In this response to Twila McAdams and Amanda Robbins, Dr. Lloyd Barba uses the 11/9/16 presidential election to examine the tensions between the socio-economic and racial history of Latina/o Pentecostalism and the admonitions of Latina/o liberative hermeneutics.
Amanda Robbins challenges us to think through the appeal of Pentecostalism within a Hispanic American context. She wonders how the needs of communities register in Bible-reading strategies. See other pieces in our series on the Bible and Race here. Pentecostalism has been an increasingly popular religion in the United States of America, particularly for its … Continue reading Pentecostalism’s Rise through Hispanic Americans
In this second issue on Hispanic American bible reading, undergrad Twila McAdams looks at potential shifts in empathy regarding LGBTQ persons by evangelicals after the 2016 Orlando shooting. Her piece has us wonder how firm social boundaries are in light of trauma. See other pieces in the series here. A recent report from NBC news … Continue reading A Stand for Diversity
For many Christians, the season of Advent is a time to reevaluate what is worthwhile in the world. The idea is that at season's end, the birth of Christ brings a new formulation of life's fundamentals. Jesus didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The gospel becomes an accounting of who and … Continue reading The Bible and Race in the USA: Dating Human Worth
Today, we can speak casually of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Many of us are not required to think about, really think about, the effects of three hundred-plus years of “writing on backs” that lead to the movement. We are removed from the economic realities and social injustices that lit the fire for that movement. Anyone who has not had to come to terms with the persistence of that writing on the backs is not likely to feel the sense of urgency that racism in this country ought to stir in all of us.
