Faith Confronts Evil: From Birthmothers to Holy Women, African American Christian Women, 1619–1865

by Susan M. Felch; Willie James Jennings; Barbara Omolade

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2024

Overview

Faith Confronts Evil tells the stories of African American women before the Civil War who countered the rampant evil of slavery with the strength of their Christian faith. They claimed the words of the gospel, that Jesus comes to set the captives free. They embraced Christianity as the source of liberty, humanity, and justice in which God was on their side, Jesus was their friend, and the Holy Spirit was their guide to all truth. Their stories are essential for understanding the central role Christian faith played in realizing, however imperfectly, the promises the US Constitution made to all its citizens. As we listen to Phillis Wheatley, Jarena Lee, Betsy Crissman, Mary Reynolds, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and many others, we discover that their shared stories turn strangers into acquaintances, acquaintances into friends. These stories of antebellum African American Christian women are our story, an “our” that embraces anyone who identifies as a Christian or anyone who is merely interested in the early formation of the United States of America.

Praise for Faith Confronts Evil

“As someone who has had the pleasure to work with both Barbara Omolade and Susan Felch, I was excited to read this book. Individually, both women are talented scholars and storytellers. Together, they are brilliant. As an African American I very much appreciate the visibility and dignity afforded to the description of African American women from 1619–1865. This book is a reminder that women, and particularly African American women, are a part of the story of liberation.”

—Michelle Loyd-Paige, founder, Preach Sista!



“Barbara Omolade offers a profoundly rich historical meditation on Black Christian women facing institutional forces so much greater than themselves. Her meditation vividly illustrates the richness and prowess of these women, all born captive to the organized structures of institutional slavery in the United States, and brings a different hermeneutical lens as to how they lived and struggled to create a free society as Christians. This study is not only about the past, but also a guide to assist us in meeting our own perilous present.”

—Randal Maurice Jelks, professor of African and African American Studies and American Studies, University of Kansas



“This book offers an accessible primer to some key moments and movements in the first two hundred and fifty years of African American history. It highlights the vital role that Christian faith played in enabling Blacks to endure, resist, and finally overthrow their oppression and enslavement. The often-neglected words and works of women—as birthmothers, prayer warriors, and holy crusaders—come alive in these pages as testimony to their persistent faith in a God of comfort, hope, and liberation.”

—James Bratt, professor emeritus of history, Calvin University

Product Details

• Title: Faith Confronts Evil: From Birthmothers to Holy Women, African American Christian Women, 1619–1865
• Authors: Susan M. Felch, Willie James Jennings, Barbara Omolade
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 160
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781666777963, 9781666777949, 1666777943, 9781666777956, 1666777951, 166677796X
• Resource ID: LLS:9781666777963
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-23T00:17:41Z

About the Authors

Barbara Omolade was assistant professor of sociology at City College of the City University of New York and the first dean for multicultural affairs at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the author of The Rising Song of African American Women (1994).



Susan M. Felch is emerita professor of English at Calvin University and the emerita director of the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship. She is the co-author of Teaching and Christian Imagination (2016) and the author of many other books and articles.