Varieties of African American Religious Experience

by Anthony B. Pinn (Editor)

Overview

Anthony Pinn's engrossing survey highlights the rich diversity of black religious life in America, revealing manifestations of an ever-changing black religious quest in four non-Christian indigenous movements.

Based on extensive interviews, travel, and research — embellished with ample photos, bibliographies, and case studies — Pinn provides an insider look especially at Voodoo, Orisha devotion, Santeria, the Nation ofIslam, and Black Humanism in the U.S. Focusing less on institutional and doctrinal history and more onthe varied popular religious practices and sites, his volume highlights, for example, the influence ofCaribbean religions in the U.S., practices of divination and healing, the surge of black Muslim religion, theemergence of black humanism, religious influences on the ethical practices of black women, and the importof previously overlooked religious settings (e.g., church women's clubs, local politics, Pentecostal religion, private religious practices). The emergent picture, more subtle, varied, and vibrant than traditional black Christian denominational history, marks a new era in African American religious studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800629946
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	11/19/1998
Series:	New Vectors in the Study of Religion and Theology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Anthony B. Pinn is Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and professor of religion at Rice University and teaches courses on African American religion, the history of Black religious thought, humanism, and Black theology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recipient of president's lifetime achievement award for volunteer service (2024). Pinn is also the author of more than thirty-five books, including, Varieties of African American Religious Experience, 20th Anniversary Edition (Fortress Press, 2017), Terror and Triumph: The Nature of Black Religion, 20th Anniversary Edition (Fortress Press, 2022) and What Is African American Religion?: Expanded Edition (Fortress Press, 2024).

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Theology and the Canon of Black Religion Rethought

1. Vodou, Voodoo, and the Voodoo Spiritual Temple

2. Santer'a, Orisha-Voodoo, and Oyotunji African Village

3. Islam, Nation of Islam, the Minneapolis Study Group

4. Humanism and African Americans for Humanism

5. Religious Experience, Cultural Memory, and Theological Method