Philemon is as important a letter from an African American perspective as Romans or Galatians have proven to be in Eurocentric interpretation. Here the editors gather critical essays by a constellation of African American and other scholars, highlighting the latest in interpretive methods and troubling scholarly waters, interacting with the legacies of Hegel, Freud, Habermas, Ricoeur, and James C. Scott as well as the historical experience of African American communities. Onesimus Our Brother opens surprising new vistas on Pauls shortest and, in some ways, most troubling letter.

Many have used the term 'tragic' to refer to African American religious and cultural experience. After a studied meditation on and articulation of the 'tragic vision, ' Johnson argues that African American Christian Consciousness is an expression of the tragic and a tragic expression of the Christian Faith

Many have used the term 'tragic' to refer to African American religious and cultural experience. After a studied meditation on and articulation of the 'tragic vision, ' Johnson argues that African American Christian Consciousness is an expression of the tragic and a tragic expression of the Christian Faith