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Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race
Discussions of racial difference always embody a story. The dominant story told in our society about race has many components, but two stand out: (1) racial difference is an essential characteristic, fully determining individual and group identity; and (2) racial difference means that some bodies are less human than others.
The church knows another story, says Luke Powery, if it would remember it. That story says that the diversity of human bodies is one of the gifts of the Spirit. That story's decisive chapter comes at Pentecost, when the Spirt embraces all bodies, all flesh, all tongues. In that story, different kinds of materiality and embodiment are strengths to be celebrated rather than inconvenient facts to be ignored or feared. In this book, Powery urges the church to live up to the inclusive story of Pentecost in its life of worship and ministry. He reviews ways that a theology and practice of preaching can more fully exemplify the diversity of gifts God gives to the church. He concludes by entering into a conversation with the work of Howard Thurman on doing ministry to and with humanity in the light of the work of the Spirit.
The church knows another story, says Luke Powery, if it would remember it. That story says that the diversity of human bodies is one of the gifts of the Spirit. That story's decisive chapter comes at Pentecost, when the Spirt embraces all bodies, all flesh, all tongues. In that story, different kinds of materiality and embodiment are strengths to be celebrated rather than inconvenient facts to be ignored or feared. In this book, Powery urges the church to live up to the inclusive story of Pentecost in its life of worship and ministry. He reviews ways that a theology and practice of preaching can more fully exemplify the diversity of gifts God gives to the church. He concludes by entering into a conversation with the work of Howard Thurman on doing ministry to and with humanity in the light of the work of the Spirit.
160 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2022
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November 29, 2022
The question of race and racism continues to prove challenging, especially as we see strong pushback against anti-racism training and conversations about the reality of racism in American history. It's not a comfortable conversation, no matter one's race/ethnicity. While we might want to embrace a largely misinterpreted vision on the part of Martin Luther King, that one day we would be judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin, the color of our skin still matters. At least in mainline Protestant contexts that conversation continues, such that books continue to get written that speak to our realities. None are as beautifully written and yet challenging as Luke Powery's "Becoming Human."
Luke Powery's title and subtitle to the book, which is relatively brief but powerful, reminds us that at the end of the day we are human beings. We are mortals. While we share that common humanity, race matters, or at least the social construct of race continues to matter. Powery brings to the conversation his expertise as a preacher and teacher of preachers, and more specifically as a Black man teaching in a historically white institution that has a rather racist historical legacy. Powery is Dean of the Chapel and associate professor of homiletics at Duke University.
In this book, Powery addresses preaching and pastoral ministry in the context of race in the context of a deep theology of the Holy Spirit. As Willie Jennings writes in his foreword to the book, Powery addresses the reality of our resistance to the Holy Spirit in the context of race and the racial condition. Thus the focus here is on getting us to take the Holy Spirit seriously so that we can live into a new humanity in the Spirit such that we can overcome a racialized context. It is not that our ethnic identities/color must be erased but understood in a new way.
One thing I've learned in recent years, as a white male, is the importance of listening to the stories of those who have experienced racialized lives. When it comes to being racialized, Powery suggests that this involves being "erased from the sphere of humanity." So to become human is an act of the Spirit to overcome this reality. To understand what it means to become human starts by recognizing that race is not biologically defined, though there were attempts well into the 20th century to "prove" that to be true. Rather it is a social construct that has social power to control. Thus, when we speak of whiteness, we're not talking about a biological thing but a way of organizing life. Power writes that "racialization perpetuated by whiteness has historically been about the power to control and destroy, racing that which needs to be dominated because it is perceived to be in the way, economically, socially, or even religiously" (p, 5). In dealing with this reality Powery brings the Spirit into the conversation, as it is the Spirit who can blow into our context and push back in the other direction of our racialized reality. The Spirit can, he suggests, "help us reclaim our humanity with all of its rich particularity of culture, language, and ethnicity." (p. 9). He draws on the image of Pentecost, where we find that list of ethnic identities all being drawn together by the Spirit as a foundation for the creation of this new humanity
Becoming Hunan is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the reality of a history of inhumanity, and the ways it exists, including homiletically and liturgically. This is a reminder that racialization has been and is present in the church, which was symbolized until recently at Duke chapel by a statue of Robert E. Lee in front of the chapel door. In chapter 5wo, titled "Oh Freedom" Powery deals with the attempts to root race in biology, and thus, he seeks to deconstruct those ideas and redefines race as a social construct. As for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit seeks to "form a community of diverse and beautiful human beings, not for a hierarchy but for unity and equality within the human race." (p. 50).
