Celebrating, theorizing, and tarrying with Black Faith, one class, song, sermon, and word at a time.
“Liberation into a world built and sustained on the very violence it claims to repudiate is no liberation at all. Until we are free from this world, we persist.”
Dr. Nick Peterson
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Emory Cap and Gown
ABOUT R. NICHOLAS PETERSON
Nick reframes the fundamental question of Black theology: not how to achieve liberation into an antiblack world, but how to imagine liberation from it entirely. Drawing on critical Black feminist and Afropessimist methodologies, he challenges theological orthodoxies about freedom and Black futurity that have shaped the field since its emergence. He holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Emory University.
His scholarship refuses the false choice between academic rigor and congregational relevance. As ministerial staff and ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Nick grounds his theoretical work in Black congregational life—allowing the church to shape his scholarship while his theological insights transform his pastoral practice.
Whether in the pulpit, the classroom, or the studio, Nick pursues a singular vision: cultivating practices and modes of inquiry that reveal God’s unfailing commitment to Black thriving and flourishing. Based in Indiana, he preaches and teaches across the country, developing work that honors both the theoretical sophistication of contemporary Black critical thought and the lived spiritual realities of Black communities.