BenjamA n ValentA n presents a substantive yet accessible introduction to the three central doctrines of Christian theology: God, humanity, and Christ. In an engaging style, ValentA n offers an overview of each of these doctrines, delving into its tradition within the Christian community throughout history, from the writing of Scripture forward. He further explores what contemporary life tells us about this doctrine and how that compares to traditional understandings and then determines how we can reconstruct this doctrine in light of our new assessment of it. Each chapter concludes with suggested readings for further study. Throughout, ValentA n highlights the diversity of Christian thought, bringing together past tradition and contemporary questions to arrive at a new understanding of what these important doctrines can mean for us today.

"Creating Ourselves" is a unique effort to lay the cultural and theological groundwork for cross-cultural collaboration between the African and Latino/a American communities. In the introduction, the editors contend that given overlapping histories and interests of the two communities, they should work together to challenge social injustices. Acknowledging that dialogue is a necessary precursor to collaboration, they maintain that African and Latino/a Americans need to cultivate the habit of engaging "the other" in substantive conversation. Toward that end, they have brought together theologians and scholars of religion from both communities. The contributors offer broadly comparative exchanges about the religious and theological significance of various forms of African American and Latino/a popular culture, including representations of the body, literature, music, television, visual arts, and cooking.
Corresponding to a particular form of popular culture, each section features two essays, one by an African American scholar and one by a Latino/a scholar, as well as a short response by each scholar to the other's essay. The essays and responses are lively, varied, and often personal. One contributor puts forth a "brown" theology of hip hop that celebrates hybridity, contradiction, and cultural miscegenation. Another analyzes the content of the message transmitted by African American evangelical preachers who have become popular sensations through television broadcasts, video distribution, and Internet promotions. The other essays include a theological reading of the Latina body, a consideration of the "authenticity" of representations of Jesus as white, a theological account of the popularity of telenovelas, and a reading of African American ideas of paradise in one of Toni Morrison's novels. "Creating Ourselves" helps to make popular culture available as a resource for theology and religious studies and for facilitating meaningful discussions across racial and ethnic boundaries.

"Contributors." Teresa Delgado, James H. Evans Jr., Joseph De Leon, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Angel F. Mendez Montoya, Alexander Nava, Anthony B. Pinn, Mayra Rivera, Suzanne E. Hoeferkamp Segovia, Benjamin Valentin, Jonathan L. Walton, Traci C. West, Nancy Lynne Westfield, Sheila F. Winborne

The latter half of the twentieth century saw the development of liberationist and progressive theologies whose aim is both to understand life and to enhance it by focusing attention on the ways in which certain groups and ethnic minorities suffer injustices that are traceable to political economy and culture. Although African-American and Hispanic/Latino(a) theologies emerged side by side, the development and analysis of theology within these ethnic groups occurred independently of each other. That is to say, African-American and Hispanic/Latino(a) theologians and religious scholars have rarely inquired into the possibility and desirability of a cross-cultural dialogue between these two communities. Acknowledging both the previous lack of substantive dialogue and the present need for coalition among disadvantaged groups, five African-American and five Hispanic/Latino(a) theologians here explore their common historical and cultural heritage and their similar chronicle of struggle and affirmation. The aim is develop overarching meaning systems that encourage and sustain holistic imagination, notions of self and communal integrity, social activism, and solidarity. Among the topics treated are the core themes, concerns, and historical development of these two theologies; the roles played by scripture, tradition, imagination, and individual and collective experience; popular religion; Womanist and Mujerista theologies; ways of dealing with pain, suffering, and subjugation; and, finally, strategies for building bridges between communities of struggle.>