After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Theological Education between the Times) PDF, ePub eBook Kindle
| Author : Willie James Jennings Screen Reader : Supported Works with : Source : Status : Available | Last checked: 24 Minutes ago! Size : 24,313 KB |
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Rating: ★★★★★ 99 out of 100 based on 83306 userBook Information
Book ID Asin: 080287844X
Book Title: After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Theological Education between the Times)
Book Author: Willie James Jennings
Book Format and Price:
Book Format Name: Kindle
Book Format Price: $15.47
Book Format Name: Audiobook
Book Format Price: $0.00
Book Format Name: Paperback
Book Format Price: $18.85
Book Price: $18.85
Book Category: Books, Religion & Spirituality, Religious Studies and unknown
Book Rating: 171 ratings
Book Product Detail
- Publisher : Eerdmans; Illustrated edition (September 15, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 175 pages
- ISBN-10 : 080287844X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0802878441
- Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #283,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #159 in Religious Studies Education
- #3,257 in Higher & Continuing Education
- #6,509 in Christian Theology (Books)
- Customer Reviews: 171 ratings
Review
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Theologian Jennings (The Christian Imagination) delivers a searing critique of Western Christian divinity school training and higher education overall. . . . In the tradition of bell hooks and Paulo Freire, Jennings’s insightful indictment of the church and university will be an ideal choice for group discussion.”
“An exquisite expression of faith seeking understanding, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging is a gripping testimony to the life art of attending. When the academy is not a home, but your skin, paying attention requires everything. A fearlessly candid diagnosis of the failures of the theological academy—its soul-killing cultivation of the self-sufficient man builder—Jennings’s poetic truth-telling nevertheless refuses cynicism’s surrender. After Whiteness is relentlessly hopeful . . . an incisive indictment against a white aesthetic regime, while yet a joyful proclamation of education’s wonder and holy desire for gathering . . . an intimate confession of fragility and fatigue, while bearing witness to the “rain” of divine presence that bodies may touch and taste. In his plea for religious imagination and the secret agents of ‘fragment work,’ the always-inspired Willie James Jennings accomplishes an overturning that puts life-giving theos back into theological education. Divinity school deans and seminary presidents will declare After Whiteness a prerequisite for teaching and learning that aims to be spirit-filled.”
— Andrea C. White
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Praise for the TEBT series:
“At once visionary and realistic, the books in this series offer fresh, short, and very different answers to the question, ‘What is theological education for?’ Studies of that question have appeared every couple of decades and seem to assume that ‘one-size-fits-all’ answers are possible. What’s new and groundbreaking here is that a group of theological educators from a broad array of very different religious traditions address the question in conversation with one another and in light of the changing place of faith communities in contemporary culture.”
— David H. Kelsey
Yale Divinity School
“The authors of this series invite us into an exercise of the imagination—to let loose of the theological school models we know so well and instead craft ways that we teach and learn as if we are living in the new Jerusalem. This is daring work. Will we have the will to grasp it? I encourage you to read and see.”
— Emilie M. Townes
Vanderbilt University Divinity School
“I would be hard-pressed to name any other resource that even approaches this series in its visionary outlook and wide perspective on the challenges and opportunities currently facing theological education. The authors represent an unparalleled selection of leaders in theological education whose views and experiences point to different paths into the future, all leading to true excellence and relevance in theological education.”
— Justo L. González
author of The History of Theological Education
“At a time of massive changes in churches and theological schools, as well as in society generally, the twelve-book series Theological Education between the Times presents an indispensable resource. Many people, especially younger generations, question as never before the necessity of religious practice or even belonging to a congregation. In this new context, the repercussions for theological education are many: What adjustments must leaders make to maintain support? How can faculty modify programs to meet the demands of modern times? What message will attract prospective students? Astute theological educators from diverse backgrounds prayed together and engaged in conversations that contributed to the authorship of this lucid and compelling series intended for anyone concerned about the fate of religion in society.”
