PHILLIS WHEATLEY
BLACK HISTORY IS CHURCH HISTORY
Application Guide
DISCUSSION
(10-15 min)
*Read the following Scriptures together as a group.
MARK 12:28-34
28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.
AMOS 5:14-15
14 Pursue good and not evil
so that you may live,
and the Lord, the God of Armies,
will be with you
as you have claimed.
15 Hate evil and love good;
establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious
to the remnant of Joseph.
MATTHEW 5:43-47
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?
*Discuss the following questions as a group.
From the Biblical passages above, do you think Christians should care about injustice?
What are some things you learned from the teaching on Phillis Wheatley that you did not previously know?
How do you think a seven year old would process being taken from her family and sold as a slave in a distant land?
Discuss the ways that Phillis Wheatley creatively spoke out against injustice in her day.
LAB EXERCISE
(15 min)
FURTHER STUDY
(5 min)
*Read through the following quotes as a group.
ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA
‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.
- Phillis Wheatley
ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY OF FIVE YEARS OF AGE
FROM dark abodes to fair etherial light
Th’ enraptur’d innocent has wing’d her flight;
On the kind bosom of eternal love
She finds unknown beatitude above.
This known, ye parents, nor her loss deplore,
She feels the iron hand of pain no more;
The dispensations of unerring grace,
Should turn your sorrows into grateful praise;
Let then no tears for her henceforward flow,
No more distress’d in our dark vale below,
Her morning sun, which rose divinely bright,
Was quickly mantled with the gloom of night;
But hear in heav’n’s blest bow’rs your Nancy fair,
And learn to imitate her language there.
“Thou, Lord, whom I behold with glory crown’d,
“By what sweet name, and in what tuneful sound
“Wilt thou be prais’d? Seraphic pow’rs are faint
“Infinite love and majesty to paint.
“To thee let all their graceful voices raise,
“And saints and angels join their songs of praise.”
Perfect in bliss she from her heav’nly home
Looks down, and smiling beckons you to come;
Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans?
Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans.
Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain,
Why would you wish your daughter back again?
No—bow resign’d. Let hope your grief control,
And check the rising tumult of the soul.
Calm in the prosperous, and adverse day,
Adore the God who gives and takes away;
Eye him in all, his holy name revere,
Upright your actions, and your hearts sincere,
Till having sail’d through life’s tempestuous sea,
And from its rocks, and boist’rous billows free,
Yourselves, safe landed on the blissful shore,
Shall join your happy babe to part no more.
- Phillis Wheatley
Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry.—Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination.
Religion indeed has produced a Phillis Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
- Thomas Jefferson
BREAKOUT
(10 min)
*Separate into groups of 3 or 4 and take 10 minutes to answer and discuss the following questions.
What are your biggest takeaways from the three quotes that were read?
What are some common themes you see in the poetry of Phillis Wheatley?
Did you feel any discomfort or surprise reading the quote from Thomas Jefferson? If so, why do you think that is?
In our country, many voices in the black community were suppressed for years. How is this unbiblical? What are ways the church can lead the way in correcting this error?
Do you see any ways that minority voices are dismissed today in the church or the world around us?
What are some creative ways we can speak out against prejudice in our culture, while still loving our enemies?
DISCUSSION
(10-15 min)
*Come back together as a large group and ask people from each group to share some of the things that were discussed in their breakout groups.
*For more extensive discussion and exploration regarding this topic, please contact Joel McCarty at joel@newedenchurch.org.