
Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope
2021 Outreach Resources of the Year - Christian Living 2021 Christianity Today Book Award - Beautiful Orthodoxy 2020 The Gospel Coalition Book Award - Popular Theology - Honorable Mention 2020 Emerging Public Intellectual Award Growing up in the American South, Esau McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. 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. 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. Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley