Divine Grotesquery

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14938768-divine-grotesquery Until now, Victor Anderson says, African American theologians have failed to produce a systematic philosophical theology. They view philosophical theology with great suspicion because they define their work in terms of its social relevance for African American life and struggles. Philosophical problems are often regarded as a distraction from the real issues and challenges of black life. Divine Grotesquery recovers the greatly neglected study of philosophical theology for African American studies. Victor Anderson comes to terms with four problematic themes in African American religious knowledge; God; evil and suffering; and human fulfillment. He uses the aesthetic category of the grotesque—that which both attracts and repulses—to address these themes. Using the grotesque, he is able to play on the absurd and the sincere, the comic and the tragic, the strange and the familiar, the satirical and the playful, the normal and the abnormal. Using an interdisciplinary approach, he also reflects on how African American traditional wisdom has influenced the emergent thinking of African American people about the origins and meaning of the universe (cosmology) and about human beings and their social order (philosophical anthropology). Instead of starting from social relevance, Anderson’s philosophical perspective allows him to contribute cogency, validity, and critique to the discussion of theological problems. 288 pages, Paperback First published December 1, 2003