Were You There?: Godforsakenness in Slave Religion

by David Emmanuel Goatley

Explores the experience and sensation of having been abandoned by God as a means of understand-ing the slave experience and the kind of spirituality and theology to which it gave birth.

Genres: Theology

129 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, not a bad little volume here. Even though I find liberation theology to be out of touch and largely useless in ministry I still think Goatley has interesting things to say when talking about theology of slave spirituals. Some of the historical points he makes could be better sourced, but the first hand accounts of slavery coupled with his greater discussion of godforsakenness is appropriate and he comes to the right conclusion by the end. Which, hey, even if it took liberation theology to get there, I’m fine with it.

Helpful for a deep dive into black Christianity and a particular look at spirituals and the theology they convey.