Page 156 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

african-american and caribbean religions 41

spirit and truth.” And he said, “So you are deter- and progress in Delaware state, and elsewhere, the
mined to go on.” We told him, “Yes, God being our colored people were their greatest support; for there
helper.” He then replied, “We will disown you all were but few of us free; but the slaves would toil in
from the Methodist connection.” We believed if we their little patches many a night until midnight to
put our trust in the Lord, he would stand by us. raise their little truck and sell to get something to
Notwithstanding we had been so violently perse- support them more than what their masters gave
cuted by the elder, we were in favor of being them, and we used often to divide our little support
attached to the Methodist connection; for I was con- among the white preachers of the Gospel . . .
fident that there was no religious sect or denomi- I feel thankful that ever I heard a Methodist
nation would suit the capacity of the colored people preach. We are beholden to the Methodists, under
as well as the Methodist; for the plain and simple God, for the light of the Gospel we enjoy; for all
gospel suits best for any people; for the unlearned other denominations preached so high-flown that
can understand, and the learned are sure to under- we were not able to comprehend their doctrine....
stand; and the reason that the Methodist is so suc- It is to be awfully feared that the simplicity of the
cessful in the awakening and conversion of the Gospel that was among them fifty years ago, and
colored people, the plain doctrine and having a that they conform more to the world and the fash-
good discipline. But in many cases the preachers ions thereof, they would fare very little better than
would act to please their own fancy, without disci- the people of the world. The discipline is altered
pline, till some of them became such tyrants, and considerably from what it was.We would ask for the
more especially to the colored people. They would good old way, and desire to walk therein.
turn them out of society, giving them no trial, for the Source: Allen, R. (1883). The life experience and gospel labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen.
smallest offense, perhaps only hearsay. They would Philadelphia: Martin and Boston.
frequently, in meeting the class, impeach some of the
members of whom they had heard an ill report, and
turn them out,... notwithstanding in the first rise

selection of a unit of analysis. Because syncretism plays African Religions
such a prominent role in the development of religions in in the United States
the region, it is often difficult to separate indigenous and Scholarly studies on African-American religion in the
foreign elements. Since there has been so much outreach, United States are often traced to W. E. B. Du Bois’s clas-
it is often difficult to discover the “true” origin of any sin- sic The Negro Church (1903),“which constituted the first
gle religious group. Because most of the religions con- major book-length study of African-American religion in
sidered here lack a denominational chain of command, the United States. Employing a wide range of research
one cannot make statements about them as one might strategies (historical, survey, interview, and participant-
about the Roman Catholic Church or Presbyterianism. observation) Du Bois explored multiple aspects of
The most accurate assessments refer to individual con- African-American religious life including church finance,
gregations and their leaders. To examine movements denominational structures, and beliefs. Du Bois charac-
such as Rastafarianism, Santeria,Vodun, and the Spiritual terized the Black Church as the first distinctly African-
Baptists as if they were unified denominations on the American social institution” (Zuckermann 2000, 109).
European and North American model is to present an Subsequent studies of the Black Church were much more
overly coherent picture of an incredibly fragmented and limited in scope. As noted, later scholars confined their
volatile religious situation. attentions to the retention of African cultural traits in the