Wesley, Wesleyans, and Reading Bible as Scripture

5. Scripture among African American Methodists

65 5 Scripture among african american methodists Reginald Broadnax Bishop Joseph A. Johnson of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church states:1 The Bible for the Black preacher is the greatest book that has ever been written. In it God Himself speaks to men. It is a book of divine instruction. It offers comfort in sorrow, guidance in perplexity, advice for our problems, rebuke for our sins, and daily inspiration for our every need. The Bible is not simply one book. It is an entire library of books covering the whole range of literature. It includes history, poetry, drama, biography, prophecy, philosophy, science, and inspirational reading. The Black preacher believes the Bible alone truly answers the greatest questions that men of all ages have asked: “Where have I come from?” “Where am I going?” “Why am I here?” “How can I know the truth?” For the Bible alone reveals the truth about God, explains the age-old problem of sin and suffering.2 Some may see this passage as hyperbolic, but it is an expression of the high esteem in which the African American community holds the Bible. Now, I must admit that the African American community is very diverse, including many different religious and nonreligious traditions . For Christians within the community, however, the Bible is a source of “life, health, and strength.”3 Through the words of the Bible, we learn the story of God’s compassion and concern for all 66 ✧ Reginald Broadnax human beings, and God’s purpose for our lives is revealed. “So when we say that the Bible is God’s Holy Word, we mean that God has spoken and continues to speak through the persons, events, and teachings written about in the Bible.”4 Many African Americans first experienced the Bible during slavery where it was used to justify the slave system and to keep slaves docile, obedient, and not given towards rebellion.5 Yet, even within this system, many slaves were able to first accept Christ as Savior then express their freedom in the words of the Bible. One such person was Richard Allen. Allen, born a slave in Philadelphia in 1760, writes of his conversion : “I cried unto Him who delighteth to hear the prayers of a poor sinner, and all of a sudden my dungeon shook, my chains flew off, and, glory to God, I cried. My soul was filled. I cried, enough for me—the Saviour died. Now my confidence was strengthened that the Lord, for Christ’s sake, had heard my prayers and pardoned all my sins.”6 Allen’s language of his dungeon shaking and his chains falling off is an allusion to Acts 12:7. But Allen may not have first encountered these images from Scripture itself, but rather through a Methodist hymn. Dennis C. Dickerson argues that the language Allen uses is from Charles Wesley’s hymn of 1738, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain an Interest in the Savior’s Blood!” The crucial third stanza, which drew from this scriptural passage, declared: Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night: Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke; the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.7 Dickerson argues that it was in the hymns of Methodism that many African Americans first encountered the Scriptures, and it was the language of these hymns that provided the framework for expressing their salvation, but it also provided the framework to express their liberation from slavery. The apostle was restricted to a jail cell and Allen was confined to slavery. Divine intervention, however, set both men free. The angel liberated Peter from prison and a Wesleyan evangelist set Allen free Scripture among African American Methodists ✧ 67 from sin and inspired his release from slavery. Wesley, in his hymn, drew upon the metaphor of imprisonment to represent the bondage that evil and sin imposed upon humankind. God, however, through the agency of angels, both celestial and clerical, could set people free. When that happened, chains flew off and hearts were free!8 Many African Americans during slavery, because of the prohibitions against literacy, learned the Bible through hymns and other songs (Negro spirituals), as well as through stories told to them from the Bible. Primary in the role of transmitting stories was the African American preacher: “slaves became increasingly...