Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair

Written by Duke L. Kwon and Gregory Thompson

Narrated by Mirron Willis

Christians are awakening to the legacy of racism in America like never before. While public conversations regarding the realities of racial division and inequalities have surged in recent years, so has the public outcry to work toward the long-awaited healing of these wounds. But American Christianity, with its tendency to view the ministry of reconciliation as its sole response to racial injustice, and its isolation from those who labor most diligently to address these things, is underequipped to offer solutions. Because of this, the church needs a new perspective on its responsibility for the deep racial brokenness at the heart of American culture and on what it can do to repair that brokenness.

This book makes a compelling historical and theological case for the church's obligation to provide reparations for the oppression of African Americans. Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson articulate the church's responsibility for its promotion and preservation of white supremacy throughout history, investigate the Bible's call to repent and make restitution, and offer concrete examples of the work of reparation at the local level. They lead listeners toward a moral imagination that views reparations as a long-overdue and necessary step in our collective journey toward healing and wholeness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ChristianAudio.com
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781545917220

Duke L. Kwon

Duke L. Kwon (MDiv, ThM, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor at Grace Meridian Hill, a neighborhood congregation in the Grace DC Network committed to building cross-cultural community in Washington, DC. Kwon is active in public conversations around race, equity, and racial repair in the American church, and he lectures on these topics around the country. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, and The Witness.

Reviews for Reparations

[Shannon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is much needed for the American church today. Kwon and Thompson are simply calling Christians to live out God's command to love your neighbor.

[Alex Ford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book was well argued, though certainly controversial due to the subject. The authors frame slavery (and the subsequent restrictions on those of African descent) as theft—specifically as a multigenerational program to steal “truth, wealth, and power” from those who were enslaved and their descendants. By framing it in this way, they allow relatively simple logic to drive the conclusion that what was stolen must be returned. Of course, any multigenerational program of theft—particularly one intentionally hidden (in plain sight) from those carrying out the majority of it—will be incredibly complex to undo, and the authors acknowledge this. But while enacting the necessary repair will be difficult and complex, the authors argue that recognizing the necessity is not.

The only real negative has nothing to do with the authors, but with the recording: the narrator mispronounces a number of words, even substituting similar-sounding words sometimes. While it wasn’t especially hard to figure out what was intended, it was very distracting.