Freedom's Distant Shores

American Protestants and Post-Colonial Alliances with Africa

by R. Drew Smith

Published by: Baylor University Press

Imprint: Baylor University Press

Sales Date: 2006-07-31

Paperback
ISBN 9781932792379
292 Pages

$39.99

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Digital
ISBN 9781602581098
292 Pages

$52.95

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

This volume examines relations between U.S. Protestants and Africa since the end of colonial rule. It draws attention to shifting ecclesiastical and socio-political priorities, especially the decreased momentum of social justice advocacy and the growing missionary influence of churches emphasizing spiritual revival and personal prosperity. The book provides a thought-provoking assessment of U.S. Protestant involvements with Africa, and it proposes forms of engagement that build upon ecclesiastical dynamism within American and African contexts.

Preface

Introduction, R. Drew Smith

Part I: CHURCHES AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS IN AFRICA

1. Shifting Perspectives on Africa in Mainline Protestant Social Thought, Mark Hulsether

2. Rev. James H. Robinson and American Support for African Democracy and Nation-Building, 1950s-1970s, Sandra J. Sarkela and Patrick Mazzeo

3. Martin Luther King, Jr., a "Coalition of Conscience," and Freedom in South Africa, Lewis Baldwin

4. A Transatlantic Comparison of a Black Theology of Liberation, Dwight N. Hopkins

5. Quaker Women in Kenya and Human Rights Issues, Stephen W. Angell

6. Mennonites and Peace-Building in Angola, Lutiniko Landu Miguel Pedro

Part II: REVIVALISTIC CHURCHES, ECCLESIASTICAL CHURCHES, AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES

7. American Evangelists and Church-State Dilemmas in Multiple African Contexts, R. Drew Smith

8. American Pentecostalism and the Growth of Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements in Nigeria, Matthews A. Ojo

9. U.S. Evangelicals, Racial Politics, and Social Transition in Contemporary South Africa, R. Drew Smith

Part III: CONSIDERING THE FUTURE: AMERICAN AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES

10. The Changing Nature of Christianity and the Challenge of U.S.-Africa Mission Partnerships, Marsha Snulligan Haney

11. Contemporary Public Theology in the United States and South Africa, Nico Koopman

Conclusion, R. Drew Smith

Notes

About the Contributors

Index

R. Drew Smith is Scholar-in-Residence and Project Director of "Public Influences of African-American Churches Project" and of the "Faith Communities and Urban Families Project" at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

This fine collection of original essays completely shatters the myth promulgated only a few years ago that the 'next Christendom' was flourishing in the global South completely on its own... The connections between U.S. and African Christianity remain strong and are far more complex than either demographic projections or postcolonial rhetoric would lead us to believe.
~Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University

Smith, editor of New Day Begun and Long March Ahead, has now edited a very strong collection of essays on the relationships of American Protestants and developments in postcolonial Africa.... Recommended.
~CHOICE