Noel Leo Erskine is a Professor of Theology and Ethics at Candler School of Theology and the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. A native of Jamaica, he has been a visiting professor in ten schools in six countries. Erskine has written six books and edited five, among which include Decolonizing Theology (1998), King Among the Theologians (1994) From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology, (2005), Black Theology and Pedagogy (2008), Plantation Church: How African American Religion was Born in Caribbean Slavery (2014) and Black Theology: Thinking about Our Faith (2023).

Readers will love this book because it tells the extraordinary story of a late 18th century enslaved Africa named George Liele who was converted to Christianity by his master’s pastor, preached the gospel to other slaves, became the first African to receive ordination and founded the first black church in both the United States and Jamaica.

• PrefaceChapter 1. Liberation Chapter 2. Theologian of HopeChapter 3. Patriarch of Native BaptistsChapter 4. The Coming of MissionariesChapter 5. The Man and His LegacyConclusionBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Noel Leo Erskine is a Professor of Theology and Ethics at Candler School of Theology and the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. A native of Jamaica, he has been a visiting professor in ten schools in six countries. Erskine has written six books and edited five, among which include Decolonizing Theology (1998), King Among the Theologians (1994) From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology, (2005), Black Theology and Pedagogy (2008), Plantation Church: How African American Religion was Born in Caribbean Slavery (2014) and Black Theology: Thinking about Our Faith (2023).

Readers will love this book because it tells the extraordinary story of a late 18th century enslaved Africa named George Liele who was converted to Christianity by his master’s pastor, preached the gospel to other slaves, became the first African to receive ordination and founded the first black church in both the United States and Jamaica.

• PrefaceChapter 1. Liberation Chapter 2. Theologian of HopeChapter 3. Patriarch of Native BaptistsChapter 4. The Coming of MissionariesChapter 5. The Man and His LegacyConclusionBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Noel Leo Erskine is a Professor of Theology and Ethics at Candler School of Theology and the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. A native of Jamaica, he has been a visiting professor in ten schools in six countries. Erskine has written six books and edited five, among which include Decolonizing Theology (1998), King Among the Theologians (1994) From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology, (2005), Black Theology and Pedagogy (2008), Plantation Church: How African American Religion was Born in Caribbean Slavery (2014) and Black Theology: Thinking about Our Faith (2023).

Readers will love this book because it tells the extraordinary story of a late 18th century enslaved Africa named George Liele who was converted to Christianity by his master’s pastor, preached the gospel to other slaves, became the first African to receive ordination and founded the first black church in both the United States and Jamaica.

• PrefaceChapter 1. Liberation Chapter 2. Theologian of HopeChapter 3. Patriarch of Native BaptistsChapter 4. The Coming of MissionariesChapter 5. The Man and His LegacyConclusionBibliographyIndexAbout the Author