The Effects of the Civil War on Southern Baptist Beliefs A Master Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of American Military University by John Timothy Sneed In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts July 2017 American Military University Charles Town, WV
The author hereby grants the American Public University System the right to display these contents for educational purposes. The author assumes total responsibility for meeting the requirements set by the United States copyright law for the inclusion of any materials that are not the author s creation or in the public domain. Copyright 2017 by John Timothy Sneed. All rights reserved. i
DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to those who helped and those who believed. ii
Acknowledgements I wish to thank the staff and faculty of the American Military University for all their help in shepherding me to the end of my program. Dr. Loni Bramson, my thesis advisor, deserves a special mention for her guidance and patience. Dr. Mark Noll of the University of Notre Dame gave me encouragement and hope and thought this thesis was worth being written. I would also like to mention Dr. Bruce Gourley who was another great encourager and help. I am indebted to Ms. Abigail Broadbent and the William E. Partee Center at the Charles F. Curry Library at William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. Their resources were invaluable. Finally, my family deserves a special mention as they endured much inconvenience during this writing. Without their support and belief in me, I never would have finished. Certain materials used in the publication of this work were obtained from the Charles F. Curry Library, William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. iii
ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS THE EFFECT OF THE CIVIL WAR ON SOUTHERN BAPTIST BELIEFS By John Timothy Sneed American Military University, July 23, 2017 Charles Town, West Virginia Dr. Loni Bramson, Thesis Professor The Southern Baptist Convention came into existence because Baptists in the South wanted to have the ability to serve as missionaries and, at the same time, own slaves. When the Civil War finally came, the Southern Baptist Convention became an enthusiastic supporter of the Confederate nation and the institution of slavery. At the start of the war, Southern Baptists were adamant in their beliefs. But the war was a crisis that tested them. America was a different nation at the end of the war than it was at the beginning. This study determines how Southern Baptist beliefs were changed by the war. The method used was to establish what Southern Baptists believed at the beginning of the Civil War. Afterwards, the beliefs before the War were compared with Southern Baptist beliefs at the end of the war. This was done by examining iv
sermons, speeches, Baptist newspapers and other sources to see what Southern Baptists said and how they applied their beliefs to the issues of their day. The study shows that, while Southern Baptist confessional beliefs did not change, the application of those beliefs to the issues facing Southern Baptists as the United States experienced schism, and in the ending and aftermath of the war, changed dramatically. The study demonstrates that religion is belief lived out in a material world. It concludes that, even though confessional beliefs may remain steadfast, the application and articulation of those beliefs can be forced to evolve by traumatic historical events. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION. 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW.....10 III. IDENTITY AND BELIEFS IN THE ANTEBELLUM YEARS.... 25 IV. SOUTHERN BAPTISTS THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR..47 V. CONCLUSIONS......63 BIBLIOGRAPHY.74 vi
Chapter One Introduction By the middle years of the nineteenth century, religion in the United States was as strong and influential as it ever was. Christians in America were overwhelmingly Protestant and Evangelical. 1 Quoting the historian Richard Carwardine, Faust notes that nearly 40 percent of the American population was sympathetic to Evangelical Christianity by the year 1860. 2 As the century approached its midpoint, America was becoming a divided nation. The one issue that was the wedge issue in America, and in American churches, more than any other issue, was slavery. The division was especially evident among the Evangelical preachers. They had a voice among the people through their pulpits. Each Sunday they preached what God thought about the social and political issues that affected the people s lives. They were the proclaimers of God s will and purpose. Chesebrough quotes historian Albert Barnes, who wrote in 1857 that, In our country there is no class of men who exert more influence than the ministers of the gospel. 3 By far, the three largest Evangelical denominations in the United States were the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Baptists. 4 The divisions among these religious groups, in many ways, helped cause the national divisions that were soon to solidify. 1 Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (New York: Vantage, 2009), 172. 2 Ibid. 3 David B. Chesebrough, God Ordained This War: Sermons on the Sectional Crisis, 1830-1865 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1991), 3. 4 Clarence C. Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation: Denominational Schisms and the Coming of the Civil War (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985), 49-50. 1
