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Book Reviews
541
Shawn M. Copeland,Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Reli-
gious Experiences(Maryknoll,NY: Orbis Books, 2018). 160 pp. $24.00 paperback.
Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience by M. Shawn Copeland is a compelling exploration of the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as understood through the experience of enslaved Africans in America. This skillfully compiled collection of essays describes how enslaved Africans in America were able to cling to the cross of Jesus as a source of hope and spiritual sustenance despite racist attempts to use the Christian narrative to undergird their oppression. In continuity with wom- anist, feminist and liberationist theological traditions, Copeland examines the meaning of Jesus’ suffering as a result of his marginality and successfully con- veys its significance for all those suffering amid oppression.
While Copeland examines the meaning of Christ’s passion primarily in the context of the African American experience, she outlines an image of solidarity that challenges the reader to confront the witness of all people who suffer and embody a marginalized existence. For Copeland, “to know and to follow Christ crucified is to know and love those children, women, and men who are poor, excluded, and despised, made different and unwelcome, lynched, and crucified in our world” (133). As a result, for Copeland, the African American experience becomes the point of departure for the reader to confront the martyrdom of countless bodies who have been sacrificed in the service of empire. Copeland thoughtfully recalls several instances of the violent trespass of marginalized bodies throughout history to challenge the reader to embrace a Christological epistemology that can only be achieved through authentic encounter with the marginalized other. In an almost sermonic style, Copeland divides the book into three parts which function as three distinct movements. In the first part, Copeland provides a historical treatment of chattel slavery and its explicit con- nections to Christianity and white supremacy. It is also in this section that Copeland describes the historical context and the black spirituality from which the Spirituals developed. In the second movement, Copeland outlines the crux of the book which emphasizes the importance of the marks of Jesus’ flesh and sociality. She argues that the unwavering recognition of Jesus’ body as marked by class, gender, racial, sexual, cultural and religious distinctions clarifies what it means to be a fully embodied being in the world (67, 79).
In the final section, Copeland heralds the reader to action. Here, she outlines her interpretation of discipleship which tasks the reader to understand disci- pleship as the radical embrace of the marked, wounded-ness of Christ’s body in the world. Using the Eucharist as context, Copeland argues that genuine dis- cipleship is to be in radical solidarity with marked, broken bodies as a witness
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to the otherwise possibility of the reign of God. She concludes the section by emphasizing the importance of the resurrection. Copeland explicitly connects the reality of the crucified Jesus to the other worldly phenomena of the res- urrection. For Copeland, the resurrection has unique meaning because of the marks that distinguish Jesus’ physical body and sociality and not despite them.
Narrative, scripture and the Spirituals function as important sources for Copeland’s interrogation of the cross of Christ. Her personal reflections, the testimonies of formerly enslaved persons and others gives the book a conver- sational character. They challenge the reader to encounter the cross of Christ anew in light of these personal histories and experiences. Copeland’s extensive use of scripture grounds her work within Catholic tradition as well as casts a vision of a biblical hermeneutic that has as its telos universal human flourish- ing.
For Copeland, the Negro Spiritual is the site of convergence of African reli- gious tradition, Christianity and the aural testimony of a people who suffered under the crippling weight of white supremacy and colonialism. Her care- ful exegesis of selected Spirituals throughout the text invites the reader into respites of theological reflection and devotion. The inclusion of these sacred hymns highlights the depth and beauty of a form of black spirituality that is often regarded as base and unsophisticated.
In many ways, Copeland’s reading of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is both a potential site of hope and of conversion; hope of God’s presence amid oppression and the possibility that people might encounter the humanity of Jesus and choose to live by his incarnational ethic.To assent to Copeland’s read- ing of Christ’s passion requires an appreciation for the Christian narrative. It calls for oppressed people to resist injustice and remain steadfast in the hope of resurrection on the basis of the Gospel witness. For many who suffer in our con- temporary context both within Christianity and outside of it, this is a difficult reality to accept. Christianity’s collusion with politics and flagrant scandals in the Church only serve to disguise the solidarity and hope that Copeland seeks to uncover in the passion of Christ. These realities make the task of offering Christ as a unique and legitimate option for the oppressed an onerous one. While Copeland’s commitment to the institutional Church is apparent, it does not escape her critique. Instead, Copeland openly assesses the Church’s failure to apprehend the crucified Christ by virtue of its exclusion and discrimination both historically and in our current moment.
One of the great values of this work is its versatility. Its style and compo- sition engages the sensibilities of the academic, while its clarity and pastoral tenor ensure its accessibility for the casual reader. While Copeland interacts with notions of cross and suffering from a Catholic context, she writes with a
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deliberate ecumenical openness that creates vistas of interaction and dialogue for people of various religious traditions.The book is located at the intersection of history, religion, anthropology and cultural studies yet remains thoroughly theological. Copeland’s approach and perspective as evidenced through this text frees the cross from its explicitly theological confines and enables a re- imagining of Christ crucified that can potentially save the world.
John E. BarnesII
Fordham University, Bronx, New York [email protected]
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