Theological reflection on the origins of race

Most of us accept that race is a social construction. That is, it’s not a biological marker but rather a notion that arose historically, in particular social circumstances, serving specific displays and institutionalizations of power. Yet how many of us in Christian community understand the very particular ways in which certain formulations of Christian thought contributed to that construction? Willie James Jennings has written a compelling and substantial treatment of that construction through Christian theology, and calls us to repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation — and re-imagination! Here is the lecture he gave at Luther last winter, and the panel discussion which followed.