Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
History and Religion
The Call to Comprehensive Justice

The Call to Comprehensive Justice

Last updated on: August 30, 2022 at 9:57 am by Guest Contributor

The Call to Comprehensive Justice 2022-08-30T09:57:53-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today we welcome Allie Roberts as a guest contributor to the Anxious Bench. Roberts is a PhD student in the History department at Baylor University. Her research focuses on Black women’s leadership and grassroots activism during the twentieth century, particularly during the US civil rights movement.

In the United States, some Christians profess a faith undergirded by white supremacy, patriarchy, and power. Recently, stories about those who abuse their power and suppress others while claiming Christ capture our attention, and rightfully so. Importantly, though, for as long as oppressors have justified their violence by declaring their adherence to Christianity, others pursuing Christian justice have resisted. As far back as the nineteenth century, Black women sought justice, maintaining the belief that God called them to work on behalf of the oppressed, poor, and marginalized. Understanding their activism means taking seriously how they understood their lives and roles in pursuit of a holistic—or intersectional justice. They lived their theological convictions and led with the reassurance that God guided them, heard their prayers, and protected them as they sought racial, gender, and class justice as Black women.

“Lord, I cannot go!” Julia A. J. Foote cried when she received her call to preach. Born to previously enslaved parents in the North, Foote experienced racial discrimination, and she knew that as a woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, men would attempt to cast her aside. Her belief in God’s salvation superseded those challenges. She eventually relinquished her opposition to the call, saying “I will go, Lord.” Foote preached, evangelized, and labored for Christ, believing that the Christian faith could bring earthly justice and peace for Black people. She spoke in pulpits across the country, addressing Black and white audiences, and calling parishioners to heed God’s command to love. To turn toward the gospel, she believed, meant to turn away from the sins of racial and gender prejudice.

Foote encouraged other women to pursue justice through ministry. “Sisters, shall not you and I unite with heavenly host in the grand chorus?” she wondered. “If so, you will not let what man may say or do, keep you from doing the will of the Lord or using the gifts you have for the good of others.” God called women to preach, lead, and pursue justice, Foote contended, and she hoped that others would listen and respond in recognition of the gospel’s indictment of racial and gender oppressions.

As a poet, abolitionist, and co-founder of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper also responded to racial and gender injustice through organizational activism shaped by Christian faith. Engaging scripture, Harper claimed that Christians should aid those in need and serve others because “when we best serve man, we also serve Our God.” Harper advocated for Black women’s schooling and suffrage through her work within interracial organizations such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the National Council of Women. Within these organizations, though, Harper found herself at odds with white women. As she advocated for education, economic opportunities, and equality for Black women, white women maintained a limited view of equality, often excluding racial justice from their initiatives.

Despite this opposition, Harper maintained that her holistic efforts aligned with God’s will. Resistance to equal rights extended back into Christ’s life, as those who sided with empire despised his gospel to the poor and killed him in their grasp to maintain power. Harper resolved that there was no such thing as partial equality. She warned: “I would not change souls with a man who reproaches his God by despising His poor!” Faithfulness to God called for comprehensive care. She resolved to be faithful to the Christian mission and holistic justice.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett pursued far-reaching justice as the infamous leader of anti-lynching crusades in the 1890s, a renowned journalist, and a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Like Foote and Harper, Wells-Barnett engaged Christian principles as she continually fought against racial, gender, and class injustice. She also experienced discrimination in her own organizations, even as she worked to dismantle it. Men pushed her out of formal leadership opportunities in the NAACP, and white women accepted southern segregation within women’s suffrage organizations.

In the midst of persistent injustice, Wells-Barnett found it difficult, even impossible, to comprehend a just God. “O God is there no redress, no peace, no justice in this land for us?” she lamented. But she resolved, “God is over all & He will, so long as I am in the right, fight my battles, and give me what is my right.” Faithful in her strivings, she worked alongside men and women, Black and white, inside of and outside of church walls. She continually resisted narrow visions of justice that denied her full humanity. As she worked against white supremacy, sexism, and class oppression, she insisted other Christians needed to do the same.

Activist Mary Church Terrell worked alongside Wells-Barnett in anti-lynching campaigns and founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs with Wells-Barnett, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Harriet Tubman. Terrell advocated for Black women’s suffrage, protested segregation, and worked as a teacher and school administrator. As she faced oppression in her life and work, she found relief in her faith. “It is a blessed dispensation of Providence,” she held, “that the good great women and great men do is not confined within the narrow limits of a lifetime.”

Eternal reassurance, though, did not negate earthly work. Terrell held that the “barbarities which mock the civilization and Christianity of the US at the present time” would continue without resistance against oppressive forces. Throughout her life, she spoke powerfully to national and international audiences, advocating for intersectional justice. Speaking to an audience at the National Woman Suffrage Association Convention in 1890, for instance, Terrell contended that “A white woman has only one handicap to overcome—a great one, true, her sex; a colored woman faces two—her sex and her race. A colored man has only one—that of race.” Her activism continued throughout the twentieth century, and she felt that activists would not achieve the justice she envisioned within her lifetime. “As wonderful as has been our progress,” Terrell conceded, “…we are still leagues and leagues from our goal.”

Black women activists in the nineteenth century committed to working for God in the world. Seeking comprehensive, Christian justice, they worked within and outside of church walls, in organizations, and in community with others. When Foote, Harper, Wells-Barnett, and Terrell cared for the least of these, they embodied the belief that Empire does not reign victorious. Today, as throughout history, many claiming to work under the banner of Christ do so in pursuit of power rather than justice—supremacy rather than equality. But they have never had a singular claim on the faith, as Black women activists have shown. In fact, Wells-Barnett might contend that their actions are “a terrible indictment of white civilization and Christianity.” To love one’s neighbors, to care for the poor, to work on behalf of the marginalized—these principles guided these Black women’s activist work. They knew the end of the story and in faith, sought to bring God’s justice on earth as it is in heaven.

History and Religion

African American Religion

American Religious History

African American Religion

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs

National Council of Women

Women’s Christian Temperance Union

Previous Post

August 29, 2022

The Growing Crisis of Anomie in the United States: Learning from Hungary's Cold War Past

Next Post

August 31, 2022 From Truth to Trust: Reimagining the Future of Christian Apologetics

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who gave birth to Isaac at a very old age?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Leah Rebekah Sarah Rachel