ABSTRACT
The author remember Bearden because it is the place where he first discovered himself as black and Christian. There, the meaning of black was defined primarily by the menacing presence of whites, which no African-American could escape. The Christian part of his identity was shaped primarily at Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. The people often shouted and danced, clapped their hands and stamped their feet as they bore witness to the power of Jesus' Spirit in their midst, 'building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side'. Preachers and Sunday School teachers at Macedonia were quite skilled in picking biblical texts that affirmed their humanity. Using the black experience as the starting point of theology raised the theodicy question in a profound and challenging way that was never mentioned in graduate school.
