Historic Negro Spirituals as Biblical Interpretation

Kim R. Harris is associate professor of African American religious thought and practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University.Daniel L. Smith-Christopher is professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Loyola Marymount University.

• Carrying On Dixon’s Program: Early African-American Interpretation of the Book of Daniel in the Lyrics of Spirituals as “Singing Exile”Dr. Daniel L. Smith-ChristopherWidening the Origin Stories: Islamic and Roman Catholic Presence and Contributions Reflected in Historic Negro SpiritualsDr. Kim R. Harris“Negro Spirituals”: The Interpretation of Scripture in a Religious Folk TraditionAuthor’s Foreword from the 1967 EditionTranslator’s IntroductionIntroducing My Mother, Rev. Dr. Christa Klingbeil DixonIntroduction and Literature ReviewChapter 1: Laying the Groundwork for Understanding the Negro SpiritualsChapter 2: On the Combining of Biblical PassagesChapter 3: On the Combination of Biblical StatementsChapter 4: On Modernizing and “Re-Contextualizing” Biblical StatementsChapter 5: On the Structuring of Biblical StatementsChapter 6: SummarySecond Part: The Spiritual TextsLyrics Section

The often-overlooked little 1976 classic Negro Spirituals: From Bible to Folksong by German scholar Christa Klingbeil Dixon gets new life in this translation editionof her complete dissertation and book. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, a biblical scholar, and Kim R. Harris, a scholar of African American religious thought and practice with a rich background in liturgy, both of Loyola Marymount University join to frame this stimulating volume.