Free at Last?: The Gospel in the African-American Experience

Rating:
Summary: Left somewhat bewildered and confused
Review: (My comments must be prefaced with the acknowledgement that I am white. Our study group read this book as in investment in understanding a perspective which we don't ofter consider.)

Carl Ellis tackles a topic that is daunting in the extreme. The story of religious-racial relations in the United States is not one of pride in our history. From the oft-forgotten slaughter of Christian Indians by Americans at Gnadenhutten, to the intentional withholding of the Gospel to slaves, to the lack of support for the civil rights movement in our own times the history of race and the Christian religion in our country has not consistently lived up to its own teachings. (It has to be acknowledged as well that there have been many "successes" --but the conscience remains shocked and profoundly disturbed by these other all to persistent occurrences.)

And once we understand this, we are left at a loss at what must be done. Mr. Ellis retraces the efforts to achieve freedom and dignity. These each have lacked something, the key to true deliverance and we (black and white) remain on the doorstep.

He here is where we remain. From our reading of the work, we could not grasp what it was or would be that would take us across the threshold. It is a complicated issue and in this work we did not find a sense of how it could be corrected, just a deepening sense of division.

It has been many years since the work was created, however and we hope that Mr Ellis would be able to update it with research, thought, and experience gained since its initial revision. This would perhaps be of great benefit to the readers who were left a bit bewildered and confused by the work as a whole. In any event, he is to be congratulated for his efforts to provide leadership on such a difficult and troubling subject. Few remain who have the courage to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Left somewhat bewildered and confused
Review: (My comments must be prefaced with the acknowledgement that I am white. Our study group read this book as in investment in understanding a perspective which we don't ofter consider.)

Carl Ellis tackles a topic that is daunting in the extreme. The story of religious-racial relations in the United States is not one of pride in our history. From the oft-forgotten slaughter of Christian Indians by Americans at Gnadenhutten, to the intentional withholding of the Gospel to slaves, to the lack of support for the civil rights movement in our own times the history of race and the Christian religion in our country has not consistently lived up to its own teachings. (It has to be acknowledged as well that there have been many "successes" --but the conscience remains shocked and profoundly disturbed by these other all to persistent occurrences.)

And once we understand this, we are left at a loss at what must be done. Mr. Ellis retraces the efforts to achieve freedom and dignity. These each have lacked something, the key to true deliverance and we (black and white) remain on the doorstep.

He here is where we remain. From our reading of the work, we could not grasp what it was or would be that would take us across the threshold. It is a complicated issue and in this work we did not find a sense of how it could be corrected, just a deepening sense of division.

It has been many years since the work was created, however and we hope that Mr Ellis would be able to update it with research, thought, and experience gained since its initial revision. This would perhaps be of great benefit to the readers who were left a bit bewildered and confused by the work as a whole. In any event, he is to be congratulated for his efforts to provide leadership on such a difficult and troubling subject. Few remain who have the courage to do so.

Rating:
Summary: BIBLICAL BALANCE BETWEEN ULTRACONSERVATISM AND LIBERALISM
Review: CARL, A MAN WHO LOVES GOD AND SEEKS TO OBEY HIM, TAKES A HARD LOOK AT THE PRACTICE OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY. HE LEVELS NEEDED CRITICISM AND INSTRUCTION. HE MAKES A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANITY AS A RELIGION AND FOLLOWING CHRIST AS A BELIEVER. IF CARL'S PROPHETIC VOICE IS HEEDED, WE WILL HAVE A STRONGER BODY WHICH WILL BRING GLORY TO GOD RATHER THAN CAUSE HIM TO HANG HIS HEAD IN SHAME BECAUSE OF OUR HYPOCRISY AND DIVISION.