African History Commons^™

Didn’T My Lord Deliver Daniel? An’ Why Not Every Man? Black Theodicy In The Antebellum United States And The Problem Of The Demonic God, Emma Norman

Pitzer Senior Theses

Introduction Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel? An' Why Not Every Man: Black Theodicy in the Antebellum United States and the Problem of the Demonic God is an ambitious attempt to construct a coherent narrative that spans many centuries and connect numerous historical persons and figures in recent scholarship. I set out to understand how an enslaved person could have faith in the goodness of god despite their oppressed condition. I learned that most enslaved Africans first encountered Christianity when they became the “property” of Christians. Then, in a revolutionarily creative move, the Black community re-signified Christianity from a religious system …