Howard Thurman is an unusual man and this book is his inspiring story. Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, at the turn of the century, he was the grandson of slaves. He is a minister and teacher whose life is characterized by the quest, in a world of divisive complexity, for the nuggets of common experience that bind brother to brother and man to man. His is a deeply personal faith; he a modern mystic who seeks not only insights into the nature of God, but ever richer experiences of God. (As written on the inside front cover.).

This book examines the meaning of Jesus' humanity, his divinity, and the special significance of his teachings to the poor and the oppressed. The discussion of these issues is shaped around the theology of Howard Thurman (1900-1981), one of the greatest religious thinkers of his generation. It is the only such work which thoroughly defines Thurman's significance as an African American folk theologian who both adopts and transcends his religious heritage. Thurman is depicted as a 'folk theologian' who both perpetuates and transforms African American folk religion. The core of Thurman's theology revolves around his reinterpretation of the meaning of the concept of 'humanity' and 'divinity'. The search for a 'Black Christ', black messiah, has been a prominent feature of African American religious thought in the past two centuries. This book addresses Thurman's treatment of Jesus within the ebb-and-flow of the debates in this area. This is the first work devoted exclusively to the subject of Christology as the center of Thurman's theology.

An inspiration to Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, and other leaders of the civil rights movement, Howard Thurman was a crucial figure in the history of African Americans in the 20th century. Until now, however, he has not received the biographical treatment he deserves. In Against the Hounds of Hell, Thurman scholar Peter Eisenstadt offers a fascinating exploration of the life of this religious thinker and activist. Thurman’s life, was as notable for its remarkable variety as its accomplishments. The first significant African American pacifist, Thurman was the first African American to meet Mahatma Gandhi. An early and outspoken feminist, environmentalist, and advocate for social and economic justice, he was one of the first and most insistent mid-twentieth-century proponents of racial integration. At the same time, he was a key figure in the emergence of mysticism and spirituality as an alternative to formal religion. Thurman dedicated his career to challenging what he called the "hounds of hell"—the ways in which fear, deception, and hatred so often dogged the steps of African Americans and the marginalized and disinherited peoples of the world. This biography will at last establish this multifaceted historical personage as a leading figure of twentieth-century American politics, religion, and culture.

Howard Thurman served as the spiritual godfather of the civil rights movement. What wisdom might he offer us today? Lerita Coleman Brown beckons everyday seekers and activists into a mentorship with Thurman and his mystical and liberating spirituality. Thurman's work enlivened an entire movement, and it may inspire us to authentic action today.

We live in a leadership crisis. "In an age when incompatible worlds collide and when scandals rock formerly stable institutions," says Walter Fluker, "what counts most is ethical leadership and the qualities of personal integrity, spiritual discipline, intellectual openness, and moral anchoring." Fluker finds these characteristics exemplified in the work and thought of black-church giants Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Thurman. This volume, for leaders and emergent leaders in religious and other settings, sets forth the context and principles for ethical leadership, particularly for ministries and other professions whose mission directly advances the common good. Fluker's volume grounds leadership in story, the appropriation of one's roots, as a basis for personal and social transformation. He then explores the key values of character, civility, and community for ethical action on the personal, public, and spiritual realms. From these considerations he develops a model of the specific virtues that embody each realm of ethical leadership before applying them to the practical aspects of leadership and decisionmaking.

The faith journeys of a major mentor to the civil rights movement Teacher. Minister. Theologian. Writer. Mystic. Activist. No single label can capture the multiplicity of Howard Thurman’s life, but his influence is evident in the most significant aspects of the civil rights movement. In 1936, he visited Mahatma Gandhi in India and subsequently brought Gandhi’s concept of nonviolent resistance across the globe to the United States. Later, through his book Jesus and the Disinherited, he foresaw a theology of American liberation based on the life of Jesus as a dispossessed Jew under Roman rule. Paul Harvey’s biography of Thurman speaks to the manifold ways this mystic theologian and social activist sought to transform the world to better reflect “that which is God in us,” despite growing up in the South during the ugliest years of Jim Crow. After founding one of the first intentionally interracial churches in the country—the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco—he shifted into a mentorship role with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. He advised them to incorporate more inward seeking and rest into their activism, while also recasting their struggle for racial equality in a more cosmopolitan, universalist manner. As racial justice once again comes to the forefront of American consciousness, Howard Thurman’s faith and life have much to say to a new generation of the disinherited and all those who march alongside them.

This study articulates the distinctive moral character of the Afro-American women's community. Beginning with a reconstructive history of the Afro-American woman's situation in America, the work next traces the emergence of the Black woman's literary tradition and explains its importance in expressing the moral wisdom of Black women. The life and work of Zora Neale Hurston is examined in detail for her unique contributions to the moral tradition of the Afro-American woman. A final chapter initiates a promising exchange between the works of Hurston and those of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr. A pioneering and multi-dimensional work, 'Black Womanist Ethics' is at once a study in ethics, gender, and race.