DESCRIPTION: In this course, we will read Acts of the Apostles through the lens of Critical Race Theory, focusing on ancient categories of ethnicity and class. We will evaluate racial “othering” via the Christian Tradition in Acts of the Apostles. With a critical understanding of race, we will imagine church and community practices that engage race and power in public (common) spaces.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:

Caliendo, Stephen M., and Charlton D. McIlwain, eds. The Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity.

Kotrosits, Maia. Rethinking Early Christian Identity

(MDiv Commentary) Jennings, Willie James. Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. (2017)

(PhD/DMin Commentary) Pervo, Richard I. ACTS: A Commentary.

Topics: Were the Romans white? Were the Judeans black?

Who were the model minority? Were Paul and Peter criminals?

(or What about Jew-on-Jew crime?) Was Rome a Surveillance state?

How do ancient “ethnicity” and modern “race” differ? How does “class” help us think about “race”?

Description continued… This is a course that aims to name, deconstruct, and dismantle

White Supremacy (Racism) in and outside of the Church. It has been difficult in the academy

to discuss race and the Bible because the Bible often used the category ethnos, usually

translated as nation (or ethnicity). In this course we will be discussing understandings of

ethnicity and class in Acts of the Apostles, while at the same time investigating in detail how

racism works in our postmodern, capitalist world. As a way of analysis, we will compare the

two situations in order to help us talk about racism in our own communities.

This is an upper level New Testament course where both historical exegesis and critical

thought around racial discourse are required. The topic of the course is heavy, and the

students are expected to engage on a personal level, not simply a scientific level where we

might analyze a problem from a distance. Rather, our very mode of questioning race may

contain the exact racism that we are trying to avoid. Humble consideration of oneself and

one’s audience is expected. Students should expect that our stories can and will be shared

with respect, but that we also practice the critical thought necessary to connect our stories to

“history.” While we cannot guarantee that the class will be a safe space, we will give

preference to those from historically marginalized groups when an “unsafe” event occurs.

Race is a hot-button issue, and is often avoided in public discourse because of its divisiveness.

It is a goal of this course to provide a space where honest discussions about race can happen,

being informative and transformative.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

· Gain a general understanding of the structure and themes of the Acts of the Apostles,

(MDiv- MAM 1)

· Analyze class and ethnic difference/“othering” in Acts of the Apostles. (MDiv-MAM 4)

· Analyze the way state, capitalism, gender and Church intersect with the modern

category of race.

· Apply critical race theory to a reading of Acts of the Apostles. (MDiv-MAM 3, MTS 3&5)

· Evaluate the reasons to practice anti-racism with respect to the Christian tradition from

a reading of Acts of the Apostles. (MDiv-MAM 2)

· Imagine church practices that will help congregations confront their privilege and/or

confront the hegemonies of racial privilege and power. (MDiv 5&6, MAM 5)

Assignments:

1. Final Exegesis Paper or Reception History Paper engaging Ethnicity and Class in Acts of

the Apostles.

2. 1 Book Presentation (and/or 1 Response) on an assigned work and open a discussion

with its connection to Acts of the Apostles.

3. Church Outreach Project, where the student leads a critical discussion on the

intersection of race and Acts of the Apostles with written response.

4. Attendance of an assigned Black Church (Trinity, St. Sabina, etc.) during Black History

Month and written response.

Recommended Bibliography

Barreto, Eric D. Ethnic Negotiations: The Function of Race and Ethnicity in Acts 16. Tübingen:

Mohr Siebeck, 2010.

Barreto, Eric, Matthew L. Skinner, and Steve Walton, eds. Reading Acts in the Discourses of

Masculinity and Politics. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017.

Blount, Brian K., Cain Hope Felder, Clarice J. Martin, and Emerson B. Powery, eds. True to Our

Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary. 5.2.2007 edition.

Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007.

Boer, Roland, and Christina Petterson. Time of Troubles: A New Economic Framework for Early

Christianity. S.l.: Fortress Press, 2017.

Browne, Simone. Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness. Durham: Duke University

Press Books, 2015.

Buell, Denise. Why This New Race: Ethnic Reasoning in Early Christianity. New York: Columbia

University Press, 2005.

Byron, Gay. Symbolic Blackness and Ethnic Difference in Early Christian Literature: BLACKENED

BY THEIR SINS: Early Christian Ethno-Political Rhetorics about Egyptians, Ethiopians, Blacks

and Blackness. London; New York: Routledge, 2002.

Camp, Jordan T., and Christina Heatherton, eds. Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis

Led to Black Lives Matter. London ; New York: Verso, 2016.

Chou, Rosalind S., and Joe R. Feagin. Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing

Racism, Second Edition. 1 edition. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2008.

Davis, Angela Y. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a

Movement. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2016.

Harney, Stefano, and Fred Moten. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study. 1

edition. Wivenhoe: Minor Compositions, 2013.

Ignatiev, Noel. How the Irish Became White. 1 edition. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Muñoz-Larrondo, Rubén. A Postcolonial Reading of the Acts of the Apostles. First printing

edition. New York: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2011.

Segovia, Fernando F., and R. S. Sugirtharajah, eds. A Postcolonial Commentary on the New

Testament Writings. 1 edition. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2009.

Smith, Mitzi J. The Literary Construction of the Other in the Acts of the Apostles: Charismatics,

the Jews, and Women. Eugene, Or: Wipf & Stock Pub, 2011.

Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. Chicago, Illinois:

Haymarket Books, 2016.

Weheliye, Alexander G. Habeas Viscus: Racializing Assemblages, Biopolitics, and Black

Feminist Theories of the Human. Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2014.

West, Cornel. Prophetic Fragments: Illuminations of the Crisis in American Religion and

Culture. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993.

PhD and DMin students in any theological field are welcome, and I am happy to arrange

individual advanced requirements to mutually benefit the student and the class.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions:

Prof. Adam Braun

abraun@mccormick.edu