The Cross, The Lynching Tree, and the Crosshairs: Racial Violence and American Christianity

Rev. Dr. Joanne Marie Terrell
Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and the Arts
Chicago Theological Seminary

April 10, 2018
Grawemeyer Award in Religion

(Dr. James Cone's book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, won the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.  Dr. Cone was unable to present a lecture due to personal reasons.  Dr. Terrell, a former graduate student of Dr. Cone's, spoke in his place.)

Dr. Cone's book contrasts the Christian tradition regarding the Cross of Jesus with the Christian response to lynching.  White Christians murdered over 5000 black men, women, and children during the lynching era, and did not see the parallels between the persecution and murder of Jesus on the cross and the death by lynching on the tree.  Anger over this, and the continuing mistreatment of black and brown peoples, is the only reasonable response for a Christian.  The key is to use the anger to move beyond guilt to doing the work of justice and love.  Listen to the lecture.

Black Joy in the Mo(u)rning

Brandon McCormack
Assistant Professor, Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville

March 26, 2018
Black Church Studies Consultation
Psalm 30:5b

The psalmist tells a mourning story as do African Americans who carry the psychic cost of existing in America while black.  The psalmist also reminds us that while mourning is necessary, there will also be a morning when, with God's help, we can reclaim our joy.  Listen to the sermon.

Setting the Captives Free

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 23, 2018
Luke 4:14-21

The plight of prisoners once returned to society is the topic of Williamson's sermon.  How to we understand the moral worth and human dignity of all.  Listen to the sermon.