Race, Racism & Christian Identity

Despite professed societal and ecclesial ideals and incremental progress, racism persists as a powerful, deeply entrenched social reality. This course lays a foundation for confronting Christianly the chief forms that racism takes, ultimately treating these issues within a theological and ethical framework. We will address the status of “races”; trace the origins and establishment of racism in modern societies; and examine specific case studies, using key social-scientific concepts to clarify various forms of racism in contemporary life. We will evaluate these exemplars theologically, in the light of (1) the biblical vision of humanity and its implications for “race” and ethnicity; and (2) biblical teaching about how righteousness, justice, and love inform and direct “seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) as Jesus’s disciples. Students will reflect critically on their lived experience; participate in various exercises; and actively contribute to class discussions of assigned readings and emergent topics. The course aims to equip students to move forward as more well-informed, self-aware anti-racist followers of Jesus, better prepared (1) to come alongside, honor, and learn from “racial,” ethnic, and minoritized “others,” and (2) with such peers and partners, to recognize, analyze and begin to address concrete manifestations of prejudice, racism and racialized injustice in their respective contexts in a biblically-grounded, critical and constructive manner—one that bears witness in personal life and word to the Good News of the healing presence and redeeming power of God in Christ through the Spirit, acting now in the world to overcome evil with good.

On Campus and Online: This course is being offered on campus and online in Winter 2023. Students may apply to take this course online when registering for the course through REGIS. In order to support students who are unable to attend the regular online class sessions, recordings will be made available on the course Moodle page for 48 hours following each class. In some cases, attendance at other sessions may be required.