Religious Communication Association Selects ‘Becoming Human’ as Book of the Year
Chapel Dean Luke Powery’s book Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race has been named the 2023 Book of the Year by the Religious Communication Association (RCA). Dean Powery will speak in a panel discussion about the book at RCA’s conference on November 15 in Washington, D.C.
RCA is an academic society for scholars, teachers, students, clergy, journalists, and others who share an interest in religious speech, rhetoric, media, and performance. The association is nonsectarian and provides a setting for professionals of various faiths, or no faith, to study problems of communication and religion.
In Becoming Human, Powery contrasts a view of humanity that sees race as essential and valuing some bodies over others with a theological understanding of humanity, shaped by the biblical account of Pentecost, that sees the diversity of human bodies as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Published by Westminster John Knox Press, the book was the winner of the 2023 Book of the Year award from the Academy of Parish Clergy. Watch an online conversation about the book.