Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

‘Black Panther’ Star Chadwick Boseman Spoke Often About His Christian Faith

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

August 31, 2020

Chadwick Boseman, known for embodying black icons like Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get on Up,” and King T’Challa in “Black Panther,” spoke out often about his faith.

The 43-year-old actor, who died of colon cancer on Aug. 28, grew up in a Christian home and was baptized at Welfare Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina. As a professing Christian — even at the height of his celebrity — Boseman often spoke out about his beliefs.

Boseman’s rise to stardom seemed fast, but it took time, effort, and trust in God’s faithfulness. He was helped, too, by beloved entertainer Denzel Washington, who paid for the late actor’s study abroad tuition at the British American Drama Academy more than 20 years ago.

In the days since his passing, Washington has described Boseman as “a gentle soul and a brilliant artist who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short yet illustrious career.”

The “Black Panther” star referenced his Christian faith when he honored Washington in 2019. Speaking during the AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, Boseman quoted Ephesians 3:20, telling Washington, “May God bless you exceedingly and abundantly more for what’s in store than He ever has before.”

And in 2018, when he delivered the commencement address at his alma mater, Howard University, Boseman referenced several Bible passages, including Jeremiah 29:11.

He told the graduating class:

Sometimes, you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose God has predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, ‘I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’

Graduating class, hear me well on this day. … This day when you have reached the hilltop, and you are deciding on next jobs, next steps, careers, further education, you would rather find purpose than a job or career.

“When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it,” he said later. “God will move someone that is holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you, if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is. But if you’re willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory, then you will not regret it.”

After learning of his death, Letitia Wright, one of Boseman’s “Black Panther” co-stars who has also been outspoken about her Christian faith, tweeted simply: “This hurts. Really hurts.”

https://twitter.com/letitiawright/status/1299983754925088770?s=20

Fellow actor Josh Gad, known for voicing Olaf in Disney’s “Frozen” franchise, shared the final text message conversation he had with Boseman. In it, the late celebrity encouraged Gad to “catch the rain,” appreciate every moment, and “enjoy the simplicity of God’s creation.”

Boseman told his friend to “inhale and exhale this moment” and remember to “thank God for the unique beauties and wonders of the day.”

“We should take advantage of every moment we can to enjoy the simplicity of God’s creation, whether it be clear skies and sun or clouded over with gloom,” Boseman wrote. “And hey, if the air is this clear right now, and it does rain tomorrow, I might even put jars and bins out and catch the rain. Throw that in the water filter and have a water more alkaline than any bottled brand out there.”

In a tribute to Boseman, Gad described the young entertainer, who secretly battled stage-three colon cancer for four years, as “next-level good.”

“This was a man who was beyond talented and was so unbelievably giving, not only as a performer but as a human being,” Gad said. “Beyond just being ‘Black Panther,’ Chadwick was T’Challa in real life. He was somebody who just gave and gave and gave and never stopped giving.”

Gad went on to say 2020 “has been so devastating for some many reasons,” adding Boseman’s death just compounds the grief “because it’s taking away somebody who was honestly one of the greats.”

“I don’t know how to process this,” he continued, “but I want to send my love to his entire family and to all the fans out there. He’s gonna be missed.”

Pastor Samuel Neely, Boseman’s childhood pastor, praised the actor in 2018 for his commitment to his Christian faith.

Despite his accomplishments in Hollywood, Neely, who is now retired, said he could “still see the person I knew as a child.”

“When I see him, it’s almost like seeing my own child, he’s still Chad,” the minister told WHNS-TV. “He did a lot of positive things within the church and within the community. With him singing in the choir, with him working the youth group, he always was doing something, always helping out, always serving. That was his personality.”

Latest

  • culture

    ‘Democrats Are Doomed’: Bill Maher’s Warning Amid Anti-Semitism, Anti-Israel Furor

  • Life

    More Than One in 20 Women Need Second Abortion After Termination Pill Fails

  • Faith

    Is This Noah’s Ark? Researcher’s Compelling Evidence as Speculation Builds

  • Faith

    ‘I Should Be Dead’: Actor Praises God After Defying Odds With Miracle Survival

  • Faith

    New Pope Warns Against Reducing Jesus to ‘Charismatic Leader’


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Posts

  • ‘Democrats Are Doomed’: Bill Maher’s Warning Amid Anti-Semitism, Anti-Israel Furor
  • More Than One in 20 Women Need Second Abortion After Termination Pill Fails
  • Is This Noah’s Ark? Researcher’s Compelling Evidence as Speculation Builds
  • ‘I Should Be Dead’: Actor Praises God After Defying Odds With Miracle Survival
  • New Pope Warns Against Reducing Jesus to ‘Charismatic Leader’

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Roe
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.