Plain Theology for Plain People
Charles Octavius Boothe
Introduction by Walter R. Strickland II
Plain Theology for Plain People
Copyright 2017 Lexham Press
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.
Originally published by the American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1890.
Print ISBN 9781683590347
Digital ISBN 9781683590668
Cover Design: Quincy Stacy
To the memory of the late devoted Rev.
Harry Woodsmall, of Indiana.
A consecrated Christian gentleman; a faithful teacher of the
word of God; a self-sacrificing friend of the Lord’s poor; a
man whose life was a living illustration of the divine life of
the Bible; a man, the memory of whose labors for the colored
people of the South must be as unfading as the eternities to
come, and as lasting as the immortality of the souls who wear
his impress, is this little book lovingly dedicated by the author.
Introduction to Plain Theology for Plain People
Chapter 1: Being and Character of God
Chapter 3: The Way of Salvation
Chapter 4: The Son: His Coming and His Work
Chapter 5: Gifts Flowing from the Grace of God
Chapter 6: How Christians Should Live and Labor
Chapter 8: The Christian Church
Introduction to Plain Theology for Plain People
Walter R. Strickland II
Charles Octavius Boothe (1845–1924) was a reluctant teacher. To spare others his frustration with learning and teaching from books laced with dense theological rhetoric, Boothe wrote Plain Theology for Plain People.1
Boothe wrote for the average sharecropper. He accommodated an unlearned audience that included pastors, teachers, and community leaders born into poverty with little access to education. While leaders and laity alike desperately needed biblical and theological truth, they had little time, energy, and resources to pursue education. “The doctrines of our holy religion need to be studied in order, according to some definite system,” he wrote, “but simplicity should prevail—simplicity of arrangement and simplicity of language.” Thus, Boothe set out to write a succinct and accessible theological handbook.2
WHO WAS CHARLES OCTAVIUS BOOTHE?
On June 13, 1845 Charles Octavius Boothe was born in Mobile County Alabama. He was the legal property of Nathaniel Howard.
As a slave he was treated relatively mildly. “I think I can say that [my master] and I really loved each other,” he wrote.3 Nevertheless, he was a frank critic of slavery. He indicted all white Americans for imposing barbarous conditions upon his people.4 Proponents of slavery argued that God used the practice to bring blacks to salvation; in contrast, Boothe contended that the gospel spread to slaves despite chains and oppression. “As ...
|
About Plain Theology for Plain PeopleIn this handbook first published in 1890, Charles Octavius Boothe simply and beautifully lays out the basics of theology for common people. “Before the charge ‘know thyself,’ ” Boothe wrote, “ought to come the far greater charge, ‘know thy God.’ ” He brought the heights of academic theology down to everyday language, and he helps us do the same today. Plain Theology for Plain People shows that evangelicalism needs the wisdom and experience of African American Christians. Walter R. Strickland II reintroduces this forgotten masterpiece for today. |
| Support Info | plaintheopeeps |