Religion And Race

The Author: Winston Arthur Lawson is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he also serves as College Chaplain and Pastor of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church (USA).

"We are in Dr. Lawson's debt for creatively revisiting the struggle of the people in Jamaica for identity and dignity. He chronicles for us the role of the Church as a human institution with its weaknesses and shortcomings, yet a Church in which every now and then the liberating possibilities of the gospel of Jesus Christ emerged to the fore in ways that providentially set both oppressors and oppressed free. This work is a gem, not only through its incisive logic and penetrating insights, but through the wealth of primary sources used to craft its main argument. It is required reading for all students of history and religion." (Noel Leo Erskine)
"For those who have been waiting for a contemporary and definitive treatment of nineteenth-century Jamaica's colonial and religious tradition, the clash between European and African cultural elements, and the dilemma and repercussions that conflict produced for the Anglican, Methodist, and Baptist Churches of the period, Winston Arthur Lawson has provided it. The analysis and interpretation he offers in this well-documented study fully clarifies the way creative adaptations were made to missionary Christianity by persons of African ancestry. While recognizing the foundational work of others who have written on this problem and period, Winston Lawson has gone further and has supplied information and an assessment not available before, or not as adequately researched and evaluated. This illuminating history is a tour de force." (James Earl Massey, Dean Emeritus and Distinguished Professor-at-Large, Anderson University School of Theology)