The causes of the Civil War have been analyzed extensively by historians almost since the day General Lee surrendered. There seems to be little doubt that the causes of the war were varied and complex. Chief among the reasons why the Civil War happened, was slavery. Slavery, more than anything else, seemed to touch all the other issues of the day. While many in America tried to find compromise and a way forward that avoided violence, it was in the churches than a hardening, both for (in the South) and against (in the North) slavery. was taking place. As the years ticked by, it was the preachers in the North and South that turned the issue of slavery into a holy cause. 5 As the rhetoric about slavery intensified among Christians the three major Protestant denominations separated, mostly along geographical lines, into Northern and Southern churches. While both Northern and Southern Christians shared many core beliefs, the application of those beliefs to the political, social, and moral issues they faced varied widely. Among Baptists these beliefs were summed up in the Philadelphia Confession of Faith (1742) and the Charleston Confession of Faith (1767), which were identical except for some minor variations. 6 Baptists in the North developed the New Hampshire Confession of Faith in 1833 in a move to deliberately move away from the stricter Calvinism of earlier Baptists. 7 5 Chesebrough, God Ordained This War, 83, 227. 6 Thomas J. Nettles, The Baptists, vol. 2, Beginnings in America (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2005), 75. 7 Nathan Finn, On the Baptist Confession of 1689, Between the Times, February 26, 2014, accessed May 19, 2017, http://www.betweenthetimes.com/index.php/2014/02/26/on-thebaptist-confession-of-1689. 2
Calvinistic Christians, including Baptists, 8 saw God as completely sovereign over His creation. They believed that God had a direct hand in the affairs of history, both in the acts of human beings and in the natural world. God had a purpose for everything He did, therefore, there was nothing that happened for no reason. Chesebrough gives several examples of how this line of thinking was demonstrated in sermons, both North and South. He says, When the war erupted, there were sermons from both sides emphasizing that the conflict had been brought to the nation by God. 9 The Southern Baptist Convention came into existence sixteen years before the Civil War began. 10 Baptists in the United States formed the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States to support the work of missionaries, both inside the United States and in foreign countries. The name of the convention was shortened to the Triennial Convention because it held its national meeting once every three years. 11 The Convention tried to avoid the topic of slavery among its members. In 1835, it directed its various boards not to 8 The first Baptists were Arminian Baptists. Sometimes called Free Will Baptists, or General Baptists, because they believe Jesus died generally for all human beings. This group is represented today in the United States by the General Baptist Convention headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Calvinist Baptists came later and quickly overtook the General Baptists in numbers and influence. In a survey taken near the end of the eighteenth century, it was estimated that there were 1,032 Baptist churches in the United States and 956 of them were Calvinist. This information is drawn from Thomas S. Kidd, Calvinism is not New to Baptists: Grace Unleashed in the American Colonies, (Desiring God Ministries, June 13, 2015) accessed July 6, 2017, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/calvinism-is-not-new-to-baptists. Southern Baptists have always been a mix of Calvinist and modified Calvinistic Baptists. They have never been full Arminians, since they hold that a true believer cannot completely fall away from the faith. 9 Chesebrough, God Ordained This War, 9. 10 Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation, 96. 11 Bill J. Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2003), 165. 3
make an issue of slavery. In spite of those efforts, slavery was still a wedge issue among the churches. Baptist abolitionists formed the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. Their first act was to issue an open letter to the Baptist churches of the South demanding they free their slaves. They closed by saying anyone claiming to be a Christian, who owned slaves or condoned it, was not fit to be called a Christian and should be excluded from Christian service. 12 Baptists in the South felt excluded from participation in the Convention when a pastor they submitted for consideration as a missionary to the indigenous Indians was disapproved. They forced the issue in 1844 when the churches in Alabama sent an ultimatum to the Convention Mission Board demanding they plainly state their position on slave owners and their fitness to serve in home and foreign missions. 13 The Mission Board replied they wished the Alabama Baptists had not forced them into ruling, but then stated plainly that no slave owner was fit to be called a missionary. Baptists in the South complained the Mission Board has been taken over by abolitionists and felt stung by the insult that they were not fit to be called Christians or to serve in Christian religious work. 14 Virginia Baptists, meeting in December 1844, called for a convention to consider forming a new Baptist organization. In May 1845, messengers from Baptist churches all over the South met in Augusta, Georgia and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. 15 Southern Baptists built a convention structure unlike any ever seen in Baptist life. Baptists, generally, believe that each church is autonomous, almost a denomination within itself. 12 Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation, 93. 13 Leonard, Baptist Ways, 188. 14 Ibid., 189. 15 Ibid. 4