— Katarina Schuth, OSF
Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
“Theologian Jennings (The Christian Imagination) delivers a searing critique of Western Christian divinity school training and higher education overall. . . . In the tradition of bell hooks and Paulo Freire, Jennings’s insightful indictment of the church and university will be an ideal choice for group discussion.”
“An exquisite expression of faith seeking understanding, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging is a gripping testimony to the life art of attending. When the academy is not a home, but your skin, paying attention requires everything. A fearlessly candid diagnosis of the failures of the theological academy—its soul-killing cultivation of the self-sufficient man builder—Jennings’s poetic truth-telling nevertheless refuses cynicism’s surrender. After Whiteness is relentlessly hopeful . . . an incisive indictment against a white aesthetic regime, while yet a joyful proclamation of education’s wonder and holy desire for gathering . . . an intimate confession of fragility and fatigue, while bearing witness to the “rain” of divine presence that bodies may touch and taste. In his plea for religious imagination and the secret agents of ‘fragment work,’ the always-inspired Willie James Jennings accomplishes an overturning that puts life-giving theos back into theological education. Divinity school deans and seminary presidents will declare After Whiteness a prerequisite for teaching and learning that aims to be spirit-filled.”
— Andrea C. White
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Praise for the TEBT series:
“At once visionary and realistic, the books in this series offer fresh, short, and very different answers to the question, ‘What is theological education for?’ Studies of that question have appeared every couple of decades and seem to assume that ‘one-size-fits-all’ answers are possible. What’s new and groundbreaking here is that a group of theological educators from a broad array of very different religious traditions address the question in conversation with one another and in light of the changing place of faith communities in contemporary culture.”
— David H. Kelsey
Yale Divinity School
“The authors of this series invite us into an exercise of the imagination—to let loose of the theological school models we know so well and instead craft ways that we teach and learn as if we are living in the new Jerusalem. This is daring work. Will we have the will to grasp it? I encourage you to read and see.”
— Emilie M. Townes
Vanderbilt University Divinity School
“I would be hard-pressed to name any other resource that even approaches this series in its visionary outlook and wide perspective on the challenges and opportunities currently facing theological education. The authors represent an unparalleled selection of leaders in theological education whose views and experiences point to different paths into the future, all leading to true excellence and relevance in theological education.”
— Justo L. González
author of The History of Theological Education
“At a time of massive changes in churches and theological schools, as well as in society generally, the twelve-book series Theological Education between the Times presents an indispensable resource. Many people, especially younger generations, question as never before the necessity of religious practice or even belonging to a congregation. In this new context, the repercussions for theological education are many: What adjustments must leaders make to maintain support? How can faculty modify programs to meet the demands of modern times? What message will attract prospective students? Astute theological educators from diverse backgrounds prayed together and engaged in conversations that contributed to the authorship of this lucid and compelling series intended for anyone concerned about the fate of religion in society.”
— Katarina Schuth, OSF
Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
About the Author
Willie James Jennings is associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University Divinity School. His book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race won both the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
Book Review
Name: J. ZabrockiRating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Another book of circular logic....
Date: Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2020
Review: Critical Race theory is nonsensical and full of circular logic. This book has some interesting poetry, but overall, adds nothing of value to the discussion. It always amazes me when a writer begins with, "The academy is so racist and white, that is why I, a black man, am an academic dean of a college." Yep, sounds racist to me.
Name: Sophfronia Scott
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Mind-blowing, Brave, and Beautiful Book
Date: Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020
Review: A mind-blowing examination of the current state of theological education. Dr. Jennings's observations, however, are applicable to all of academia today and not only the study of religion and theology. He uses the full range of his voice, speaking in tones academic and poetic with notes of creative nonfiction, to express the problems of a fully entrenched archaic system as well as the hope and love of a heart that believes deep change is possible. It is his hope that will stay with me as I take on new endeavors. Thank you, Dr. Jennings, for this brave and beautiful work.
