Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought

Anthony B. Pinn

Anthony B. Pinn

Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought

In: Religion, Race, and Ethnicity, 7

New York University Press | 2010

https://doi.org/10.18574/9780814768518

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About this book

Black theology tends to be a theology about no-body. Though one might assume that black and womanist theology have already given significant attention to the nature and meaning of black bodies as a theological issue, this inquiry has primarily taken the form of a focus on issues relating to liberation, treating the body in abstract terms rather than focusing on the experiencing of a material, fleshy reality. By focusing on the body as a physical entity and not just a metaphorical one, Pinn offers a new approach to theological thinking about race, gender, and sexuality.
According to Pinn, the body is of profound theological importance. In this first text on black theology to take embodiment as its starting point and its goal, Pinn interrogates the traditional source materials for black theology, such as spirituals and slave narratives, seeking to link them to materials such as photography that highlight the theological importance of the body. Employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning from the sociology of the body and philosophy to anthropology and art history, Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought pushes black theology to the next level.

Author information

PinnAnthony B.:

Anthony B. Pinn is Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, where he also serves as the executive director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion. His books include Varieties of African-American Religious Experience, Why Lord?: Suffering and Evil in Black Theology, and By These Hands: A Documentary History of African-American Humanism (NYU Press, 2001).

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Free access PDF PDF	ix
Preface Free access PDF PDF	xi
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
Part 1. Body Construction
1. Theological Posturing Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	17
2. Blackness and the Identifying of Bodies Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	35
3. What to Make of Gendered Bodies? Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	53
4. Sex(uality) and the (Un)Doing of Bodies Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	71
Part 2. Bodies in Motion
5. Bodies as the Site of Religious Struggle Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	101
6. On the Redemption of Bodies Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	123
7. Bodies in the World Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	143
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	159
Selected Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	185
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	197
About the Author Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	205

Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought

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