Churches may choose to cooperate with other churches to do religious work that they cannot do on their own. 16 The Southern Baptist Convention quickly replicated the various boards and committees that existed in the North and were zealous in continuing the religious work they had started with their northern counterparts. The Southern Baptist Convention became a strong organization. While, during the years throughout the Civil War, it never equaled the Methodists in size, it laid a foundation that would later propel it to become the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Southern Baptists were created from the conflict over slavery. When the South seceded from the United States, Southern Baptists quickly resolved to do what it took to support the new government and to help preserve the institution of slavery. As the Civil War progressed, Baptist beliefs were challenged. In the early part of the war it seemed as if the Confederate forces were dominant, but eventually the war turned against the South. Southern Baptists had to adjust to account for the changing situations created by the course of the war. The war challenged Southern Baptists and their beliefs. As the war began, Southern Baptists were very sure of themselves and their opinions about God s plans and His means to accomplish them. They were cheerleaders for the Confederacy and for slavery. The war challenged those certainties by turning against the Southern side, resulting in mounting destruction and the rising body count. The eventual defeat of the South was the ultimate challenge to the pre-war certitudes of the Southern Baptists. How much those beliefs changed, and how they affected the Southern Baptists beliefs about the moral and social issues of their day, are yet to be determined. Significance of the Study 2010), 54-60. 16 Baptist Confession of Faith and the Baptist Catechism (Carlisle, PA: Reformed Baptist, 5
An examination of histories written in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War demonstrate a blind spot when it comes to religion. Although religion is sometimes mentioned, it is almost always in a minor or supporting context. When it is given any space at all, it often appears as a sub-study within a larger area of study, for example, politics, sociology, psychology, anthropology or some other field. Rarely, has religion been considered on its own. One example is historian James McPherson, in his monumental work on the Civil War, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988), he makes only a passing reference to religion during the war. Among the first books to take an in-depth look at religion and the Civil War was C. C. Goen s book, Broken Churches, Broken Nation: Denominational Schism and the Coming of the American Civil War (1985). Later, a watershed moment occurred in 1998 when Randall Miller, Harry Stout, and Charles Wilson brought together a group of historians and scholars who then produced a series of articles focused on how religion affected various segments of life during the Civil War. These essays became the book Religion and the American Civil War (1998) and exposed the dearth of study of this topic. From the time of this book going forward, a surge is seen in the historiography about this subject. This study will not try to examine all Protestants or even all Evangelicals. This examination is focused on the Southern Baptists. The intention is to avoid being overwhelmed with information or from straying from the main point of the study. The Southern Baptists became a strong denomination after their formation. They found their important doctrinal beliefs in the Bible and articulated in their confessions of faith. They proclaimed their beliefs from their pulpits and applied them to the social, ethical, and morals questions of their day. Those beliefs were severely challenged by the Civil War. This study seeks to determine what Southern Baptists beliefs were going into the Civil War and what form they took in the end. 6
Some Southern Baptist historians have put a major change in Southern Baptists well into the twentieth century, and no doubt, these changes did occur. 17 However, Southern Baptists went into the Civil War very confident and self-assured of their relationship with God and their place in the Southern Confederacy. This study hopes to examine how the crucible of the war changed Southern Baptist beliefs. Southern Baptists have just, in recent years, started to deal with the legacy of their early beliefs. One example of this happened at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1995, when messengers passed a resolution that finally repented, as an organization, for supporting slavery and apologizing for Southern Baptists who have been slave owners. 18 A more recent example occurred in 2017, at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, where messengers 19 passed a resolution condemning the alt-right, effectively placing Southern Baptists against any belief in white supremacy. 20 Methodology The method of this study will be threefold. The first will determine the basics of Southern Baptist beliefs before the Civil War. This will be done by an analysis of early Baptist confessional statements. A focus will be on the three primary confessions extant among Southern 17 See Paul A. Basden, ed., Has Our Theology Changed? Southern Baptist Thought since 1845 (Nashville, TN: Baptist Sunday School Board, 1994). 18 Resolution on Racial Reconciliation on the 150 th Anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist Convention, June 20, 1995, accessed May 20, 2017, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/899/resolution-on-racial-reconciliation-on-the-150th-anniversaryof-the-southern-baptist-convnetion. 19 Messengers are church members, elected by their home congregation, to represent the church s interests at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meetings. 20 The Alt-Right, as used in this study, is a political philosophy loosely bringing together some elements of the Neo-Nazi movement, white supremacists, and fringe adherents of what remains of the Lost Cause mythology. For the Southern Baptist Convention resolution see, On the Anti-Gospel of the Alt-Right White Supremacy, accessed July 6, 2017, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/search/resuts.asp?query=2017. 7
