The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved by Emerson B. Powery and Rodney S. Sadler Jr

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved by Emerson B. Powery and Rodney S. Sadler Jr Kimberly D. Russaw emerson b. powery and rodney s. sadler jr., The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016). Pp. xvii + 182. $35. In the television series Underground, Aisha Hinds masterfully commands the attention of viewers in her portrayal of Harriet Tubman, and the show’s director, Anthony Hemingway, often shoots the action such that viewers transgress the theatrical fourth wall. Viewers were drawn in to the rich story of Harriet because of the choices made by the actor and director. Similarly, because of the choices made by the book’s authors, Emerson Powery and Rodney Sadler, readers are drawn into the rich use of the biblical text by antebellum African Americans. Instead of simply drawing conclusions about how the formerly enslaved may have employed and interpreted the biblical text based on third-party historical reports, P. and S. center the voices of the formerly enslaved in Genesis. In so doing, P. and S. allow the ante-bellum interpreters to draw readers into their rich stories and help readers transgress the literary fourth wall. This is the genius of Genesis. Intrigued by the possibility of unique approaches of biblical interpretation among formerly enslaved African Americans, P. and S. set out to unearth reading strategies in the texts produced by antebellum African Americans. Bound by an introductory first chapter and a summary sixth chapter, Genesis is divided into four chapters. In chap. 2, “The Bible and the Freedom Narrative, “the authors consider how the formerly enslaved read the Bible. Beginning with James Gronniosaw’s writings, P. and S. take up the trope of the “talking book” and then examine the use of particular biblical passages by individuals such as James Pennington and Harriet Jacobs. P. and S. include throughout the book writings produced by both males and females. These examples, along with the work of Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet, Sojourner Truth, and Richard Allen point to how biblical literacy signaled the beginning of the challenge to an interpretive worldview that had dehumanized black identity and black humanity (p. 60). While readers may be familiar with the accomplishments of Douglass, Truth, or Allen, P. and S. use their writings to demonstrate how antebellum African Americans employed the biblical text in their quest for freedom—both sociopolitical and religious freedom. In chap. 3, “The Sabbath and the Freedom Narrative,” the authors consider the antithetical and inconsistent treatment of the enslaved on the day the biblical writers designated for rest. For some enslaved it was a time to hear the preaching of the white slaveholders’ gospel. For others, it was a time to visit with distanced family members. While many slave owners encouraged the enslaved to use the Sabbath as a time to engage in less productive activities like gambling and carousing, some among the enslaved used Sabbath to gather as community to learn to read, discuss freedom, or plan their escape. The testimonies of Mary Prince, Henry Bibb, and Peter Randolph avow that what slaveholders wanted the enslaved [End Page 718] to do on the Sabbath did not always align with what the enslaved actually did on the Sabbath, or what the enslaved hoped to achieve on the Sabbath (p. 63). In chap. 4, “The Origins of Whiteness and the Black Biblical Imagination,” P. and S. explore the “curse” of Ham and the “one blood” tradition in chap. 4, The authors use the work of William J. Anderson (Life and Narrative of William J. Anderson, Twenty-four Years a Slave [Chicago: Daily Tribune Book and Job Printing Office, 1857]) and others to counter the popular idea of whiteness as virtuous. Anderson critiques white interpretive tendencies in his reading of 2 Kings 5 alongside the story of Ham in Genesis and sheds light on the inconsistencies of the hermeneutical traditions of the pro-slavery school (p. 110). I found chap. 5, “Reading Paul with the Formerly Enslaved: Emancipation from the ‘Master’s Minister,’” most instructive. Grounded in the story of Howard Thurman’s grandmother, who rejected the words of...