Chapter 3 is titled "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," a chapter in which Powery attempts to create a pneumatology of particularity. This pneumatology can reveal that "the inhumanity of antiblackness, anti-Black body, and anti-Black humanity is actually anti-Spirit" for as Paul reminds us our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (p. 51). Here is where he roots an affirmation of diversity in the Pentecost story, which he believes, rightfully in my mind, that the wind of the Spirit blowing on the Day of Pentecost "confronts the dehumanization of racialization." (p. 59). That they were in one place does not mean this place was homogenized ethnically or linguistically. The message of Pentecost is the creation of a unified diversity, and this is the creation of a new humanity in the Spirit.
In chapters 4 and 5 Powery speaks from these foundations to matters of preaching and pastoral ministry. Chapter 4, "The's Room for Many-a-More" speaks to homiletical matters. Here he addresses how race is typically treated in homiletical literature and then moves us toward a new form of preaching that is rooted in the Spirit and is able to deal with difference, especially racial difference. As such it moves us to a humanizing homiletic where we can affirm "all humans as beautiful creatures of God." (p. 83). While reconciliation is still an eschatological hope, our preaching can, quoting HyeRan Kim-Cragg "rehearse reconciliation until it comes, because it is what is truly needed in a racialized world that divides and dehumanizes. This homiletical rehearsal not only speaks of how God makes creation whole by proclaiming a God who 'reconciles us into a new humanity.'" (p. 103). Then in Chapter 5, "There Is a Balm," Powery addresses pastoral ministry as a whole. Here he focuses on ministering as humans, drawing on Jesus' humanity as a foundation. Such a ministry will attend to suffering bodies, especially the marginalized ones. He points out that " A ministry with humanity reminds us that human beings are more than a head on a pile of books. To proclaim the gospel in word and deed necessitates a whole human person, spiritual and physical, the spirit and the body, the spirit in the body and the body in the person. Only a whole person can do holy ministry wholly" (p. 111). Ultimately this is a call to community of diverse humanity that is no longer racialized.
While Becoming Human is not a lengthy book it is a powerful one. It deals with race directly, revealing the inhumanity present in our world, and offers the Spirit as the key to becoming truly human, where our diversity is embraced but racialization is set aside. It is a word to the preachers and pastoral ministers to embrace the Spirit in ways that will inform and humanize our work. For this, we can be thankful for this book that should be read closely by clergy, especially clergy like me.
Luke Powery's title and subtitle to the book, which is relatively brief but powerful, reminds us that at the end of the day we are human beings. We are mortals. While we share that common humanity, race matters, or at least the social construct of race continues to matter. Powery brings to the conversation his expertise as a preacher and teacher of preachers, and more specifically as a Black man teaching in a historically white institution that has a rather racist historical legacy. Powery is Dean of the Chapel and associate professor of homiletics at Duke University.
In this book, Powery addresses preaching and pastoral ministry in the context of race in the context of a deep theology of the Holy Spirit. As Willie Jennings writes in his foreword to the book, Powery addresses the reality of our resistance to the Holy Spirit in the context of race and the racial condition. Thus the focus here is on getting us to take the Holy Spirit seriously so that we can live into a new humanity in the Spirit such that we can overcome a racialized context. It is not that our ethnic identities/color must be erased but understood in a new way.
One thing I've learned in recent years, as a white male, is the importance of listening to the stories of those who have experienced racialized lives. When it comes to being racialized, Powery suggests that this involves being "erased from the sphere of humanity." So to become human is an act of the Spirit to overcome this reality. To understand what it means to become human starts by recognizing that race is not biologically defined, though there were attempts well into the 20th century to "prove" that to be true. Rather it is a social construct that has social power to control. Thus, when we speak of whiteness, we're not talking about a biological thing but a way of organizing life. Power writes that "racialization perpetuated by whiteness has historically been about the power to control and destroy, racing that which needs to be dominated because it is perceived to be in the way, economically, socially, or even religiously" (p, 5). In dealing with this reality Powery brings the Spirit into the conversation, as it is the Spirit who can blow into our context and push back in the other direction of our racialized reality. The Spirit can, he suggests, "help us reclaim our humanity with all of its rich particularity of culture, language, and ethnicity." (p. 9). He draws on the image of Pentecost, where we find that list of ethnic identities all being drawn together by the Spirit as a foundation for the creation of this new humanity
Becoming Hunan is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the reality of a history of inhumanity, and the ways it exists, including homiletically and liturgically. This is a reminder that racialization has been and is present in the church, which was symbolized until recently at Duke chapel by a statue of Robert E. Lee in front of the chapel door. In chapter 5wo, titled "Oh Freedom" Powery deals with the attempts to root race in biology, and thus, he seeks to deconstruct those ideas and redefines race as a social construct. As for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit seeks to "form a community of diverse and beautiful human beings, not for a hierarchy but for unity and equality within the human race." (p. 50).