Baptists in the years leading up to the Civil War. Also, a doctrinal focus will consider the Southern Baptist beliefs about God, the Bible, and providence. Other doctrines will be examined, only in so far as they are necessary to support the thesis. Southern Baptists sermons, writings, state newspaper articles and editorial writings will be analyzed in detail to determine how these beliefs were presented publicly and applied to the social and moral issues of the time. This will establish Southern Baptist beliefs at the beginning of the Civil War and will form a baseline for comparison of further research. Next, a close analysis of Southern Baptist beliefs, with particular attention to the expressions of those beliefs, during the Civil War years will demonstrate any changes in doctrines that occurred during those years. This will be accomplished using the same methodology as that of the first section. Sermon manuscripts, state and national Baptist newspapers, letters, and other materials will be examined, looking into the same subject areas as earlier analysis, to determine if the articulation of Baptist beliefs had changed throughout the Civil War years. Finally, once the beliefs that were held by Southern Baptists during the course of the war are identified, they will be compared to the beliefs identified earlier in the study and any deviations exposed. Conclusions will be drawn from an examination of these analyses. The research will allow readers to determine the extent and the shape of any changes in Southern Baptist beliefs. When these are clearly identified, we can determine how the Convention had changed at the close of the war. This study of early Southern Baptist beliefs will contribute to a better understanding of Southern Baptist identity, and their controversies. Outline of this Thesis 8
Chapter two will review the literature surrounding this topic and will seek to set this thesis within the framework of existing historical research. The intention here is to show what has been written so far relating to the issues this thesis seeks to examine. Not every known work will be examined but enough that a sufficient basis for completing this research is established. Chapter three will look at the historical background of the Southern Baptist Convention. This will seek to place the Southern Baptist Convention within its historic timeline. The formation of the Southern Baptist Convention will be examined as well as an analysis of the issues that caused the Southern Baptists to separate from their Northern counterparts. Also considered will be an examination of the history of the major Baptist confessions of faith. This will identify the confessions in use by Southern Baptists at the start of the Civil War Chapter four will include the analysis of Southern Baptist beliefs during the Civil War. This chapter will form the core of the thesis. The sermons and writings of both chaplains and pastors who remained at home will be examined in detail. Each year of the Civil War will be examined. In this way, a trend in beliefs or changes to how those beliefs are articulated can be established. Chapter five will compare the findings in chapters three and four with those of chapter five in order to discern the changes in beliefs that took place. The changes in doctrinal beliefs will be identified first, then the changes to beliefs about the issues of the times as they are informed by the doctrinal beliefs will be discussed. Chapter Two Literature Review 9
America, as it moved into the Civil War years, was an intensely religious nation. Some have claimed that nearly 40 percent of Americans were sympathetic to Evangelical Protestant Christianity in the year 1860. 21 This percentage does not touch the number of Quakers, Catholics, Mormons and various other churches and denominations that made up the religious landscape of American in the mid-nineteenth century. 22 Yet, for all this, religion is one of the least considered topics in Civil War historiography. There was a time when religion was almost not considered at all in the historical writings about the Civil War. Such was the void of material written about this topic that one historian remarked, there was absolutely no really significant developments in American religion. 23 As previously stated, when religion was studied in conjunction with the Civil War, it was most often included as a sub-subject of something else. This trend continued, with an occasional exception, until the last quarter of the twentieth century. In his small but influential book Broken Churches, Broken Nation: Denominational Schisms and the Coming of the Civil War (1985), historian Clarence C. Goen opened the conversation about religion and the Civil War. A decade later, the trio of Randall Miller, Harry Stout and Charles Wilson brought a group of historians and scholars together to write a series of essays examining the role of religion in the lives and the social and moral issues of the Civil War era. From that time, almost no one has written without mentioning religion in one way or another. 