"Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands unto God": Ethiopianism, Conjure, and Repatriation in Black Religious ThoughtdissertationsAndersen, Nicholas P.creatorWillis, AndreAdvisorBush, StephenReaderWinters, JosephReaderBrown University. Department of Religious Studiessponsor2022xv, 238 p.born digitalThesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2022thesesPerhaps no single biblical verse has been more quoted in the history of Black religious thought than Psalm 68:31. Known widely as “the Ethiopian prophecy,” the verse’s oblique references to ancient African civilizations—both their decline and surging renewal—have captured the imaginations of its African-descended interpreters for generations. In the nineteenth century especially, Psalm 68:31 was a central script for many Black thinkers seeking to awaken their brethren to the possibility of their redemption from slavery and domestic service. This dissertation examines how three key nineteenth-century Black thinkers used the Ethiopian prophecy to fashion visions of African redemption and Black destiny. Addressing the work and worlds of David Walker, Maria W. Stewart, and Martin R. Delany, it exposits the origins and development of what is now known as the Ethiopianist tradition in Black religious thought. As an alternative to earlier accounts of Ethiopianism that consider Psalm 68:31 its originating source, this study contends the formation of this tradition owes much to the role of African diasporic practices in shaping biblical interpretation. In particular, it claims that the religious environments in which these thinkers operated reveals the impact of the practices of conjure and repatriation upon their thought—especially upon their philosophies of history, religion, action, and social change. By tying them to the linguistic and cultural norms often associated with conjure and repatriation, the dissertation not only supplies novel rereadings of these thinkers but also argues for recasting conventional narratives about Ethiopianism to integrate the influence of Black Atlantic religious practices. Beginning with conceptualizations of Ethiopianism, conjure, and repatriation as social practices common in nineteenth-century Black religious life, this study offers chapter-length readings of Walker, Stewart, and Delany. Each chapter considers how these figures drew upon Psalm 68:31 as they cried out for awakening, stipulated African-centered histories of religion and civilization, and proffered social criticism. Taking their uses of the Ethiopian prophecy as an impetus for its work, this dissertation highlights the ways nineteenth-century Black thinkers and communities remade ideas about God, religion, history, and destiny as they joined African practices to biblical paradigms.Religious ethicsAfrican diasporareligious studiesBlack AtlanticWalker, David, 1785-1830Stewart, Maria W., 1803-1879Delany, Martin Robison, 1812-1885African Americans--ReligionBlack--Religious aspectsEthiopianismEnglishRPB20221018