Name: Richard Smith
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outstanding attack against Eurocentrism in Theological seminaries. Wow!
Date: Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2020
Review: Wow! This is an amazing book, taking on all the sacred cows in the world of seminary education. He speaks as one who has been there, and gives us insight through many stories of discrimination that he experienced first hand. He doesn't even exempt himself from punishing criticism. His call for change ought to reverberate through the halls of all discipleship and seminary programs. Jennings attacks Eurocentrism and intellectualism in theological education, saying its corresponding White self-sufficient male role model of the ideal theologian is not correct. Theologians in cultures around the world need not start with historical theology and build upon academics primarily from Europe. They can start anew with Biblical theologies that apply to their culture and address their own issues. Way too many brilliant theology students from diverse cultures, some with knowledge of five Asian and/or African languages, have been berated by theologians and told to drop out of seminary because they could not write in precise English, German, and/or French. Students from collective societies ought not to receive derision because they like to accomplish things with the body of Christ instead of by themselves. Seminaries have become places where people are taught, but rarely are they allowed to reflect on their own cultural experience. People who have experienced the horrors of life and yet still cling to God have much to inform academia and the Church. Native Americans generally avoid seminaries because theological schools don’t allow Natives to reflect on their own theology. Africans are unable to see the beauty and intelligence in their continent, since teachers tell their students that European thought has formed the apex of theology. Anything Africans do well, Americans and Europeans copy and claim it as their own. Interestingly, tradition has become so important that academics think anyone who has not adopted a church tradition does not understand who they are. More practical professors are pigeon-holed as “not serious scholars” by the intellectual hierarchy. Women professors at male seminaries and Asian and Black professors at predominately White seminaries have to fight to be taken seriously. When they are beat down enough, they start going through the motions of teaching while avoiding painful interactions. African American teachers are forced to defend institutional racism that does not acknowledge or incorporate African American scholarship in its readings, or deal with the issues their communities face. Some Black professors try their best to emulate the white self-sufficient slave holder to gain favor with other academics. Academic institutions recognize three kinds of power: intellectual ability, celebrity, and ability to generate money. Cultural diversity is way down the list. Theological education has become a business without relationship. Most theological lectures do not allow students to ask questions or reflect using their own experience. Jennings answer to these issues is communion, of building life together, in their own way, not guided by the power of Whiteness or European colonialism. Dialoging together, sharing hopes and dreams, and hearing the Words of a redeeming God.
Name: J. Wire
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good explanations - Worth wading through some academic language
Date: Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021
Review: I really liked the book. Filled with examples from author's career that are easy to follow and make his point well. The intro and brief parts of chapters are heavy on academic/university terminology which probably means a lot to that audience and little to a former business major.
Name: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A great read … but sadly lacks a meaningful proposal for paradigmatic change
Date: Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021
Review: Willie Jennings’ “After Whiteness” is a great read … although I must confess I was disappointed in the lack of a meaningful proposal for paradigmatic change in the western theological academy. I have seen some very creative approaches taking place in the Majority World which address many of Jennings’ concerns – but I guess it will be a while before the West has the humility to stop thinking it’s the best and telling the rest – and start listening.
Name: Leonard L. Edloe
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A little deep for many
Date: Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2021
Review: As always Dr. Jennings writes with power. Many might need to read twice, however, it clearly points out why theological and higher education must be changed if we are to end racism.
Name: Tripp Hudgins
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Essential
Date: Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021
Review: Here is a vision of theological education that I can get behind. Though I know I am implicated in both theory and reality, something salvific resides here. Read. Learn. Mark. Inwardly digest.
Name: Dylan A.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Breathtaking.
Date: Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021
Review: I'm at a loss for words with Willie's latest. I just wish I would have read it prior to my seminary experience!
