David Dark’s book expands on the analysis of his 2005 book The Gospel according to America. With a brilliant mix of theological, cultural, and political analysis, he assesses the current American landscape. He highlights the problems of the Trump era and the expanding political divide that has gripped American churches. Through the use of creative resources, Dark’s book is a light that shines through the darkness of our times.
David Dark is also an author on our newest book, Can I Get a Witness? Thirteen Peacemakers, Community Builders, and Agitators for Faith and Justice. In the book, he writes on the life and theology of Daniel Berrigan. His chapter is titled: “I See What I See: Daniel Berrigan’s Witness to Christ, Gospel, and Sanity Itself.” He is also featured in our podcast, which is an audio companion to the book.
Praise for The Possibility of America:
“If I prayed, I would pray for all the David Darks—all the smart, funny, thoughtful, quirky, tough-minded, well-read, culturally-engaged Christians in America—to arise and speak up. Because I know that the crabbed, mean, unthinking forms of political Christianity that I see portrayed in the media are not the whole story.”
—Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland
“A teacher in prisons, a believer in music, an entangler of religion and politics, a student of mundane poetry, a proponent of a new seriousness, a garroter of despair, a champion of the Beloved Community—In The Possibility of America, David Dark samples Thomas Pynchon, R.E.M., radical Baptist preacher Will Campbell, and many others, to speak truth and hope to our contemporary barnyard.”
—John T. Edge, author of The Potlikker Papers
“This revised edition of The Gospel according to America makes this prescient tome that much more salient. Dark regards America—real and imagined, secular and abidingly faithful, horrible and glorious—with a holistic gaze that holds these truths and contradictions together and examines the culture that comes from it in order to better understand just how we got here.”
—Jessica Hopper, author of Night Moves and The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic
“The Possibility of America is sharp and merciful in that it doesn’t shy away from the type of rigorous honesty and nuanced care that I have come to love and learn from every time David Dark shares his work. It is an honor to watch his conflicts and curiosities bear themselves out on the page.”
—Hanif Aburraquib, author of Go Ahead in the Rain and They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us
“This is a book built on the understanding that there is a civic imagination that imagines us into a better way of being human together. Taking Twitter, literature, poetry, music lyrics, film, television, cartoons and conversations as sacred texts, David Dark looks at the things that are held up by language: power, fear, and hatred. Dark’s work holds the hope that love is a muscle we can exercise in public—and he holds us to account for how we practice.”
—Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet and theologian
The 2019 Summer Interns in Lived Theology will give their final presentations on Thursday, October 17 at Common Grounds, located at Rugby Rd. and Gordon Ave. in Charlottesville. The presentations will begin at 7 pm. The public is invited, and admission is free.
Zoe Larmey
Nan Marsh
Kate Parker
