Whenever I teach my undergraduate “Christian Ethics” course at Wheaton College, I assign Willie James Jennings’ The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. It is a remarkable book, and over the years it has become the heart of the course.

Jennings’ argument is challenging on multiple levels. I tell my students that what Jennings is doing is like trying to describe water to a fish. It personally took me several readings to understand everything the argument accomplishes, and even after teaching it a half-dozen times, I still discover new things.

This means the book poses a pedagogical challenge, especially in an undergraduate setting. My students are gifted, but they are still learning how to read academic texts and do not have the luxury of multiple readings during a semester.

So I created a “teaching outline” of The Christian Imagination.

This outline is by no means exhaustive or comprehensive, but it summarizes the key arguments Jennings’ makes throughout the book. I have found that it greatly helps students on their first read and serves as good starting for our seminar discussions.

I’m posting the outline here in case it might be useful for others both as they read and teach the book.