African American Religious Culture

This work captures the full scope of African American religious identity, tracing the long history of African American engagement with spiritual practice while exploring the origins and complexities of current religious traditions. It offers alphabetically organized entries on every major spiritual belief system as it has evolved among African American communities, covering its beginnings, development, major doctrinal points, rituals, important figures, and defining moments. In addition, the work illustrates how the social and economic realities of life for African Americans have shaped beliefs across the spectrum of religious cultures. The essays consider broader areas of African American religion such as literature and religion, preaching and sermonic traditions, healing and health, popular culture, the urban context, education, the psychology of religious behavior, and worship. A chronology is provided, along with appendices containing primary documents and short essays on related topics.