‘Christian Humanism and the Black Atlantic’ explores Christian humanism, its theological and moral roots, and its articulation in the context of what Paul Gilroy calls the ‘Black Atlantic’. It examines the shape and focus of Christian humanism as it emerges from the history that connects Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Americas in a tangled web of material, cultural, and religious ties from the 15th century onwards. Whether it is the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Atlantic slave trade, modern imperialism, industrialisation, the Westphalian order of nation-states, or the creation of modern banking and monetary systems, the afterlife of this world lives on in our world, and indeed as our world.

The conference challenges reductive narratives of Christianity’s history, exploring its emergence as a ‘creolized’ faith, one formed through varied often brutal interactions in the Atlantic basin. It addresses the complex, contested interpretations of Christianity’s past, and aims for nuanced theological reflection on its impacts. An ongoing question the conference will explore is whether Christian humanism represents a constructive alternative to the use of Christianity to support forms of ethno-religious nationalism in the contemporary Atlantic context.