Credo

Abstract

In the book Conversations with James Baldwin, edited by Fred Standley and Louis Pratt, British writer Colin MacInnes asks James Baldwin during a 1965 conversation whether he is “a religious writer.” MacInnes wants to know if “the concept of God” means anything to Baldwin. “Are you a believer in any sense or not?” Baldwin replies that he is not “a believer in any sense which would make sense to any church” and that “any church would” excommunicate him, “throw” him “out.” MacInnes’s question, however, compels Baldwin to pause and ask himself what he does, in fact, believe; a question that has to do with the meaning of his life, his artistry. He concludes that he believes in love and that “we can save each other.” He realizes that his assertion, “I believe in love,” might sound “very corny” to some, still he believes love is necessary if we are to save one another. He believes we “must save each other” and does not count on “anyone else to do it.” Love is not passive to him but active—“something more like a fire, like the wind, something which can change you.” He means energy —“a passionate belief, a passionate knowledge of what a human being can do, and become, what a human being can do to change the world in which he finds himself.” ¹