21 Faust, This Republic of Suffering, 172. 22 A Church is a body of persons following a specific religious doctrine. A denomination is a subset of a Church. For example, Baptists can be considered a church. Southern Baptists (as in, the Southern Baptist Convention) is a denomination of that church. 23 John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction after the Civil War, 2 nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), quoted in Mark A. Noll, Reconstruction Religion Journal of the Civil War Era 7 (March 2017), accessed April 15, 2017, http://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/issues/forum-the-future-of-reconstructionstudies/reconstructiong-religion. 10
Even James McPherson, who write so little in Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988), said later, Religion was central to the meaning of the Civil War, as the generation that experienced the war tried to understand it. Religion should also be central to our efforts to recover that meaning. 24 In the following paragraphs, the author will review books by Clarence C. Goen, David B. Chesebrough, Bill J Leonard, Mark A. Noll, Randall J. Miller, Drew Gilpin Faust, Bruce T. Gourley, Timothy L. Wesley and Harry S. Stout and Clarence R. Wilson. Each of these volumes advances the historiography of religion in the Civil War, some significantly. They also demonstrate some of the gaps in current scholarship. They will establish where historians have gone with this topic so far and will assist in pointing towards the niche this thesis will fill. Clarence C. Goen was among the early writers on religion and the Civil War. His book, Broken Churches, Broken Nation: Denominational Schisms and the Coming of the Civil War, introduced a number of ideas that brought the study of religion to the forefront of Civil War research. Goen posited that, more than any other factor, the churches, both North and South, set the stage for the Civil War, 25 Goen demonstrates that, while politicians looked for compromise, the Protestant clergy raised the issues surrounding the national divisions, to a holy cause. This was done in both the North and the South. This fiery rhetoric made compromise harder to achieve. He also argues that same rhetoric prolonged the war by leading national and military leaders away from ending the war when opportunities to do so arose. Goen also uses a pattern in his book that is replicated in many of the books that followed after his. In the antebellum years, the three major Protestant denominations were the 24 James M. McPherson, Afterward, in Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, and Charles Reagan Wilson, eds., Religion and the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 412. 25 Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation, 12-4. 11
Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Baptists. His book discusses all three of these faith groups in turn. So, he does not focus on any one group in particular. This pattern happens several times in subsequent books dealing with religion during the Civil War years, such as those by Noll and Chesebrough, for example. Finally, Goen suggests that the schisms in the churches made the national schism easier to accomplish. By letting people see that schisms could happen peaceably, people came to believe that a national separation could occur the same way. 26 Goen s thesis is well argued and his book opened the way to much of the historiography that followed. In his book, God Ordained This War: Sermons on the Sectional Crisis, 1830-1865, David Chesebrough reminds his readers that sermons can be a valuable historical resource. The research looks at the sermons of ministers from both the North and the South. Chesebrough focuses on four specific areas, slavery, secessionism, and war for both sides, and how Baptists applied the doctrine of the separation of church and state. It considers the assigning of blame for the North and the Lost Cause for the South. Chesebrough offers two sermons for each topic. Each chapter gives an historical analysis from the point of the view of the preachers of the chosen sermons. Chesebrough s research affirms much of what Goen had written earlier. Both sides saw God s hand in bringing the war into existence. 27 Both sides were adamant that God would provide the victory. In the South, soldiers were admonished to keep on fighting, even if the cause looked lost, because it is God who gives the victory. 28 This adds probability to the theory that 26 Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation, 13. 27 Chesebrough, God Ordained This War, 6. 28 Ibid., 230. 12
the churches helped to prolong the war by leading the armies to continue fighting, even when defeat seemed close at hand. Chesebrough documents the hardening rhetoric between the Northern and Southern Christians. He also agrees with Goen that, for both sides, this war had become a holy cause. For the abolitionists in the North, nothing short of full emancipation for the slaves would suffice. For the South, slavery was God s plan for the black people and the Confederacy was the defender of that way of life. Nothing less than war would settle this issue. 29 In the chapter on secessionism, Chesebrough notes that it was the ministers who first called for separation between the states. 30 Chesebrough s primary contribution is in confirming what had been previously written. He brings to the forefront the leading preachers of the day and allows the reader to see the sectional strife in the words of the protagonists themselves. He proves his original thesis that sermons can be valuable historical documents. Like Goen, he pulls his choice of sermons from a wide range of Evangelical preachers. He does not focus on one particular group. He adds, therefore, to the historiography of religion and the Civil War, but only peripherally to any specific Christian denomination. It would be a serious oversight if it was not mentioned that Chesebrough s book concludes with a section on black ministers and the sermons they preached. The black ministers had their own agenda it seemed. While the white preachers of the North and South hurled epitaphs back and forth over which side had the right to claim God s favor, black Christians saw God s hand in leading them to freedom. Much as He did when the Egyptians held the Jewish 29 Ibid., 89. 30 Ibid., 193-5 13
