True to our native land, p.44
True to Our Native Land, page 44
10. Ellen Aitken, “At the Well of Living Water: Jacob Traditions in John 4,” in The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity, ed. Craig A. Evans, Studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity 7 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2000), 345.
11. I am indebted to Richard Horsley for suggesting to me that the five “lords” could refer to the five successive empires that ruled Samaria.
12. The same syntax appears in Luke 1:71 to speak of deliverance from enemies.
13. See Mark 6:4; Matt 13:57; Luke 4:24; Thomas 31; P.Oxy. 1, 5.
14. Sojourner Truth, address, Convention of the American Equal Rights Association, New York City, 1867, quoted in Lerner, Black Women in White America, 570.
15. I read the Greek genitive absolute here as causative.
16. See Plato, Laws 73.8a, 1 Macc 4:28; Herodotus 1.994.
17. Anna Julia Cooper, “Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration of the Race,” in A Voice from the South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 17–18.
18. Catherine Cory, “Wisdom’s Rescue: A New Reading of the Tabernacle Discourse,” JBL 116 (1997): 113.
19. Jon Levenson, Theology of the Program of Restoration in Ezekiel 40–48, HSM 10 (Missoula, MT: Scholars), 105n57.
20. See the version of this Negro spiritual recorded by the contemporary African American a cappella group Take Six, “O Mary,” (Burbank, Calif.: Reprise Records, 1988). See also Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, “‘Go and Tell Mary and Martha’: The Spirituals, Biblical Options for Women, and Cultural Tensions in the African American Religious Experience,” Social Compass 43 (1996): 570–73.
21. W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction (New York: Atheneum, 1992), 634. The Compromise of 1877 was the agreement of Republicans and Democrats to declare Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 presidential election despite disputed electoral votes in several Southern states. The deal was clinched after Hayes had made it known to Southern Democrats that, if elected, he would withdraw federal troops from the South and end federal support of Reconstruction.
22. Daniel 11:30 (lxx).
23. “Oh, He Raise-a Poor Lazarus,” in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, ed. R. Nathaniel Dett (Hampton, VA: Hampton Institute, 1927), 66.
24. Quoted by Mike Gray, “The Murder of Fred Hampton,” directed by Howard Alk (Hollywood: VDI [distributor], 1971).
25. “I Am the True Vine,” in John Wesley Work, American Negro Songs (New York: Howell Soskin, 1940), 187.
26. “Were You There?” in Songs of Zion, Supplemental Worship Resources 12 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1981), 126.
27. “He Never Said a Mumbalin’ Word,” in Songs of Zion, 101.
28. “Do Don’t Touch-a My Garment,” in Johnson, Books, 2:110.
29. Jarena Lee, quoted in Afro-American Religious History, ed. Milton Sernett (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1985), 169.
30. Marilyn Richardson, ed., Maria Stewart: America’s First Black Woman Political Writer (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), 68.
31. “Look-a How Dey Done My Lord,” in Johnson, Books, 2:170.
32. Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 323–34.
33. James Weldon Johnson, “O Black and Unknown Bards,” in Johnson, Books, 1:11–12.
For Further Reading
Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the Gospel of John. Edited by F. J. Moloney. New York: Doubleday, 2003.
Callahan, Allen Dwight. A Love Supreme: A History of the Johannine Tradition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
Howard-Brook, Wes. Becoming Children of God. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1994.
Kim, Jean K. Woman and Nation: An Intercontextual Reading of the Gospel of John from a Postcolonial Feminist Perspective. Boston: Brill, 2004.
