Conjuring culture

Conjuring culture

By Theophus Harold Smith

Book Description

Theophus Harold Smith presents a groundbreaking exploration of how African-American communities have wielded the Bible as a transformative spiritual tool throughout history. This interdisciplinary work reveals how enslaved people and their descendants discovered within biblical texts a powerful system of "conjure" - a sacred practice for reshaping reality and invoking divine intervention in the face of oppression.

Smith demonstrates how the Bible functioned far beyond its traditional role as scripture, serving instead as a practical manual for spiritual transformation. Through careful analysis, he shows how biblical figures like Moses and themes such as the Exodus became more than symbolic references - they became active formulas for healing, protection, and social change within African-American spiritual practice.

The book traces this phenomenon from its origins in slave religion through contemporary folk traditions and literary expression. Smith illustrates how practitioners have consistently drawn upon biblical imagery to envision new possibilities and manifest cultural transformation, effectively treating sacred text as a living resource for conjuring hope and freedom.

Beyond examining religious practices, the work explores how this spiritual approach has influenced African-American aesthetics in music, drama, folklore, and literature. Smith argues that understanding this "conjuring culture" offers fresh insights not only into black spirituality but into broader patterns of Western religious and cultural development.

This scholarly yet accessible work opens new pathways for anyone seeking to understand the dynamic relationship between sacred texts and transformative spiritual practice.

Who Is This For?

📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)

📄 Length: 287 pages

What You'll Discover

  • ✓ Study Bible from spiritual perspective
  • ✓ Explore African Americans -- Religion.
  • ✓ Explore Religion and culture -- United States.
  • ✓ Explore Bible, influence
  • ✓ Explore African americans, religion
  • ✓ Explore Religious aspects of Magic
  • ✓ Explore Bijbel
  • ✓ Explore Bezweringen

Topics Covered

Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc. -- United States -- History. African Americans -- Religion. Religion and culture -- United States. Bible, influence African americans, religion Religious aspects of Magic Bijbel Bezweringen Criticism, interpretation History of doctrines Magic Western Civilization Religion Religion and culture Bible, criticism, interpretation, etc., history Bible -- Influence -- Western civilization. Bibel 73.58 magic (ethnology) Religious aspects Bible Typology (Theology) -- History of doctrines. Magic -- Religious aspects -- Christianity -- History of doctrines. African Americans Magie Influence Kultur Culturele aspecten Christianity Typology (Theology) History

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