Chapter 3 is titled "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," a chapter in which Powery attempts to create a pneumatology of particularity. This pneumatology can reveal that "the inhumanity of antiblackness, anti-Black body, and anti-Black humanity is actually anti-Spirit" for as Paul reminds us our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (p. 51). Here is where he roots an affirmation of diversity in the Pentecost story, which he believes, rightfully in my mind, that the wind of the Spirit blowing on the Day of Pentecost "confronts the dehumanization of racialization." (p. 59). That they were in one place does not mean this place was homogenized ethnically or linguistically. The message of Pentecost is the creation of a unified diversity, and this is the creation of a new humanity in the Spirit.
In chapters 4 and 5 Powery speaks from these foundations to matters of preaching and pastoral ministry. Chapter 4, "The's Room for Many-a-More" speaks to homiletical matters. Here he addresses how race is typically treated in homiletical literature and then moves us toward a new form of preaching that is rooted in the Spirit and is able to deal with difference, especially racial difference. As such it moves us to a humanizing homiletic where we can affirm "all humans as beautiful creatures of God." (p. 83). While reconciliation is still an eschatological hope, our preaching can, quoting HyeRan Kim-Cragg "rehearse reconciliation until it comes, because it is what is truly needed in a racialized world that divides and dehumanizes. This homiletical rehearsal not only speaks of how God makes creation whole by proclaiming a God who 'reconciles us into a new humanity.'" (p. 103). Then in Chapter 5, "There Is a Balm," Powery addresses pastoral ministry as a whole. Here he focuses on ministering as humans, drawing on Jesus' humanity as a foundation. Such a ministry will attend to suffering bodies, especially the marginalized ones. He points out that " A ministry with humanity reminds us that human beings are more than a head on a pile of books. To proclaim the gospel in word and deed necessitates a whole human person, spiritual and physical, the spirit and the body, the spirit in the body and the body in the person. Only a whole person can do holy ministry wholly" (p. 111). Ultimately this is a call to community of diverse humanity that is no longer racialized.
While Becoming Human is not a lengthy book it is a powerful one. It deals with race directly, revealing the inhumanity present in our world, and offers the Spirit as the key to becoming truly human, where our diversity is embraced but racialization is set aside. It is a word to the preachers and pastoral ministers to embrace the Spirit in ways that will inform and humanize our work. For this, we can be thankful for this book that should be read closely by clergy, especially clergy like me.
May 30, 2024
Along with being the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University (where I attend services), he is also an Associate Professor of Homiletics at the Duke Divinity School, and holds a faculty appointment in Duke's Department of African and African American studies. . . . I love hearing him preach!
. . . and after reading "Becoming Human," I also love reading his books. Particularly, in this book, his thesis on how the churches, and its member, should think about and consider how to wade through the waters of race, racism, in light of the complex issues and divides of today's times.
Using the events of Pentecost and how the Holy Spirit descended on people of all races and ethnicities, as a model of God's intent to bring the Spirit to ALL peoples and races -- and in so doing -- making us all one people -- human people, -- Dean Powery suggest ways for churches and its members to move past what he calls "racialization" (distinguishing people in particular racial categories) and into "humanization"- treating one another as people first who have much in common.
Well written, well thought out, and well researched (he brings to light so many commentators and books referencing the topic, particularly the works of African- American icon and theologian Howard Thurman.) Dean Powery looks to reach out pastors, preachers, and ALL of us, to make us "better" than who we are now, and reach up and be what God wants us all to be-- human, loving, and not singling out each other depending on the color of our skin.
. . . A powerful read well worth the journey!
. . . and after reading "Becoming Human," I also love reading his books. Particularly, in this book, his thesis on how the churches, and its member, should think about and consider how to wade through the waters of race, racism, in light of the complex issues and divides of today's times.
Using the events of Pentecost and how the Holy Spirit descended on people of all races and ethnicities, as a model of God's intent to bring the Spirit to ALL peoples and races -- and in so doing -- making us all one people -- human people, -- Dean Powery suggest ways for churches and its members to move past what he calls "racialization" (distinguishing people in particular racial categories) and into "humanization"- treating one another as people first who have much in common.
Well written, well thought out, and well researched (he brings to light so many commentators and books referencing the topic, particularly the works of African- American icon and theologian Howard Thurman.) Dean Powery looks to reach out pastors, preachers, and ALL of us, to make us "better" than who we are now, and reach up and be what God wants us all to be-- human, loving, and not singling out each other depending on the color of our skin.
. . . A powerful read well worth the journey!
February 1, 2023
Wow. I am grateful to have read Dr. Powery's arguments on how the Holy Spirit can be a guide for us to move away from the concepts of race and racism into the truth that we are all created humans. Powery acknowledges that while race has no base in scientific fact it does have a very real social impact. Furthermore, the role of the Holy Spirit in humanizing all of us towards each other is incredibly important in letting go of the alluring influence that race and racism as a system has over our psyches. Thorough this book I understood pnemautology as a study of the Holy Spirit and how if we believe in the Holy Spirit then it is a call to humanize rather to dehumanize others. I will take the lessons this book has with me and share them widely with others.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews