Vincent Wimbush provides a history of African American interaction with the Bible in his book The Bible and African Americans. The Bible has often been held in high esteem by Black Americans and thus it is interesting to look at how this came to be.
Acts 1:1-11
We all know that the disciples had seen Jesus Crucified and now they have him resurrected. Certainly this is the time when everything will be fulfilled. They must have throught that now was the time for the Kingdom to be fully realized in this world. If at any time it would be then. And yet Jesus left again.
Psalm 1
Happy are those who stand with God. The wicked are not so happy. In this Psalm the wicked are giving faulty advice. They scoff at God and truth. In contrast the righteous meditate on God’s word and law. So they stand in the Judgement.
What do I do? Do I stand with the righteous or the wicked? Do I delight in the law of the Lord or do I scoff at it? Do I make fun of those who stand for truth come what may? Becasue if I am not on the side of the righteous then the Lord who watches over the righteous will execute Judgment on me.
Genesis 2
Genesis 2 gives us the second creation story. In this complementary story God goes through great pains to make all of the inhabitants of earth to live in community. The birds were made to be in community, the other animals as well had their community. And the final thing that God made was the man.
Genesis 1
Genesis 1 paints the picture of a God that brings order out of the disorder. The earth was “without form and void” and after God speaks the earth becomes a paradise. As I think about this I come face to face with the reality of the disorder that we still find in the world.