I just finished reading the book What Is Race? Four Philosophical Views (Oxford University Press, 2019). It’s an excellent treatment of a surprisingly difficult topic. When people ordinarily speak of race, what exactly are they referring to? Is it something real, or not? Is it determined by biology, or power dynamics, or culture, or something […]
Continue reading
Tag Archives: Racism
Temporary and Contingent: Affinity Groups in the Already-Not Yet Church
May 13, 2025 
1 Comment
(Author’s note: This article is a response to Teaching Elder Kyle Dillon’s recent post “Equality over Affinity: The Case against Ethnic Affinity Groups.” I’m grateful for Kyle’s friendship and for his invitation to compose this response.) How can churches live faithfully in Christian unity, while also respecting the providential contingencies of history and culture? This […]
Continue reading Review: Outsiders on the Inside by Billy Boyce
May 31, 2022 0 Comments
William E. Boyce. Outsiders on the Inside: Understanding Racial Fatigue, Racial Resilience, and Racial Hospitality in Our Churches. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2022. 146 pages. Since its founding in 1973, the Presbyterian Church in America has professed a commitment to welcoming all races. However, putting this commitment into practice has proven more difficult. Despite […]
Continue reading White fragility, white guilt, and the ring of Gyges
July 27, 2021 0 Comments
I think these books were meant to be read together. They are coming from very different perspectives—one a white progressive and the other a black conservative—but they are both attempting to make sense of white psychology in post-Civil Rights America. Even the book covers look similar, with the black and white appropriately inverted. Let me […]
Continue reading ‘Splainshaming: when “centering other voices” becomes a tool to silence dissent
July 19, 2021 2 Comments
Straightsplainshaming: rebuking, ridiculing, or dismissing a straight person for speaking on issues of sexuality, just because they are straight. Whitesplainshaming: rebuking, ridiculing, or dismissing a white person for speaking on issues of race, just because they are white. Mansplainshaming: rebuking, ridiculing, or dismissing a man for speaking on issues of gender, just because he is […]
Continue reading Review: Beyond Racial Gridlock by George Yancey
July 13, 2021 0 Comments
“Gridlock” is a good word to describe the state of evangelical discussions on race today. The past couple years especially have witnessed a meteoric rise in the use (and misuse) of terms like “critical race theory” and “systemic racism.” If evangelicals are going to break through the current ideological impasse, then they need a reliable […]
Continue reading Review: The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
July 5, 2021 1 Comment
This summer I’ve been trying to read as much as I can on the topic of racial justice, covering a range of perspectives—both secular and Christian, and both progressive and conservative. One title that I just finished is The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone, who is considered to be the father […]
Continue reading Thornwell’s Inaugural Address of the Confederate Presbyterian Church
April 1, 2019 8 Comments
Note: In 1861, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was deeply divided over the issue of slavery, as well as the broader matter of the church’s role in addressing social and political controversies. It was a question of jurisdiction as much as one of morality. In May, the PCUSA General Assembly had […]
Continue reading Robert Lewis Dabney: A Review (Part Two)
December 2, 2014 1 Comment
This is Part Two of a review of Dr. Sean Lucas’ biography of the Southern theologian, Robert Dabney. In Part One of this review, readers were invited to consider the impact of Robert Lewis Dabney’s life and work. This overview of Dabney’s life shows that, like every minister, he was both a saint and a […]
Continue reading Robert Lewis Dabney: A Review (Part One)
December 2, 2014 3 Comments
This is Part One of a two-part review of Dr. Sean Lucas’ biography of the Southern theologian, Robert Dabney. Robert Lewis Dabney is one of the more polarizing figures in American Presbyterian history. Depending on whom you ask, Dabney was a staunch defender of biblical authority and the Westminster Standards, an important leader upholding the […]
Continue reading
Allkirk Network 