Black Witness to the Apostolic Faith

David T. Shannon and Gayraud S. Wilmore, Editors (1988, c1985)
NCR454, $14.95

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The Commission of Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches issued a call to member churches in 1982 to explore the meaning of the "apostolic faith" as a means to express visible unity. This first volume to appear in the Faith and Order series of the National Council of Churches is part of the response of the North American member churches to that call.

The experience of twenty million African-American North American Christians is essential to any full understanding of what it means to express a common apostolic faith. Black Witness to the Apostolic Faith gathers several papers that explore an African-American perspective on a common expression of faith.

It includes articles by Jacquelyn Grant, Jeffrey Gros, Thomas Hoyt, Leonard Lovett, J. Deotis Roberts, David T. Shannon, and Gayraud S. Wilmore. It also includes three important ecumenical documents: "Toward a Common Expression of Faith" (from the 1984 Richmond Consultation); "What We Have Seen and Heard" (the Black Bishops' Pastoral on Evangelization); and the Report of the Commission on Racism of the Consultation on Church Union.

The articles and documents contained in this volume represent a few of the most significant contributions by African American Christians in the United States (up to the date of publication) to the World Council of Churches' continuing discussion of the nature of the apostolic faith around the world today and how that faith should be confessed both universally and in particular situations.

Both editors of this book are former professors of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.