people captive, God was smiting America, so the people could be free. 31 Here, Chesebrough leads the reader to understand that, for all of the studies that have been done, there were other viewpoints equally as valid and valuable that were also in play. The works of Goen and Chesebrough opened up the thought of many historians to the place of religion in the Civil War. The moment when the proverbial floodgates broke open occurred in 1994 when a conference on religion and the Civil War was held at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. 32 The preface of the book describes a collection of scholars, historians and theologians gathering at the 1994 conference to present papers dealing with various topics surrounding religion and its role in the Civil War. The papers presented at that conference were expanded and gathered by the editors for inclusion in, Religion and the American Civil War. The book stands as a tour-de-force on the subject. The editors leave no stone unturned as they explore their subject. Religion and the American Civil War is organized into major themes with chapters focusing on each one. An overview of the topic is first followed by analysis on the major themes of the times. For example, chapters are offered on slavery, the growing sectional divisions, secession, the rightness of the war as the North saw it, then as the South saw it. These are followed by chapters on white southern ministers, Stonewall Jackson and his view of God s providence, concluding with Lincoln s Second Inaugural Address. 33 The second section, called People covers women and their place in the war, then Catholics and finally the soldiers themselves. The third section is called Places and examines life in Richmond, Virginia, closing 31 Ibid., 285. 32 Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, and Charles Reagan Wilson, eds., Religion and the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), v. 33 Ibid., 208. 14
with an essay on the end of the Civil War. A concluding essay by Charles Reagan Wilson completes the book. Religion and the American Civil War, more than any other, turned the minds of historians and academics to an interest in religion and the Civil War. It was after the publication of this book that one sees a growth in the historiography on the topic. The author of the preface notes that for all the recognition of religion s centrality in and to the war, surprisingly few scholars have undertaken extended, extensive studies of the subject. 34 Randall Miller, in the introduction to the book admits the editors knew they were stepping into new territory. He says, In understanding this subject, we realized that ours was but the initial probe. 35 In work of this nature, every essay breaks new ground. Ultimately, the editors hoped this book would raise questions and open lines of discussion that might spur future research into the field of religion and the Civil War. In the end, they were right. Among the early books that were examined as a reference for this thesis was Mark A. Noll s small book, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis. His book builds on and expands on Clarence Goen s book. In the same way as Goen, in Broken Churches, Broken Nation, Noll speaks of the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Baptists. He includes a chapter on the viewpoints of Christians overseas, especially in Europe to the conflict in America. Also, Noll includes a chapter on how the Roman Catholics handled the sectarian conflict within their church. Noll s thesis is that as slavery began to divide the Northern and Southern churches and the battle-lines inside the churches became more defined, it became clear that Christians in the North and South had very different views about God and his work. Of course, both sides made 34 Ibid 35 Ibid., 4. 15
the same kind of statements and used the same jargon. But the picture of God each side presented differed remarkably. So, while some modern authors have suggested that the Southern clergy led their states to secede from the Union, 36 Noll would agree with Chesebrough who quoted, The war was one between the churches of the North and those of the South. 37 Noll argues that as the differences in religion between the North and South became more strident, the conflict became defined by the how the Bible, the supreme Christian authority was to be interpreted. The question of what the Bible said about slavery presented such conflicting views over the issue, that as America watched the churches struggle, it became clear the churches could not solve this issue. Those who spoke for God seemed unclear and uncertain. The Civil War was, as much as anything else, a war to settle which view of biblical interpretation would become normative for the United States in the future. 