Reading Black Books - by Claude Atcho (Paperback)

About the Book

A pastor and teacher demonstrates how Black experience, as shown in the literature of great African American writers, can guide us all toward sharper theological thinking and more faithful living.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today 2023 Book Award Finalist (Culture & the Arts)
Midwest Book Review 2023 Gold Book Award Winner (Nonfiction - Religion/Philosophy)

Learning from Black voices means listening to more than snippets. It means attending to Black stories. Reading Black Books helps Christians hear and learn from enduring Black voices and stories as captured in classic African American literature.

Pastor and teacher Claude Atcho offers a theological approach to 10 seminal texts of 20th-century African American literature. Each chapter takes up a theological category for inquiry through a close literary reading and theological reflection on a primary literary text, from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son to Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain and James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain. The book includes end-of-chapter discussion questions.

Reading Black Books helps readers of all backgrounds learn from the contours of Christian faith formed and forged by Black stories, and it spurs continued conversations about racial justice in the church. It demonstrates that reading about Black experience as shown in the literature of great African American writers can guide us toward sharper theological thinking and more faithful living.

From the Back Cover

Centering the Black Experience in Christian Reflection

Pastor and teacher Claude Atcho demonstrates how Black experience, as shown in the literature of great African American writers, can guide us all toward sharper theological thinking and more faithful living.

"An exemplary work of literary criticism and Christian wisdom. In elevating and illuminating the important voices examined in these pages, Atcho brings a great and greatly needed gift to the world."
--Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

"Brilliant and thought provoking. There are holes in the lived theology of many Christians that Atcho has used Wright, Ellison, Morrison, Hurston, and others to help fill. A must-read for anyone who loves reading literature and thinking deeply about God."
--Kathryn A. Freeman, writer and cohost of the Melanated Faith podcast

"Written with the passion of a book lover and the urgency of a preacher, Reading Black Books not only reminds us of the richness and vitality of classic works like Invisible Man, Passing, and Beloved; it also connects the form and themes of these writings to God's sovereign story of justice and righteousness. This is Christian literary criticism at its best."
--Josh Larsen, author of Movies Are Prayers; editor at ThinkChristian.net

"Atcho conducts a theological reading of popular Black novels and poetry to unearth the joys, sorrows, and longings that have often marked Black life, examining them through divine revelation. Reading Black Books answers the abiding questions from Black literature with theological insights and a pastoral heart that marks every page."
--Walter R. Strickland II, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Atcho offers us one part riveting English class and one part soul-stirring theological groundwork. His work reminds us of the truth that Black voices are more than trendy. Atcho's words inspired me to revisit each and every work he profiled with fresh eyes and renewed appreciation."
--Jasmine Holmes, author of Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us

About the Author

Claude Atcho (MTS, Midwestern Seminary) is pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has taught African American literature at the collegiate level and is a regular writer and podcast contributor for Think Christian. He has written for Christ & Pop Culture, The Gospel Coalition, and The Witness: A Black Christian Collective.