Overview

This book describes the sociocultural context that shaped Christian initiation for many early Jamaican congregants within the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Christian initiation in early-twentieth-century Jamaican AME churches included the practice of two water rituals for children within most of its congregations--first, the christening or sprinkling of water on infants, and second, immersion when the child reached the age of consent and made a public confession of faith. The ambiguity of John Wesley's doctrine and practice of the sacrament of baptism are provided with the cultural milieu of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Jamaica to allow the reader to calmly consider the spectrum of evidence--and consider how the use of two water rituals became normative for many disciples of Christ to become full members within the early AME Church in Jamaica.

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9781532652998

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Reviews

Dr. Grant does an excellent work in detailing John Wesley's influence upon the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on the island of Jamaica. Too often islands are viewed as lesser characters to their mainland counterparts. Dr. Sharon Grant conveys in Rebaptism Calmly Considered the ways in which it was hotly debated and creatively practiced. She highlights the cost(s) following Jesus Christ in a variety of cultural locations. --Ken J. Walden, President, Dean, Gammon Theological Seminary Sharon Grant's cutting-edge exploration of crucial religious intersections between Euro-American and African influences within African Methodism in Jamaica raise important issues that will frame follow-up studies within African diasporic history. Her subtle interdisciplinary sensibilities and her blending of archival and field work data enrich her religio-historical findings. Her scholarship stands alone in Wesleyan and Afro-diasporic religious studies. --Dennis C. Dickerson, James M. Lawson Jr. Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

Author Information

Sharon Grant is Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina.

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