Abstract
In this comprehensive, historical introduction to the “black public faith” of Samuel Dewitt Proctor, The Imposing Preacher, Adam L. Bond, a professor of historical studies at Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, offers a literary gift to the church, academy, and broader society. By focusing on Proctor, a mid-to-late 20th-century leader within Christianity, and black Christianity in particular, Bond highlights a renaissance individual who has never been given scholarly attention quite like this in academic literature, including African American religious history. Proctor was a “race man” (2), a national Baptist preacher, and a public servant (former associate director of Peace Corps and college president) who confronted America’s sin of racism and attempted to move the United States beyond this social cancer toward genuine human community. Proctor reached for this goal through the proclamation of what might be considered a black social gospel. Proctor was black, Christian, and American, and Bond does an effective job in exploring how these aspects of Proctor’s identity played out through his life and work in various sectors of society.
In chapter 1, Bond explores the context of historical racism and post-segregation in the United States because this was the setting in which Proctor and other black leaders were called to serve. As a result, many of these leaders saw their vocation inextricably linked to the dismantling of racism. Bond positions Proctor in relation to other black theologians and preachers who fought racism with their words and deeds, such as James Cone, J. Deotis Roberts, Katie Cannon, E. V. Hill, and Jesse Jackson. By doing so, he distinguishes Proctor from this great cloud of witnesses while demonstrating how they also influenced his thinking and action.
Chapter 2 provides insight into Proctor’s cultural roots, revealing how his family, church, and schooling shaped his trajectories and names particular people who influenced him during his life. Bond details the journey of Proctor, including how he eventually worked with the Peace Corps as a public servant, at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, NY, as preacher and teacher, and as a professor in numerous theological institutions. Chapter 3 investigates Proctor’s intellectual roots rooted in his black Baptist upbringing, the Social Gospel, and the Bible. From these, Bond demonstrates Proctor’s theological understanding of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and his public theology.
Chapter 4 presents a core theological conviction of Proctor, that is, “everybody is God’s somebody” (115), which is the critical path toward defending black humanity. For Proctor, an integrationist, the inherent dignity of all people was foundational to the struggle against racism and his public faith. In chapter 5, Bond discusses Proctor’s theoretical and practical place within and contribution to the African American homiletical tradition, inclusive of folk/revival and college chapel/lecture preaching. Bond argues that the sermon genre was a key public rhetorical form used by Proctor to transform American society. Proctor’s belief in the power of the spoken word propelled him to educate literate preachers and public theologians through his understanding of the content and method of a sermon. Bond concludes his study in chapter 6 with what might be considered the end or telos for Proctor’s public ministry—the ideal of a creation of a genuine community, one full of justice and love, a belief held by other black theologians and preachers such as Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bond provides a broad historical and theological overview of Samuel DeWitt Proctor and introduces to today’s readership a man who had a tremendous impact on the black church, black academy, and broader society. The sheer scope of Bond’s coverage demonstrates the breadth of Proctor’s public service in church and society while revealing how Proctor fits within the larger milieu of black theological thought and intellectualism and socio-ecclesial practice. Readers will learn how Proctor converges and diverges from others and see how Proctor was a bridge figure between theological camps of the black church, between the church and academy in general, between black and white audiences, and between private and public faith. Bond does us a great service in writing this original book.
As an introductory overview of Proctor, it cannot cover specifically every aspect of Proctor’s public ministry in depth. But it would be interesting to hear more about Proctor, the college president, and how his presidencies were shaped by his theology and the ways in which it impacted his vision of college education and vice versa. Perhaps that is a future book. In addition, I wonder if Proctor, the “bridge figure” (75), is so easily categorized as a college chapel/lecture preacher over against the folk/revival preaching style. It might be, as it is for many preachers, a contextual issue, that is, how one preaches (whether folk/revival or college chapel/lecture) is based on the setting; thus, Proctor was fluid and had crossover appeal and could adapt to different settings, just as his close friend Gardner Taylor did. Perhaps as it relates to these homiletical styles it is both/and and not either/or, especially within the wide, varied, and beautiful expression of black preaching.
Despite these wonderings, Bond offers an academic gift to scholars and students of American religious history, homiletics, black church studies, and black intellectual history and more. By receiving this gift and picking this book up, the reader will experience deeper insight into and appreciation for the breadth and depth of one of the great black preachers and public servants of the 20th century.