Lewis O. BrogdonAssistant Professor of Black Church Studies
Director of the Black Church Studies Program
Fall Convocation
September 8, 2011Luke 16:19-25
In the story of the rich man and the poor man named Lazarus, we are introduced to Luke’s critique of riches and his belief in hell as the final abode of the unrighteous in the afterlife. However, Dr. Lewis Brogdon brings this story to contemporary application, asking, “What would happen if the focus of this text shifted from the terrifying image of hell in the afterlife to the image of hell in this life?” Brogdon makes the case that an eschatological image of hell on earth gives the church new language to reflect theologically on human suffering, despair, and the modern crisis of nihilism, particularly in African American communities, in America. Listen to the lecture. Read the lecture in PDF.