NEW: CS251 History and Theology of the African American Church
Our latest pre-pub is CS251 History and Theology of the African American Church by Carl F. Ellis:
Carl Ellis is uniquely qualified to teach about Christianity in an African-American context and his depth of experience makes him an ideal guide for relating how theology developed over time within the African-American church. For thousands of years, God has mightily used many Africans to advance his kingdom. In this course, Ellis delves into Scripture, church history, and describes important movements like African-American missions during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the civil-rights movement, and analyzes important events happening today.
Study a rich heritage of culturally and ethnically African models of faith for modern believers. This course draws on Old Testament examples, like Ebed-Melech from Jeremiah chapter 38, New Testament Christians like Simon the Cyrene, initial African believers in Acts chapter two, and the church in Antioch where Paul based his ministry. Furthermore, many of the early Church Fathers, like Augustine, were themselves African. Viewers will better understand parallels between initial Greek Christians and modern day African-American Christians in, two populations that Ellis refers to as similarly sub-dominant.
As application, Ellis advocates for a modern-day reformation among African-American Christians instead of revival, citing the present need for a radical reassessment and revitalization of modern faith. Reframing the concept of righteousness into a covenantal setting, he emphasizes relationship between God and the individual Christian. The task of modern believers is to display the gospel by emphasizing social justice and social Godliness, personal justice, and personal Godliness in all aspects of life. The Bible has much to say about social justice and this course equips Christians to recognize societal, systemic examples of injustice and to address them via a God-honoring model for the African-American church. African-American believers should readily express their faith beyond merely personal Godliness, bringing to bear ethical and relational values of God's kingdom in every modern setting.