This unique collection of writings by Verna Dozier, eloquent prophet and teacher of the Bible, features selections from all her available work, including The Authority of the Laity, Equipping the Saints, her unfinished manuscript on the Bible, sermons, and interviews. Many of these materials, designed to give the unique flavor of Verna Dozier's wit and wisdom, have never appeared before in print.
Beginning with a short biography of Verna's life in order to place the writings in context, the book consists of six chapters organized both autobiographically and thematically. Beginning chapters cover her early life and family--her parents and sister, growing up African-American and Baptist in the segregated city of Washington DC, the influence of Howard Thurman and other theologians at Howard University, and her dual career, shaped by one set of values, teaching English literature and teaching the Bible. Subsequent chapters cover her approach and method of studying Scripture, teaching on Bible stories, her challenge to the church, and questions of ambiguity, morality, and faith.
Fredrica Harris Thompsett is the retired Mary Wolfe professor of historical theology at the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, where she has also served as academic dean for fourteen years. She is the author or editor of several books including Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Forty Years of Women’s Ordination and the highly regarded We Are Theologians.
"Here, captured in her own words, lie the heart and the wit of one of Anglicanism's most eloquent, and most loved apologists. There could be no better tribute to Verna Dozier's place in 20th century Christian history than this skillfully edited, deftly annotated, and elegantly arranged compendium of work."—Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours "Hers is a voice of prophecy, crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord,' 'Let justice roll down like a mighty stream,' 'Let my people go.' Hers is a gospel voice summoning us to a discipleship that dares to follow Jesus in the transformation of God's creation from the nightmare it often is into the dream God intends it to become." —Michael B. Curry, Bishop of North Carolina "Whenever someone asks me for a stirring, no-holds-barred account of what it means to be Christian, what it means to be a human being in love with the dream of God, I point them straight to Verna Dozier." —Stephanie Spellers, Cox Fellow, St. Paul's Cathedral, Boston "Her vision of the Bible is insightful and persuasive, her writing accessible and powerful."—Marcus Borg, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
