In the summer of 1860; more than fifty years after the United States legally abolished the international slave trade; 110 men; women; and children from Benin and Nigeria were brought ashore in Alabama under cover of night. They were the last recorded group of Africans deported to the United States as slaves. Timothy Meaher; an established Mobile businessman; sent the slave ship; the Clotilda ; to Africa; on a bet that he could "bring a shipful of niggers right into Mobile Bay under the officers' noses." He won the bet. This book reconstructs the lives of the people in West Africa; recounts their capture and passage in the slave pen in Ouidah; and describes their experience of slavery alongside American-born enslaved men and women. After emancipation; the group reunited from various plantations; bought land; and founded their own settlement; known as African Town. They ruled it according to customary African laws; spoke their own regional language and; when giving interviews; insisted that writers use their African names so that their families would know that they were still alive. The last survivor of the Clotilda died in 1935; but African Town is still home to a community of Clotilda descendants. The publication of Dreams of Africa in Alabama marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Winner of the Wesley-Logan Prize of the American Historical Association (2007)
#1070806 in Books Lamin O Sanneh 2007-11-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.00 x .80 x 9.10l; 1.19 #File Name: 0195189612384 pagesDisciples of All Nations Pillars of World Christianity
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. thematic discussion of world christianity with an eloquent penBy CustomerWith Disciples of All Nations; Professor of History and World Christianity at Yale University; Lamin Sanneh; continues to develop his growing corpus on World Christianity; building on previous works like; Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (1989); and Whose Religion Is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West (2003). In writing Disciples of All Nations; Sanneh inaugurates the "Oxford Studies in World Christianity"--a venture that examines the "massive cultural shifts and alignments" currently underway in World Christianity. According to Sanneh; "the shift;" which this series aims to address; is the relocation "in the center of gravity" of Christianity from the global north/west to the global south/east. Yet; for Sanneh; it is not that Christianity is in a terminal state in the West; but that Christianity's future is currently "being formed and shaped at the hands and minds of its non-Western adherents." Illustrative of this reality; is not simply the growth of Christianity in places like Africa--which has jumped from 9 million Christians in 1900 to 393 million Christians in 2005--but the increasing number of churches from non-Western countries becoming visible in cities in Europe and North America. Moreover; this shift has generated a complex and colorful reality in the study of Christianity as a world religion; which Sanneh describes with his elegant pen:"the growing numbers and the geographical scope of that growth; the cross-cultural patterns of encounter; the variety and diversity of cultures affected; the structural and antistructural nature of the changes involved; the kaleidoscope of cultures often manifested in familiar and unfamiliar variations on the canon; the wide spectrum of theological views and ecclesiastical traditions represented; the ideas of authority and styles of leadership that have been developed; the process of acute indigenization that fosters liturgical renewal; the production of new religious art; music; hymns; songs an prayers--all these are part of Christianity's stunningly diverse profile."In this vein the ensuing books in this new Oxford series will "be devoted to specific themes and regions within the general subject of Christianity's development as a world religion." Taken together; this series will collectively examine "post-Western developments in Christianity and in the elaborations; variations; continuities; and divergences with the originating Western forms of religion;" Sanneh envisages. Nevertheless; the vision of the series is such that each book will be "conceived and written individually."In Disciples of All Nations Sanneh seeks to provide a "panoramic survey of the field; exploring the sources to uncover the nature and scope of Christianity's worldwide multicultural impact." As such; Sanneh's book; does not offer a clear and concise thesis. Yet; that is not to say that Disciples of All Nations does not put forth an argument or a particular way of reading the unfolding of Christianity as a world religion.At the heart of Sanneh's contention is that Christianity is a mission-oriented and translating religion made up diverse cultures and languages united by Jewish monotheist ideas and ethics; which emphasizes personal conversion to and fellowship with God in Jesus Christ. Supporting his view is the a theological assertion that God is "at the center of the universe of cultures; implying equality among cultures and the necessarily relative status vis-Ã -vis the truth of God." Thus; for Sanneh no culture or language has exclusive claim to God; that is; Christianity as an adaptable religion transcends culture. In Sanneh's words; "Being a translated religion; Christian teaching was received and framed in the terms of its host culture; by feeding off the diverse cultural streams it encountered; the religion became multicultural. The local idiom became a chosen vessel."In view of these assertions; Sanneh's book is organized thematically under several "pillars;" by which he means motifs or sections of the book - not necessarily columns holding up the foundation of World Christianity. Throughout his discussion of these pillars; Sanneh considers the serial quality of Christianity (i.e. the "cycles of retreat and advance; of contraction and expansion; and of waning and awakening" indicative of Christianity since its inception); while thematically exploring Christianity's transmission; reception; including the various actors involved; and the disparate historical and political environments in which Christianity developed and is embodied.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Wealth of InformationBy D. C. KosobuckiLamin Sanneh is amazingly scholarly; but this is not a book useful only to scholars. It is helpful to anyone interested in the concept of Christians communicating Christ to a non-Christian world. Sanneh knows that a personal life-changing faith in Christ is available to and transcends all cultural; linguistic; national and educational boundaries.Disciples of All Nations puts the Christian faith in perspective; both historically and geographically. It explores the interaction between Christians long steeped in the faith; those new to the faith and those yet completely unfamiliar with Jesus. It reminds us and informs us regarding Christianity's multicultural origins and points us to its multicultural future.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy P. KJohnsonas advertised; fast ship
