Prophesy Deliverance!: An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity

West's books is an eye-opening account of racism since modernity and a proposed response. He begins with an account of modernity and proceeds to an insightful genealogy of racism. Racism, he claims, comes from a combination of an emphasis on science, Cartesian philosophy, and Greek thought and aesthetics. West then turns attention to four common African American responses to the problem, highlighting humanism as the preferable option. Finally, West spends 2 chapters arguing for a combination of Christian and Marxist perspectives for a revolutionary Christianity. There is no doubt that West is brilliant, articulate, and passionate. His diagnosis of the problems of racism and modernity are indespensible. The reason the book only receives 4 stars is that I am not sure Marxism is the correct choice for Christians. Without a doubt, Marxist thought provides insights Christians need. However, it seems to me that another political system will bring about more problems. I suggest that the church itself is political, so Christians need not seek out another source of more effective political thought. The church, when it functions as it ought, is all that is needed to reform society.

I read this book for the first time as a young graduate student! It was one of the most exciting books I had read at the time. It's fine combination of intellectual insight and grounding in the best of the prophetic Christian tradition did more to help shape my religious imagination than many other books I have read before or since.