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Lecture - The African Bible and African Americans in the Diaspora of the United States with Dr. WillPost an Event »

Museum of the African Diaspora

October 6 - October 6, 2012

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685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105
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This presentation will explore one of the most ironic “mysteries” about the relationship between “The Bible” and African Americans in the Diaspora of the United States. Ever since enslaved Africans were introduced to the Bible through evangelical Protestantism, especially during the Second Great Awakening, it has assumed a commanding presence within the African American psyche. Within the context of the emergence of independent African American churches especially, it became a book of both internal transformation and social liberation. One could say that it in the Diaspora of the United States it surpassed the status of its West African counterpart, the Odu Ifa. And yet, most African Americans are not aware of the North East African origins of this amazing book. Why is this the case? It is based on how it was re-presented through the English language along with a colonizing mentality. Will Coleman, Ph.D. is a theologian and teacher of biblical spirituality. He was born and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, he moved to Decatur, Georgia in order to attend Columbia Theological Seminary. There, he received his Master of Divinity degree, with a focus in theology. A few years later, he went on to receive his Doctorate of Philosophy degree (“with distinction”) from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. His areas of concentration were in philosophical and systematic theology, philosophy of religion and interpretation theory. He teaches and tutors individuals and groups in a variety of contexts in the areas of theology, bible study (in English, Hebrew and Greek) and spirituality. We will explore the African origins of the Bible in terms of the geography, people and languages of this Afro-Asiatic genesis. This is especially profound in terms of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin foundation upon which the English translations were built. During this presentation we will recover the power that has been intuitively perceived by enslaved Africans and their children: they have been and are reading an “African Bible.” Presented as part of the series Migrations of the Sacred: Spiritual Practices Across the Diaspora.