Blacks read the Bible historically and concretely.15 It was the black preacher who told the stories of Israel liberated from the bondage of Egypt; of the three Hebrew “boys” in the fiery furnace; of the dry bones in the valley; and of the birth, death, suffering, sorrow, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These stories provided hope for those who identified with the freed Israelites, the rescued Hebrew boys, the life-giving spirit in the dried bones of the valley, and the hope of the resurrection