Reference no: EM133693642

Assignment:

1. For what purpose does Costen refer to dug pits created in the life of the church in colonial America on page 22 of the text? What did these, "dug pits," and other dehumanizing gestures signal to African Americans about the white church's view of black humanity in relation to the white community itself and how one of these exclusionary gestures lead to the formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)?

2. Of the characteristics on worship in the Invisible Institution Costen lists on page 26 of the text, which one do you think is most important in the shaping of African American faith experience and why? How does the characteristic you chose contribute to the undergirding quest of African Americans for meaning and wholeness in a context of white imposition in every facet of their lives?

3. What are we to make of Costen stating in Chapter Three that Praise House Worship space was initially "supervised" by slaveholders (page 39)? And in that supervision, what are we to make of the dualistic nature of prayer seen by the slaves as a form of protest but seen as an acceptable form of religious expression for slaveholders?

4. What does Costen mean in Chapter Five of the text concerning the developing ambiguity between baptism and human freedom (page 46)? Why did/does this ambiguity exist for African Americans more than any other people and how does this ambiguity inform a contemporary problem regarding religious language and racial justice?

5. What aspect of this course have you found most intriguing and why? How has this course increased your appreciation for the ingenious ways in which African Americans used worship/religion to fashion a liberating theological worldview in a context of acute racial oppression?