From Scapegoats to Lambs: How God's Word Speaks to George Floyd's Murder (HC) (2021)

Unlike so many murders of unarmed black and brown bodies by police officers, the viral video recording of George Floyd's modern-day lynching set into motion a Kairos moment in time, the impact of which is still being felt over a year later. How/Why did God usher in this season of transformation now? Can God's Word teach us how to reverse engineer communal violent scapegoating? What role can each of us play to eradicate police brutality? From Scapegoats to Lambs: How God's Word Speaks to George Floyd's Murder audaciously confronts these issues stemming from Charles L. Brown Jr.'s unflinching belief that God's Word is uniquely qualified to preach to and through the legacy of the suffering of black and brown bodies, and that the Lord has a way of humbling the powerful and empowering the humiliated. In adopting what he calls "hood hermeneutics," Brown joins the ranks of a growing number of unapologetic, black, Christian intellectuals unashamedly challenging the Church to mine the text with ferocious passion until it speaks compellingly to the struggle of those violently scapegoated.