Video
2023 J.J. Thiessen Lecture with Dr. Willie James Jennings (video)
Gathering the pieces that remain: Weaving life together from the fragments of faith, race, and land
with Dr. Willie James Jennings
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies, Yale Divinity School
Recorded October 27, 2023
[ news release ]
Dr. Willie James Jennings
(photo: The Presbyterian Outlook)
Dr. Willie James Jennings is an American theologian, known for his contributions on liberation theologies, cultural identities, and theological anthropology. He is currently an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at ale Divinity School at Yale University.
Jennings' book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a "theological masterpiece." His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018.
Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans, 2020).
Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America.
A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and his PhD in religion and ethics from Duke University.
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