics and Moon Dance

Chapter Nine: Africa Addio? (Goodbye, Africa?)

Part Four: Understanding My Faith

Chapter Ten: Mangwanani, Africa! (Good Morning, Africa!)

Conclusion: Trying to be “Larger, Freer, and More Loving”: What “God” Is To Me

Bibliography

About the Author

Josiah Youngs Black Lives Matter and the Image of God is a theological tour de force written as a memoir. From the streets of Bushwick to South Africa and the Congo, Youngs theo-anthropology provides a rich and illuminating answer to the question of whether Black lives really matter to us and to God. This book will edify anyone who reads it.

— Jawanza Eric Clark, Manhattan College