
It demonstrates that reading about Black experience as shown in the literature of great African American writers can guide us toward sharper theological thinking and more faithful living. Reading Black Books helps readers of all backgrounds learn from the contours of Christian faith formed and forged by Black stories, and it spurs continued conversations about racial justice in the church.

The book includes end-of-chapter discussion questions. Each chapter takes up a theological category for inquiry through a close literary reading and theological reflection on a primary literary text, from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son to Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain and James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain. Pastor and teacher Claude Atcho offers a theological approach to 10 seminal texts of 20th-century African American literature.

Reading Black Books helps Christians hear and learn from enduring Black voices and stories as captured in classic African American literature.

Learning from Black voices means listening to more than snippets. Pannell is professor emeritus of preaching, having joined the Fuller faculty in 1974, taught for 40 years, and received emeritus status in 2014.
