A serious biography for those who want to understand Clarence Jordan more fully.

Frederick L. Downing draws on family letters, Clarence Jordan’s FBI file, and a series of interviews to portray Jordan as a pioneer, a prophet, and a moral exemplar—a man whose life had two inseparable poles: dismantling what was wrong and building something better in its place.

Downing places Jordan alongside figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi—not to inflate his legacy, but to take it seriously. Jordan was, he argues, a religious innovator whose search for faithfulness was inseparable from his region, his culture, and his time.

Forty-five years after his death, Jordan’s “dangerous memory” continues to challenge easy assumptions about race, wealth, and what it means to follow Jesus.

For readers who want to go deep, this is a thorough and rewarding place to start.

Details:

• Hardbound