The Forging of Races

'There is an uncomfortable history to be written of what might be called progressive or scientific racism as well as of religiously motivated varieties; Colin Kidd's recent monograph, The Forging of Races. Race and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World, 1600-2000, is a very distinguished beginning to this study.' Archbishop Rowan Williams 'After a spirited opening chapter on the illusory nature of racial thinking, Kidd discusses the many (sometimes unintended) collisions between theology and race in the early modern period ... he plunges into an admirable plain-speaking exploration of some burning questions ... this is an intellectual history which rarely wanders ...' London Review of Books 'On the one side, there has been the massive if contested authority of the bible and, on the other, a remorseless racism. Colin Kidd has valuably decided to plot the relationship between these two foci of modern belief and thought.' The Historical Journal 'This is a rich and fascinating analysis which will repay study by all those interested in the history of the intersection and mutual interpretation of 'white' and 'black' cultures.' The Round Table '... Kidd provides a wealth of stimulating comment on the relations between biblical study, slavery, ethnology, language study, religious affiliations and physiology. ... Important for what it says on the significance of studying theology in context, this work deserves to attract a large readership well outside religious history.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History