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. 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. 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.Īt a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, McCaulley, a New Testament scholar, 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. 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.

Growing up in the American South, McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. We can then more honestly and adequately worship and read about the work of God that crosses cultures, deeply incarnates each in particular ways, and builds a bigger picture of God wherein each culture’s insights complement the others.” His work inspires us to seriously engage ‘Black ecclesial interpretation’ and in doing so reach toward a better Biblical hermeneutic sensitive to a greater depth and variety of cultural manifestations.

“He not only challenges his readers to think critically and carefully, he asks the challenging questions in a manner that urges you to think and act together with him and the broader community. Stan Rosenberg, vice president for research and scholarship at the CCCU. “His work is profound and important, provocative, accessible, and of the moment,” said Dr. The award, hosted by Redeemer University and sponsored by Acton Institute, Cardus, the Center for Public Justice, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), and Henry Institute, is intended to recognize and foster emerging talent, those working in the Christian academy who excel in both academic and public spheres and whose work affects the common good. WESTMONT, IL-InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that Esau McCaulley, author of Reading While Black, was named the winner of the 2020 Emerging Public Intellectual Award.

Esau mccaulley reading while black