Reviews

Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance by Reggie L. Williams

caylaisstillreading's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

kabookworm's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

This slim book is in fact thick and dense. It carries deep theological discussion in a heavy historical context. The pace is slow, but the content is rich. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer never fails to fire me up, and this short biography of the impact of his experience in Harlem is no exception. This is a side of Bonhoeffer’s story I had never heard of before, and I completely agree with the author that, without his time in Harlem, Bonhoeffer may never had fought so fiercely against the racist Christian nationalism that justified the rise of the Nazi Party. 

The Jesus that Bonhoeffer encountered among the Black community in Harlem was so unlike the Jesus he had known in his white, academic sphere that the very foundation of Bonhoeffer’s faith was turned upside down. Here was a Christ who suffers with the marginalized. Here was a Christ who saves people’s bodies as well as their souls. Here was a Christ reclaimed from those who crucified Him over and over with every time they turned a blind eye to the outcome of their racism. 

I could go on, but a flimsy book review is no match for Williams’s potent analysis, exploration, and discussion. I am still chewing on and soaking in all that I have learned in these pages. If you’ve never encountered Harlem Renaissance theology before, I can assure you: just like Bonhoeffer’s, your faith will never be the same. 

earth_and_silver's review

I wanted to like it but I was out of my depth, the author kept referencing things I didn't understand without providing context, and it was an interlibrary loan so I didn't have time to do my own research.

jolie3467's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

pecsenye's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Essential for anyone interested in Bonhoeffer or any kind of resistance work. 

troop152's review

5.0

While a very "academic" type of read, I found this book to be very insightful into the time Bonhoeffer spent in Harlem during the early '30's and how this shaped his ministry and ultimately his life. As a blue-eyed, blond, wealthy, educated, prototypical Aryan German man, Bonhoeffer chose solidarity with racial outcasts in America and Germany rather than a life of comfort within a society specifically structured to give him privileges, and his decision ultimately cost him his life. Williams clearly articulates Bonhoeffer's theological evolution from his roots in Germany to his time at Sloane and his time with Abyssinian Church in Harlem and how these experiences shaped his theology and his ministry upon his return to Germany during the rise of German Nazi nationalism.