Join us for the August book discussion via Zoom
Our last Zoom book discussion group for the summer will be on Thursday, August 29. The meeting will start at 10 AM PDT, 11 AM MDT, 12 Noon CDT, and 1 PM EDT, and last about 90 minutes. Our discussion book for August is Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman (1900-1981).
For many in the civil rights movement, this book provided its theological underpinning. It is said that Martin Luther King always had a copy of it with him and Thurman was a spiritual advisor to King and others in the movement. Thurman was a highly educated and articulate pastor and theologian. He was also a mystic, which is an important context for understanding his writings. The experience of God in daily living always trumped theological ideas about God.
In the book’s preface, Thurman bluntly states the issue he will be dealing with.
Why is it that Christianity seems impotent to deal radically, and therefore effectively, with the issues of discrimination and injustice on the basis of race, religion and national origin? Is this impotency due to a betrayal of the genius of the religion, or is it due to a basic weakness in the religions itself?
However one answers those questions, Thurman is convinced that the life and teachings of the biblical Jesus provide ample guidance and encouragement for the formation of just and loving communities. He shows how Jesus’ primary concern was with those who, in a phrase he uses many times, “stand with their backs against the wall.” While published 75 years ago, Jesus and the Disinherited still speaks with power to our own time, when countless millions yet live “against the wall.”
While not always easy reading, I think you will find the book manageable, thought provoking, provocative, and even inspiring. And the book is short! It has a helpful Foreword by Vincent Harding (1931-2014), an African American Mennonite pastor and historian. Among other things, Harding assisted MLK with some of his speeches and was a principal advisor for the PBS series, Eyes on the Prize.
The book is easily found online, in libraries, and often in bookstores. It is also available digitally. Everyone is welcome! Contact me if you have any questions and/or if you are interested in participating, so I can email you the Zoom connection information. I look forward to seeing you on the 29th!