Ain't gonna lay my 'ligion down

"Ain't Gonna Lay My 'Ligion Down" reveals the ways that African Americans have "put flesh on their Christian beliefs," adapting the faith of their European American masters and creating distinctive forms of religious expression.

The contributors to the volume examine specific African American religious customs and practices - seekin' the Lord, ring shouting, dancing, pray's houses, ecstatic trances, spirit possession, folk songs, music, tales - and the efforts of African American religious leaders to show the remarkable degree to which newly imported slaves preserved their African spiritual heritage while simultaneously meshing it with Western symbols and theological claims.