38 Another historian who has sought to fill the void of information about religion and the Civil War is Roman Catholic priest, theologian and historian Robert J. Miller. Miller explains he used to belong to a group called the Civil War Roundtable of Chicago. Through various speakers and discussions, he came to realize there was a missing element in all they did. He said, I gradually began to perceive a vacuum in what I was seeing and reading. There were books on every wartime topic and battle imaginable, but something was missing from this glut of Civil 36 Goen, Broken Churches, Broken Nation, 174. 37 Richard E. Beringer et al., Why the South Lost the Civil War (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986), 86, quoted in David B. Chesebrough, God Ordained This War: Sermons on the Sectional Crisis, 1830-1865 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1991), 1. 38 Mark A. Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 50. 16
War materials. It was the spiritual element that was strangely absent. 39 Miller s book is comprised of four sections. The first discusses the missing element of religion in prior writings about the Civil War. The other three sections are as follows, essentially religion and faith before the Civil War, during the Civil War, and in the years following the Civil War. Miller s central thesis revolves around what he calls the Great Paradox. The Great Paradox, to Miller was a flaw built into the warp and woof of the United States when the U. S. Constitution was written. The Great Paradox is that the most-free nation on earth was created in parallel with institutional, human slavery. 40 He points out, correctly, that the word slavery appears nowhere in the Constitution. This was a deliberate omission as the delegates to the Constitutional Convention wanted a compromise that would bring the United States into existence. Again, Miller says, Most of America s Founding Father never denied that slavery was an evil --- rather they just simply concluded it was an evil they were willing to live with. 41 Miller s later chapters argue that the rise of abolitionism in the 1830s created America s first true national moral crisis. The crisis built until only one side could remain. The Great Paradox demanded a resolution. America would be free or it would not. 42 A different approach to religion and the Civil War is offered by Drew Gilpin Faust. Her book, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, offers a look at how America was changed, religiously and as a nation, by the carnage of the Civil War. In the center of the book is a short, powerful chapter called Believing and Doubting where Faust turns to the 39 Robert J. Miller, Both Prayed to the Same God: Religion and Faith in the American Civil War (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2007), xi. 40 Miller, Both Prayed to the Same God, 19. 41 Ibid., 21 42 Ibid., 22. 17
topic of how America dealt with the death and dying in such incredibly large numbers. It is here that Faust discusses the topic of faith and God. While other historians have suggested that America was mostly Protestant and Evangelical, Faust reminds the reader that other belief systems were emerging at this same time in American history. Metaphysical religions coupled with the introduction of Darwinism and new evolutionary theories challenged the Christian doctrines of heaven and hell. 43 Mediums, who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead, were in high demand. Even Mary Todd Lincoln employed a medium to help her talk to her son Willie. 44 Challenges coming from alternative belief systems to the existing beliefs in providence and the afterlife created doubt and a crisis of faith among people. The doubts and crises of faith shook the hold Christian beliefs had on people s views of the afterlife. While some never seemed to recover from the doubts they had, many turned back their Christian foundations because Christianity offered what they wanted to believe about their beloved dead. 45 Faust teaches the reader that there were many voices in America claiming to understand the afterlife. She offers a different viewpoint. It was not only the killing and dying from the war that affected Southern Baptist beliefs, but also the competing religious voices that drew people away from the Christian faith they had known. The chapter closes with these thoughts. Civil War carnage transformed the mid-nineteenth century s growing sense of religious doubt into a 43 Ibid., 177-8. 44 Ibid., 181. 45 Ibid., 190-4. 18
crisis of belief that propelled many Americans to redefine or even reject their faith in a benevolent and responsive deity. 46 Faust gives us a picture of a people in crisis, but Bruce Gourley in his book Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia during the Civil War, offers a glimpse of life as normal in the deep South. Gourley s is one of two books in this literature review that deals specifically with Southern Baptists. Diverging Loyalties grew out of Gourley s doctoral dissertation at Auburn University. He brings two important points to this thesis. First, he reminds us that Baptists are not monolithic. No one speaks for all Baptists. The chapter Local Church Responses chronicles the various responses of the different churches and associations to calls for fasting and prayer in support of the Confederate war effort. They were not all in agreement. 