Heimburger, Robert W.
2026.
Upon the enslaved I will pour out my spirit: The Book of Acts, Black interpretation, and a family history.
Studies in Christian Ethics
39
(3)
, pp. 612-631.
10.1177/09539468261448068
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Abstract
In this paper, I explore the implications of Black interpretation of the Book of Acts for responses to the legacy of slavery—specifically, my ancestors’ practice of enslaving. In the Acts of the Apostles, God's Holy Spirit fills people of every ethnicity and background at Pentecost. This includes enslaved women and enslaved men, who will be prophets, it is promised, speaking from God. The Ethiopian eunuch, a Black finance minister from Nubia, reads the Scriptures, trusts in Jesus, and is baptized. Peter announces that God shows no partiality, and Paul claims that all human beings are part of one family. To interpret the implications of these passages for White supremacy and slavery, I rely on theologians and commentators who identify themselves as Black. I contrast what Acts says with the horrible practices of my own family who enslaved their fellow human beings in the highly Christianised culture of nineteenth-century North Carolina, United States. I ask what the witness of Acts means for those of us who inherit a legacy of slavery. How can we act in keeping with repentance, letting our truth telling, education, friendships, churches, and use of money change in response to God's work of changing hearts?
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion |
| Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
| ISSN: | 0953-9468 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 7 May 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 21 April 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Sep 2026 13:19 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186861 |
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