The following videos introduce the slave economy of the Roman Empire, and then explore two of Paul's prison letters that address either metaphorical slavery or actual slavery. While the focus is on how slavery is imagined and to what end, the videos will also explore the rhetoric of Philippians and Philemon, exploring primarily the species of rhetorical and the type of appeal, to give you practice before you write Exercise #6. The fourth video situates the Cone excerpt you read in the context of Black liberation theology.
The four numbered videos are the most important material, corresponding to the slides. While you don't have to watch them, they may help you prepare for class or fill in gaps after. Below the numbered videos, you will find some additional videos and links, including several that dive more deeply into racism in the Catholic Church and as a theological problem.
Use the links to the right to access pdf files of the slides shown in the videos. Two formats are available: 1 slide per page and three slides per page. Both versions have slides for all four numbered videos.
The videos below are thumbnails; to enlarge the view, click the play button and select at the bottom of the frame either "YouTube" (to watch the video on YouTube, which in some cases will be clearer) or the full-screen icon ().
1
The Slave Economy of the Roman Empire
This video explores the reliance of the Roman imperial economy on slave labor as a primary means of achieving surplus and growing wealth, given the technological limits and climate constraints on agricultural production. It introduces the terms used for slaves and the significance of them, describes the various types of work that enslaved persons performed, and notes how one could fall into or be freed out of slavery, because it wasn't identified with "permanent" traits such as it would be with race in the modern world. Finally, the video exposes how enslaved persons' lack of control over their own bodies was constructed as "female" and shameful.
25.06
2
Philippians: A Slave Christology
This video introduces Paul's letter to the Philippians, analyzes Philippians 2:1-11 using rhetorical criticism, and then explores the central metaphor in the Philippians hymn of Christ's incarnation as a willing descent into slavery and his exaltation for obedience as a kind of manumission. While we can appreciate the power of the metaphor in its original context, the question is raised as to whether we might imagine God's power in different and more liberating ways.
13.13
3
Philemon: No Longer Slave
This video introduces Paul's letter to Philemon, in which Paul encourages leniency for Philemon's slave Onesimus. It examines the background of the letter and the rhetoric of vv. 8-16, and then situates the ascendance of Onesimus in the Christian community in the context of the slave life in the ancient world, with an emphasis on the city of Ephesus and on complex social positions that slaves could occupy.
22.41
4
Racism & Black Liberation Theology
This video introduces the origins of black liberation theology, particularly the work of James Cone in The Cross and the Lynching Tree.
8.04
Optional Videos & Links
Manuscript Evidence for Philippians & Philemon - This video introduces the manuscript evidence for Paul's Letters to the Philippians and to Philemon, with an emphasis on our earliest manuscripts.
2.30
David Rhoads Performs Philemon - In this video, literary critic David Rhoads (co-author of Mark as Story) performs Paul's letter to Philemon. As he speaks, see if you can pick out the features of rhetoric we've discussed: the species (judicial, deliberative, epideictic), the type(s) of persuasive appeal (logos, pathos, ethos), the arrangement (central point, supporting proofs), and the stylistic features.
5.09
How the Church Can Combat Racism and White Privilege - Michael O'Loughlin, national correspondent the Jesuit magazine America, interviews Catholic priest and ethicist Bryan Massingale, who shared his thoughts after the twin events of May 25, 2020 of the murder of George Floyd by a group of Minneapolis policemen and Amy Cooper's call to police when she felt threatened by Christian Cooper, an African American bird watcher, who requested that she comply with the rule of putting her dog on a leash in New York's Central Park.
25.04
The Cry of Black Blood: The Rise of Black Liberation Theology - James H. Cone, at the time the Bill and Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, came to Yale Divinity School on 10 April 2017 to discuss his 1969 book, Black Theology & Black Power, which is widely credited with establishing the field of black liberation theology.
1.12.45
Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree - On 19 October 2006, James Cone gave the annual Ingersoll lecture at Harvard Divinity School, introducing the thesis of what would become his 2013 book, from which we are reading an excerpt.
1.30.48
Further Reading on Racism in the Catholic Church
Cassidy, Laurie M., Charles E. Curran, James H. Evans, Jr., Jana Bennett, and Bryan N. Massingale. "Review Symposium [Racial Justice and the Catholic Church]." Horizons 37:1 (2010) 127-38.
Considine, Kevin Patrick. "A 'Collective Black' Liberation in the Face of 'Honorary White' Racism?: A Growing Edge for U.S. Black Liberation Theologies." Black Theology 8:3 (2010) 286-306.
Copeland, M. Shawn. "Anti-Blackness and White Supremacy in the Making of American Catholicism." American Catholic Studies 127:3 (2016) 6-8.
--------. Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being, Innovations, African American Religious Thought. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009.
Cressler, Matthew J. "Forum: Race, White Supremacy, and the Making of American Catholicism: Introduction." American Catholic Studies 127:3 (2016) 1-5.
Elrod-Sadler, Angela C. "One Good Friday: A Re-Focusing of Moral Imagination." New Theology Review 30:1 (2018) 1-10.
Hoang, Linh N. "Racism and 'Place' in American Catholic Experience: Resources for Reconciliation in Asian American Communities." Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology 3:1–2 (2019) 82-102.
Jaycox, Michael P. "Black Lives Matter and Catholic Whiteness: A Tale of Two Performances." Horizons 44:2 (2017) 306-341.
--------. "Has the Silence Been Broken?: Catholic Theological Ethics and Racial Justice." Theological Studies 75:1 (2014) 133-155.
--------. Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2010.
Mikulich, Alexander. "Catholic Social Teaching and Race: Embracing Racial Intimacy." Journal of Catholic Social Thought 16:1 (2019) 65-81.
Nilson, Jon. "Towards the 'Beloved Community': The Church's Role in the Struggle against Racism." U.S. Catholic Historian 28:1 (2010) 83-91.
Pae, Keun-joo Christine and James W. McCarty, III. "The Hybridized Public Sphere: Asian American Christian Ethics, Social Justice, and Public Discourse." Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 32:1 (2012) 93-114.
--------. "Whiteness in Catholic Theological Method." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 87:2 (2019) 401-433.
Umhoefer, Gary. "Unlearning Racism: The Privileged, Catholic Boomer and the Racial Divide in the United States." New Theology Review 30:1 (2018) 32-44.
Vogt, Christopher P. "Mercy, Solidarity, and Hope: Essential Personal and Political Virtues in Troubled Times." Journal of Catholic Social Thought 14:2 (2017) 205-228.
Racism in the U.S.
Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation, Fourtieth Anniversary Edition. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2011; original, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1970.
--------. The Cross and the Lynching Tree. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2011.
--------. God of the Oppressed, rev. ed. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2012; original, Seabury Press, 1975.
DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Boston: Beacon, 2018.
Douglas, Kelly Brown. Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2015.
Eberhardt, Jennifer L. Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. New York: Penguin Random House, 2020.
Porter, Eduardo. American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise. New York: Penguin Random House, 2020.
The following videos introduce the slave economy of the Roman Empire, and then explore two of Paul's prison letters that address either metaphorical slavery or actual slavery. While the focus is on how slavery is imagined and to what end, the videos will also explore the rhetoric of Philippians and Philemon, exploring primarily the species of rhetorical and the type of appeal, to give you practice before you write Exercise #6. The fourth video situates the Cone excerpt you read in the context of Black liberation theology.
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