John L. Thomas

FINALLY, a scholarly description of the development of Black preaching in the United States that is accessible to the average reader, but also contributes to the academic conversation about both style and theological content. Written from the perspective of a seasoned practitioner and tenured practical theologian, Thomas surveys Black preaching as it has responded to various social and historical time periods. Starting with the brutality of chattel slavery, early formations in segregated Southern life, rapid migration to and urbanization in Northern cities, and various events throughout the post-civil rights era, the book gives convincing details and examples of how the Black preacher helped to guide and sustain the masses of African American people through the wilderness of social change. At the heart of the book, three prime examples are presented as models of the real ""genius"" of Black preaching. The reader will never again think about Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson in the same way. A special chapter is devoted to the contributions of Black women preachers along with a closing chapter that makes new proposals for the future. The book is a provocative and critical analysis of why Black preaching still matters. ""Voices in the Wilderness is insightful, impactful, and inspirational reading for anyone interested in and committed to the relevance of Black preaching. John L. Thomas, Jr. takes us into the wilderness to understand our suffering, and baptizes us in the Jordan River to fuel our hope. He juxtaposes a way out, and a way forward that respects the rich tradition of Black preaching, while calling for a social gospel committed to social justice for all people."" --DuWayne Battle, Associate Professor, The State University of New Jersey ""Du Bois described the Black preacher as 'the most unique personality developed by the Negro on American soil. A leader, a politician, an orator, a ""boss,"" and intriguer, an idealist...' Voices in the Wilderness gives life to Du Bois's sentiment by demonstrating the theologically complex and socio-politically diverse role of the Black preaching tradition. By identifying multiple streams of homiletic emphasis based on the shifting terrains of Black life in America, Thomas shows Black preaching to embody both the best aspirations and worst aspects of the larger society. This book will provoke important and valuable conversations about this vital intellectual tradition."" --Jonathan L. Walton, Plummer Professor, Harvard University John L. Thomas Jr. is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Phillips Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

FINALLY, a scholarly description of the development of Black preaching in the United States that is accessible to the average reader, but also contributes to the academic conversation about both style and theological content. Written from the perspective of a seasoned practitioner and tenured practical theologian, Thomas surveys Black preaching as it has responded to various social and historical time periods. Starting with the brutality of chattel slavery, early formations in segregated Southern life, rapid migration to and urbanization in Northern cities, and various events throughout the post-civil rights era, the book gives convincing details and examples of how the Black preacher helped to guide and sustain the masses of African American people through the wilderness of social change. At the heart of the book, three prime examples are presented as models of the real ""genius"" of Black preaching. The reader will never again think about Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson in the same way. A special chapter is devoted to the contributions of Black women preachers along with a closing chapter that makes new proposals for the future. The book is a provocative and critical analysis of why Black preaching still matters. ""Voices in the Wilderness is insightful, impactful, and inspirational reading for anyone interested in and committed to the relevance of Black preaching. John L. Thomas, Jr. takes us into the wilderness to understand our suffering, and baptizes us in the Jordan River to fuel our hope. He juxtaposes a way out, and a way forward that respects the rich tradition of Black preaching, while calling for a social gospel committed to social justice for all people."" --DuWayne Battle, Associate Professor, The State University of New Jersey ""Du Bois described the Black preacher as 'the most unique personality developed by the Negro on American soil. A leader, a politician, an orator, a ""boss,"" and intriguer, an idealist...' Voices in the Wilderness gives life to Du Bois's sentiment by demonstrating the theologically complex and socio-politically diverse role of the Black preaching tradition. By identifying multiple streams of homiletic emphasis based on the shifting terrains of Black life in America, Thomas shows Black preaching to embody both the best aspirations and worst aspects of the larger society. This book will provoke important and valuable conversations about this vital intellectual tradition."" --Jonathan L. Walton, Plummer Professor, Harvard University John L. Thomas Jr. is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Phillips Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In this beautifully written account, John Thomas details an intimate portrait of the intellectual friendship between two commanding figures of western letters and the early environmental movement--Wallace Stegner and Bernard DeVoto.. The authors of enormously popular works--Stegner most well known for his novels The Big Rock CandyMountain and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angle of Repose and DeVoto for his classic history of western exploration, The Course of Empire--they also played important roles in the efforts to stop government and private interests from carving up the vanishing West. Part of the fractious group of public intellectuals at Harvard that included Edmund Wilson, Mary McCarthy, and Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., they saw no contradiction between their literary and political selves and entered the public debate with conviction and passion.Drawing on their writings, personal correspondence, and dozens of articles from the pages of Harper's, where DeVoto was a columnist for years, this illuminating account demonstrates how their concerns for the western environment continue to resonate today.

In this beautifully written account, John Thomas details an intimate portrait of the intellectual friendship between two commanding figures of western letters and the early environmental movement--Wallace Stegner and Bernard DeVoto.. The authors of enormously popular works--Stegner most well known for his novels The Big Rock CandyMountain and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angle of Repose and DeVoto for his classic history of western exploration, The Course of Empire--they also played important roles in the efforts to stop government and private interests from carving up the vanishing West. Part of the fractious group of public intellectuals at Harvard that included Edmund Wilson, Mary McCarthy, and Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., they saw no contradiction between their literary and political selves and entered the public debate with conviction and passion.Drawing on their writings, personal correspondence, and dozens of articles from the pages of Harper's, where DeVoto was a columnist for years, this illuminating account demonstrates how their concerns for the western environment continue to resonate today.

Through vivid and searching portraits of these three redoubtable journalists, prize-winning historian John L. Thomas traces for the first time the evolving ideologies of the most significant reformers of their age.Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, and Henry Lloyd’s Wealth against Commonwealth each in its turn became an international bestseller, championing a course of national policy and social reform that owed allegiance neither to the large-scale capitalist model then emerging, nor to the bureaucratic socialism espoused on the left. Also common to the vast writings of all three were a deep distrust of partisan machine politics and a mounting sense of social crisis which neither spoilsmanship nor materialism seemed able to address.Seeking instead diversity and cooperation within society, small economic units, and simplicity in government, the authors of these works were moved to defend strikes during the heyday of industrial capitalism. They spoke out for international peace when imperialism was rampant. They called for the preservation of community values in the face of urban sprawl. And they urged the goals of brotherhood and interdependence in an age when survival of the fittest was seen as holy writ.They failed magnificently as apostles of a radical culture based on the ideal of a community, yet their intellectual legacy was not lost: their heirs include the broad movement that took the name Progressive, the New Deal, and the hopeful crusades of the 1960s. This magnificent book is their memorial and their history.