Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought

"Anthony Pinn is one of the grand philosophers wrestling with the problem of evil. This masterful and magisterial book confirms his deserved reputation---Cornel West, Princeton University

"A challenging intellectual reflection on the development and future of a new black theological discourse, focusing on the black body"---James H. Cone, Charles Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary

Black theology tends to be a theology about no-body. Though one might assume that black and womanist theologies have already given significant attention to the nature and meaning of black bodies as a theological issue, this inquiry has primarily taken the form of a focus on issues relating to liberation, treating the body in abstract terms rather than focusing on the experiencing of a material or flesh reality. By focusing on the body as a physical entity and not just a metaphorical one, Pinn offers a new approach to theological thinking about race, gender, and sexuality.

According to Pinn, the body is of profound theological importance. In this first text on black theology to take embodiment as its starting point and its goal, Pinn interrogates the traditional source materials for black theology, such as spirituals and slave narratives, seeking to link them to materials such as photography that highlight the theological importance of the body. Employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning from the sociology of the body and philosophy to anthropology and art history. Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought pushes black theology to the next level.

Anthony B. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, where he also serves as the executive-di-rector of the Society for the Study of Black Religion. His books include Varieties of African American Religious Experience. Why Lord? Suffering and Evil in Black Theology, and By These Hands: A Documentary History of African American Humanism (NYU Press, 2001)