Abstract
The University of Virginia’s “Project on Lived Theology” took root in the Summer of 2000 with a grant from the Lily Endowment. Guided by an aim “to demonstrate the importance of theological ideas in the public conversation about civic responsibility and social progress,” the project now boasts multiple initiatives, workgroups, and an online library with hundreds of resources. Can I Get a Witness? represents but some of the latest fruit from their vine (https://www.livedtheology.org/overview).
In the introduction, editors Charles Marsh and Shea Tuttle frame the book as a reminder of, and resource for, a “confessional left” comprised of “activist theologians, Bible-wielding labor organizers, and social gospel reformers” (p. 2). Each of the subsequent thirteen chapters explores the life of a historical figure who “worked to transform American culture based, at least in part, on their religious convictions” (p. 4). These extraordinary witnesses include:
Caesar Chavez—who organized the first farmworker union in a struggle for justice permeated by incessant prayer and regular Mass.
Howard Thurman—the theologian, mystic, and pacifist who inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and left an indelible mark on the character of the Civil Rights Movement.
Yuri Kochiyama—a Nobel Peace Prize nominee who practiced radical hospitality and advocated tirelessly for those imprisoned unjustly.
Howard Kester—a covert NAACP operative whose detailed report on the murder of Claude Neal in Marianna, Florida “made a decisive contribution to the end of festival lynching in the South” (p. 104).
Ella Baker—who knew the simple theological truth that “black lives matter” (p. 134). Baker’s insistence on the education and political empowerment of young, local black leaders was a boon to the Civil Rights Movement.
Dorothy Day—the founder of the Catholic Worker newspaper and its houses of hospitality after her dual conversion to Catholicism and the poor.
John A. Ryan—a Catholic priest who thought the “law of love” entails the moral right to a “living wage” befitting the dignity of a human being.
William Stringfellow—the theologian, author, and Christian prophet who critiqued the “fallen nation” of America and its covenant with the powers of death.
Mahalia Jackson—“the world’s greatest gospel singer,” whose spirit-filled testimony through song inspired and encouraged a generation of protesters, including the crowd assembled at the March on Washington in August 1963.
Lucy Randolph Mason—a daughter of Southern aristocracy who helped organize interracial unions in the American South out of a conviction that “Church people ought to do something to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth” (p. 236).
Richard Twiss—a Native American “missionary to American Christianity” who defended Native expressions of Christian worship and worked to develop a decolonizing indigenous theology.
Daniel Berrigan—a Jesuit poet-priest and member of the Catonsville Nine who dramatized his dissent to American war-making as a witness to God’s peaceable kingdom.
Mary Stella Simpson—Daughter of Charity and faithful midwife who transformed maternal–infant healthcare in the United States.
Can I Get a Witness? is an exemplary collection. On the one hand, the cast is remarkably diverse. The American church may struggle with difference, but in these pages, women and men of Mexican, African, Japanese, Native, and European descent stand side by side as living testimonies to the work of God in the United States. On the other hand, the unique stories embodied here find a common pursuit of justice in its manifold forms. These individuals feel like family, a fierce thundercloud of witnesses, who collectively affirm William Stringfellow’s belief that biography is “good rudimentary data for theology” (p. 181). The Word is always becoming flesh, bringing good news to the poor and proclaiming release for the captives.
The editors strive for “vibrant storytelling and research-enriched narrative” (p. 4) in highlighting these voices for a new generation, and they mostly succeed. As with all edited volumes, style and tone vary from chapter to chapter. Nevertheless, quality lives make for quality reading, regardless of the framing. Though dead, these witnesses still speak, and their cries are as provocative today as they were then. The audio companion to this book is also worthy of note. Each chapter has a corresponding podcast episode in which the book’s authors reflect on the person they profile (https://www.livedtheology.org/podcasts/can-i-get-a-witness-the-podcast).
As it pertains to Baptist life (at least Southern Baptist life in the United States), the “Social Gospel” legacy is a disputed one. Nevertheless, surely Baptists of every stripe can appreciate the search for a tradition that can “inspire and sustain dissent and civil courage” (p. 1). These qualities have marked Baptists from their beginnings, and the fact that some of these witnesses have ties to the Baptist tradition is worthy of reflection. I highly recommend this book for personal reading, small-group studies, and university or seminary classes. This recommendation is not without warning, however. Can I Get a Witness? is not a book for the faint of heart. Nor is it a book that is content merely to be read. It is more akin to a fire in one’s bones—a “divine discontent” (p. 239) that problematizes the status quo and demands repentance.