Acts
Demetrius K. Williams
Introduction
The Acts of the Apostles is different in many ways from what precedes it (the Gospels) and what follows it (the letters). One feature of Acts, among many, is that it is a sequel to a Gospel, the Gospel of Luke (making it part of a two-volume work), and it assumes the genre of a history of the early church (Acts 1:1–5; cf. Luke 1:1–4).1 Acts recounts the story of the expansion of the early church from the ascension of Jesus and the community of the apostles to the mission of Paul and his arrival in Rome. The work is written from the perspective of the late first century and attempts to address the various social and theological problems brought about as a result of expansion (i.e., inclusion of Gentiles), the church’s relationship with Judaism, and the cultural and political environment of Rome.2 Tradition tells us that the author was Luke, “the beloved physician” (cf. Col 4:14; Phlm 24; 2 Tim 4:11). While neither the Gospel of “Luke” nor Acts has a name inscribed in the superscription of the earliest manuscripts indicating its author (the titles, “the Gospel according to . . .,” were added in the second century in the heated debate over “the scriptures”), there is a general consensus that a single author wrote the two-volume work (“Luke” is still generally used for convenience). Scholars also generally agree that Luke-Acts was most likely composed between 80 and 90 ce.3 To be sure, the emergence of Christianity coincides with the period of the emerging glory of the Roman Empire, which justified its existence on the basis of an ideology of Rome as a civilizing agent.4 Rome perceived that its purpose in history was to promote its virtues and values by means of city life throughout the empire. “Imperial temples and sanctuaries were generally located in the most prominent and prestigious positions available within the city,”5 which constantly reminded Rome’s subjects of the emperor. On any given day “one encountered pictures and statues of him everywhere, and there were also . . . the coins with his likeness, minted in almost every city.” The impact of this imagery was part and parcel of Rome’s ideology of world dominance.6 On the whole, Rome’s imperial cult that honored and worshiped the emperor stabilized the religious order of the world—the imperial cult, along with religion, politics and diplomacy, constructed the reality of the Roman Empire.7 To support the material reality of its ideology throughout the empire, the production of agriculture was essential for the maintenance of cities, and Rome’s ever-growing markets helped the development of latifundia, large agricultural estates dependent on the labor of enslaved persons, those who were nearly enslaved, and impoverished wage-laborers.8
The author of Luke-Acts was quite aware of the temporal glory and power of Rome. Jesus was born under the reign of the first emperor, Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1; while Quirinius was governor of Syria, 2:2). His ministry began during the reign of Tiberias Caesar (Luke 3:1). He was crucified under the procurator, Pontius Pilate (Luke 23:24–25, while Tiberias is still in power). And Acts, dealing with the apostles, continues to present Roman leaders quite favorably (the book might be dedicated to a Roman patron, Theophilus; Acts 1:1; cf. Luke 1:3).9 Moreover, Luke was not unaware that Rome too had its own “gospel” (of the Pax Romana, “peace of Rome”), “savior” (the reigning Caesar), and mission (to dominate and to civilize the world), as part of its ideology.10 Nevertheless, in Luke-Acts it is clear that, although insignificant in the eyes of Rome, providence is being mediated through the traditions of Israel, not that of Rome, and it is by means of the gospel of Christ that God is bringing about a new world order.11 Although both Peter (who dominates in chaps. 1–12) and Paul (who takes center stage in chaps. 13–28) open the way for the inclusion of the Gentiles, they are not the only ones to do so. Acts recounts the evangelistic efforts of several others, who also proclaimed the gospel to the marginalized and despised Gentiles, offering to them the new dispensation of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Therefore, Luke’s focus on both the unity and the inclusiveness of humanity under the sovereignty of God found welcome resonance with enslaved African Americans and their progeny.
African American Appropriation of the Acts of the Apostles
Luke’s message in Acts was articulated in a world that was familiar in many ways to the “new” world in which enslaved African Americans found themselves—a world of empire-building, enslavement, and dominance supported by a pervasive ruling-class ideology. The reality of empire (in the ancient and modern context) is important to consider, because America early on identified itself as both a “new Israel” (religiously) and a “new Rome” (politically) with an equally pervasive self-conceived “manifest destiny” to rule the world.12 African Americans found themselves disenfranchised in the new commonwealth of America and occupying a second-class status within the church (the “new Israel”). Moreover, notwithstanding America’s use of the Bible to support an ideology of oppression, there were some liberating visions in the Bible that offered an alternative model of human relations. The vision and message of Acts played a significant role in African American’s articulation of an inclusive and unifying vision of freedom and equality. In Acts, as in Luke 4, the good news comes to the poor, the oppressed, and the imprisoned. Indeed Luke’s message is for the oppressed and the oppressor, the high and the low, the Jew and the Gentile. His message embraces all ethnic diversity within the Roman Empire.13
Enslaved Africans’ encounter with the Christian religion and message confirmed within them the idea of “the equality of all people before God,” which Peter Paris has termed the “black Christian principle,”14 despite whites’ attempts to mute this message in the Bible and in the Christian tradition. A few early Quakers, Baptists, and Methodists made attempts to sensitize Black converts to the implications of Christianity for human justice and equality, as recounted in some enslavers’ accusations: “You teach them that ‘God is no respecter of persons’ [Acts 10:34–36]: that ‘he hath made of one blood all the nations of men’ [Acts 17:36]: ‘thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’: ‘all whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”15 Such ideas garnered from Acts and other parts of the Bible laid the basis for the Black protest tradition in the late decades of the eighteenth and early decades of the nineteenth century. This tradition was emphasized in particular, but not exclusively, by northern Blacks who were formally or informally educated. They were able to find a “rhetorical space” in which to cultivate ideas, arguments, and strategies for action that would address the plight of their enslaved brothers and sisters. They applied certain biblical passages to an array of social issues in sermons, prayers, official denominational addresses, creeds, and mottoes. Some of the key themes were: (1) the kinship of humanity under the sovereignty of the one God, (2) enslavement (and later segregation) as evil and in opposition to the will of God, (3) the imperatives of the teachings of Jesus to make all nations a part of God’s reign, (4) the theme of Christian radical inclusion that stressed human equality and unity, and (5) judgment against all those who frustrate God’s will on earth (especially those who hold others in enslavement!).
