No Flesh Shall Glory: How the Bible Destroys the Foundations of Racism

“What a privilege to sit under the teaching of this civil rights icon through the pages of No Flesh Shall Glory. With the heart of a pastor and the careful exegesis of a scholar, Pastor Oliver pushes against historic presuppositions for interpreting race and offers sound scriptural argument, exposing the heart of God and inviting the reader to see with new eyes. This will be the resource on race and culture you will return to over and over again. I can’t recommend this book enough!”

“Reflecting on the difference between the changes in the law during the civil rights era and the rigidity of the church, Rev. C. Herbert Oliver bemoaned, “Christians seem to learn more slowly than the children of darkness, for the world seems to be leading the way in the battle against the dogmas of racism.” For Rev. Oliver, remaining separate and segregated in the church is anti-Christian. In No Flesh Shall Glory, he calls us to embrace the truth that our God is a God of variety and to rejoice in the limitless display of God’s creative genius in that variety. “If God loves variety, it is perverse for men to hate it,” he writes. I am grateful to P&R Publishing for bringing this book and this man of God before a new generation. What he writes here is not just a blessing and benefit for a time gone by, but it is needful for us today. This work is part of the necessary antidote to our ongoing fractures and polarization within the body of Christ. He points us to the heart of God for humanity.”

“C. Herbert Oliver’s classic study is well entitled No Flesh Shall Glory. It is perhaps needed more now than when it first appeared in 1959. Oliver leads readers to Scripture and demonstrates that prevailing concepts of race and practices of segregation are deeply inconsistent with God’s creation of all mankind in His image. No Flesh Shall Glory is a biblical antidote to contemporary critical race theories that foment racial tensions and diminish commitment to the Lordship of Christ and the reconciling power of His kingdom. I am grateful that Oliver’s prophetic ministry speaks again in these troubled times.”

“C. Herbert Oliver’s book No Flesh Shall Glory is as riveting and relevant today as when it was first published in 1959. Writing with theological precision, Oliver delivers a passionate plea for Christians to embrace the biblical doctrines of race that align with both God’s character and His plan for the church. Specifically, he connects the wisdom of God in creating diverse ethnicities to the power of God in unifying all peoples in one family. This good news is as timeless as it is timely!”

“When this biblically based, theologically informed, anti-racist book was first published, it was ahead of its time. Written by C. Herbert Oliver—a principled pastor who was educated at Wheaton College and Westminster Theological Seminary—No Flesh Shall Glory makes a clear biblical case for the beauty of kingdom diversity and the absolute unity of the human race created in the image of God. As an outspoken critic of police brutality in Bull Connor’s Birmingham and an advocate for just public education in Brooklyn, New York, Oliver has lived by these principles ever since. Both the man and this book are anti-racist for the simple reason that racism is anti-Christian.”