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Prayer Tradition of Black People
By Harold A. Carter Prayer as a
vital force in the in the life of Black people is affirmed by
this book. The author describes how their African heritage and
biblical influences have been combined in their life of prayer.
But this is not just a history book--on the basis of personal
interviews the author demonstrates the contemporary vitality of
this strong tradition of prayer.
Not
only does the prayer of Black people reflect the various
elements of their heritage, but it also brings together their
personal religion and vital social reform. The author describes
how prayer has undergirded and directed the significant work
of Black people in bringing change to social and political
patterns in the United States.
--
Gateway Press, publisher
The Prayer Tradition of Black People by Reverend
Harold Carter of New Shiloh Baptist Church (Baltimore) is an
excellent study, based on Dr. Carter's dissertation. This
scholarly book that examines the prayers and prayer life handed
down by nineteenth-century enslaved American blacks has gone
through at least five printings since its publication in 1976.
Dr. Carter reproduced copiously the prayers
that were copied by folklorists or prayers secured from interviews
of religionists or recalled by observers of religious services of
post-bellum and Southern blacks in the 20th-century. The Rev. Dr.
Carter provides an excellent analysis of the form, technique,
biblical source, and style of these prayers. Many of which are
still in use today because they have been passed down orally in
the rural districts of the South from one generation to the next
during the annual summer revivals.
This short book, probably about 145 pages, has
no rivals. Few if any have performed or continued Dr. Carter's
study. This book indeed should be read and that if it is out of
print Dr. Carter and the publisher should be encouraged to bring
out another edition.
This is an excellent
work for seminary or bible students or just regular lay people or
for students interested in the linguistic or literary history of
African-Americans. Even an old copy is better than none at all.
Grab a copy, even one that has been marked up, and check out this
wonderful work on black religious life.
--Rudolph
Lewis from Baltimore, MD USA
| Contents |
|
| 1. Introduction |
19 |
| 2. African Heritage in the Black Prayer
Tradition |
23 |
| 3. Theological Influences within the Black
Prayer Tradition |
35 |
| 4. Major Functions of the Black Prayer
Tradition |
71 |
| 5. Other Functions of the Black Prayer
Tradition |
93 |
| 6. The Black Prayer Tradition as a Weapon of
Social change |
99 |
| 7. The Black Prayer Tradition--An Outgoing
Model |
117 |
| 8. Summary and Conclusion |
127 |
| Bibliography |
133 |
| Index |
141 |
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