It was also during this period that African Americans sought to institutionalize these ideals into a general ethical and moral principle, “all people are equal before God.” This was based on a small selection of passages from Acts (among others)16 that embodied their aim, passages that were often quoted or paraphrased in efforts to relate them to the racial situation in America.17 Especially important were Acts 2 (Pentecost), 2:23–47 (“all things in common”) and 4:32–37 (“not a needy person among them”), chap. 8 (the Ethiopian eunuch), chap. 10 (esp. vv. 34–36, “God is no respecter of persons,” kjv), and chap. 17 (esp. v. 36, “God hath made of one blood all nations . . .” kjv). These were some of the passages that supported this institutionalized ideal within Black churches.18 Thus Peter Paris has remarked that Black churches represent the historical embodiment of a universally significant principle: an anthropological principle grounded in the biblical understanding of the nature of humanity and its relation to God. The institutionalization of this principle constitutes the Black church’s uniqueness in American religious history, and “can be recognized by the fact that, for the first time, the birth of a church was not on the basis of a new theological proposition but solely on sociological grounds—social and racial equality.”19 This can be seen in Richard Allen’s historic separatist Black church movement that gave birth to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Philadelphia in the early nineteenth century.
For the first time certainly in American history, there was a Christian denomination built entirely upon sociological grounds: to promote brotherhood and equality across racial lines. . . . And this was the first time in the history of western Christianity that a church included in a practical way black people on terms of equality. . . .
African Americans have also believed that the Constitution of the United States explicitly embodies the norms of racial justice. This idea, combined with the belief in America as a Christian nation, has often served as the basis for their confidence in the nation’s capacity for thinking and doing the right thing.20
Finally, Bishop Reverdy Ransom, also of the AME Church, set forth his mandate for the church in the early twentieth century with dramatic rhetorical zeal, admonishing it to develop its own agenda and to cease following the contemptible programs and practices of white churches:
The Church . . . must know neither race, color, nor nationality nor recognize distinctions of wealth, class or station, but only the dignity and sacredness of our common humanity. . . . It must be a prophetic Church. . . . They must proclaim liberty to the captives—those that are socially, economically, and politically disinherited—with authority of a Divine justice that will not rest until every fetter of injustice and oppression is broken.21
Ransom’s appeal to the Black church includes some of the seminal elements of its goals and objectives in society. The following examination seeks to bear out the essentials of this appeal through an exploration of African Americans’ appropriation of Acts.
Bishop Tanner on Separatist Black Churches
Bishop C. M. Tanner, an AME clergyman, addressing the question of the Black church practicing “reverse racism” by establishing separate churches, provided the following response in the early twentieth century:
But the difference between . . . our Church and the churches of the other race today, is . . . in a fundamental Christian principle: The question of the substantial oneness and brotherhood of all men. The church which Allen founded stands today . . . as a living protest against distinction in the church of Jesus Christ on account of race or color. We hold, teach and practice that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) (emphasis added). This may be spoken of as the distinctive note of African Methodism. Our church has been on record for almost one hundred years as an advocate of this principle. Thus far her labors have been singularly blessed.
—Peter Paris, The Social Teachings of the Black Churches (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 19–20.
Chapters 1–7, The Gospel in the Jerusalem Community
1:1–26, The Ascension and Commission
Acts 1 can be divided into two parts: vv. 1–14 and 15–26. Verses 1–14 summarize for “Theophilus” the events that took place at the end of the Gospel of Luke (Jesus’s resurrection and appearances, 24:13–53) and the commissioning of the apostles, with the promise of the Holy Spirit. Important in this section is the programmatic statement of v. 8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” By means of the gospel of Christ, God was inaugurating a new world order, which had begun with the ministry of Jesus, and the apostles through the power of the Spirit were to serve as God’s agents.22 Acts 1:8 shows that Luke was quite aware of the political and religious nature of Jesus’s message regarding the inauguration of the reign of God. This message was a radical critique of all the political claims of earthly rulers, including that of the Roman Empire.23 Moreover, while God’s plan of renewal is mediated through Israel (a concern for the apostles, vv. 6–7), it would reach beyond Israel to include those who had been disenfranchised from Israel’s commonwealth, the Gentiles. Hence, the reign of God for Luke would also challenge the claims of Israel regarding its exclusive rights and position within God’s plan. For this reason, the inclusion of the Gentiles in the “new” people of God is an overarching concern of Acts.24
The second half of this opening chapter (vv. 15–26) deals with the issue of Judas, Jesus’s betrayer, and the restoration of the Twelve. In vv. 15–20 Luke recounts a different version of Judas’s suicide (cf. Matt 27:5, in which Judas hangs himself). The importance of recounting this story here is not just to restore the sacred number twelve, which represents the twelve tribes of Israel, but also to establish a chain of authority for the early church. For Luke only those who accompanied Jesus “beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up” can be a witness to his resurrection (vv. 21–22).25 The twelve apostles are also important because they have a particular function—to serve as witnesses (1:8)! Thus after casting lots, Matthias was chosen and added to the eleven apostles (vv. 21–26).
2:1–41, Pentecost: The Democratization of the Spirit
