The words of this familiar African American spiritual is a
source of inspiration for Dr. David Emmanuel book, Were
You There? Godforsakenness in Slave Religion. Both the
spiritual and the title of the book raise important questions
about God and humanity — especially African American
humanity. They refer to critical issues such as commitment
and abandonment between God and humanity and within
interpersonal relationships.
On one hand, the song is a rhetorical selection that has
become a part of the African American religious witness to
the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as the
Christ or promised Messiah. In it, we are asked if we can
attest to the life and ministry of Jesus on the basis of a
direct encounter with the suffering and death he experienced.
The question relates both to the historical events of Jesus’s
life, death and resurrection as well as to the significance of
all of this for our contemporary reality. Therefore, “Were
you there?” also implies the question, “Are you willing and
able to bear witness to your faith in God here and now?”
On the other hand, the title of Goatley’s text both
echoes the lines of the song and ponders the forbidden query
about how we understand who God is, what God does (or
does not do) and who we are. On one level, the title (“Were
You There?”) is directed toward the reader as it seeks out a
witness to the faithfulness of God in the midst of African
American humanity and suffering.
On another level, the
subtitle (“Godforsakenness in Slave Religion”) points to the
disturbing experience of God’s absence from all optimistic
claims about God’s presence in the midst of the African
American experience of oppression;. In order to explore this
multidimensional query, Goatley turns to the history and
narratives of the African American slaves.
Goatley’s book is divided into five sections. After; a
brief introduction that sets forth his rationale for pursuing
this query, he begins with an exploration into the African
American experience of Godforsakenness during the
Southern antebellum period. This is followed by similar
inquiry into the nature of spirituals as anguished
expressions of abandonment and hope. Next an
interpretation of the Gospel of Mark is rendered in order
to examine “a paradigm of the presence and absence of
God.” Finally, in the concluding section, he suggests some
of the implications of this study for contemporary
theology.
The history and general narrative of African American
reality is rooted in the African tradition of oral discourse.
This inclination towards orality has been conveyed and
preserved through stories arid folklore that reach back to
a distant past. Ironically, the capacity to tell and recall
stories survived during slavery precisely because African
Americans were prohibited from reading and writing.