47 Second, Gourley singles out a single group of Southern Baptists and offers a glimpse into their lives as they related to the Civil War and the Confederate nation. His different chapters focus on the Baptist view of God s providence in bringing about the war. Then, he goes on to demonstrate how the issues of church and state became muddied and allowed Southern Baptists to become ardent supporters of the Confederate nation. He speaks on one hand of the work done within the state convention of Georgia, to do missions work to the Confederate armies and then moves to examine the beliefs and religious lives of the soldiers in the field. He devotes one chapter to differing viewpoints on race and gender issues. He closes with a final chapter on how local churches responded to wider issues from the viewpoint of the local church. In my mind, Gourley asks all the right questions, that is to say, his analysis covers all the important subjects and introduces material not often covered in Baptist writings about themselves (race and gender). 46 Ibid., 210. 47 Bruce T. Gourley, Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia during the Civil War (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2011), 214. 19
Gourley recognizes that a number of historians have said that Baptist support for both slavery and for the Confederate States of American was not monolithic. There was no significant dissent in support for these causes among the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, but an analysis of churches at the local level shows that the level of support was varied. 48 In this respect, Gourley s voice reminds us that any study of Baptists, their lives and beliefs, must be a nuanced study. Grand statements lumping all Baptists together will always fall short of the truth. The Baptist historian then, must be single minded in pursuit of his or her goal, but broadminded in the search for the truth. In agreement with Goen, Noll, Chesebrough and others, historian Timothy Wesley believes the pulpits influenced the politics of the day. As slavery grew in importance in the churches, in both the North and the South, it grew in importance in the minds of the elected officials trying to navigate the difficult waters of the slavery debate. Wesley s book, The Politics of Faith during the Civil War, chronicles the ways that Evangelical faith had an influence on secular politics. Wesley builds his thesis around three central ideas, First, religious denominations were not co-opted by the state but were ardently nationalist of their own accord. 49 Second, the idea of the separation of church and state was not as clear-cut as it is today. 50 And finally, if one looks only to government activity in search of examples of the infringement of civil liberties, one misses the role of the churches and these role in rooting out disloyalty among church members. 51 48 Ibid., 239. 49 Timothy L. Wesley, The Politics of Faith during the Civil War (Baton Rouge: University of Louisiana Press, 2013), 2. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid., 3. 20
Wesley s book follows the rise of the influence of Evangelical Protestant Christianity (and here he follows the pattern of previous authors focusing on the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Baptists), in antebellum America. 52 He also joins previous writers who have asserted that the religious history of the Civil War is one that is open to new scholarship, since so little has been accomplished so far. He also finds himself in agreement with Gourley and states that any study of religion in the Civil War must be broad and openminded and that it would be an error to accept any past conclusions as unassailable. 53 Wesley also agrees with Gourley reminding the reader of the important fact that Southern Christian denominations were not monolithic in their support of the Confederacy or its causes. 54 Certainly, Southern Baptists were not. This is a thesis he develops in four major sections. First, his introductory chapters establish the premise that the pulpits, both North and South, had enormous political influence on the issues and governments of the day. The second part of the book looks at the religious and political activity of the North. The third looks at the South. In a seeming nod to Chesebrough, Wesley closes his book with a section about black church leaders and the political influence they held. Bill Leonard, in his book, Baptist Ways: A History provides a valuable, one volume history of Baptists around the world. Leonard s work is detailed, especially in the chapters dealing with the time period of the Civil War. He covers material that is not found in other similar works. The initial focus of the book is Baptists in England and the United States. This is natural since the Baptist sect first came into being in England and was carried to the United 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid., 6-7. 54 Ibid., 28. 21
States with the early settlers. This is one of two books reviewed in this study that are devoted to Southern Baptists. Leonard brings an understanding of Baptists as a people who are not afraid of conflict. The first Baptists formed in a place where Christians were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic or Anglican. 55 Out of the groups called non-conformists by the established churches, came the beginning of the Baptist denomination. He admits that, while trying to tell the story of global Baptists, he has spent the majority of his time telling the story of North American Baptists. 56 He devotes a good amount of attention to the conflicts among the various Baptist groups that helped form the Southern Baptist Convention and brought about the Civil War. He provides good detail on how Southern Baptists supported the Confederacy and helped sustain the war effort against the Northern states. The strength of Leonard s book in reminding the reader that Baptists are not of one mind. No single Baptist group speaks for all Baptist groups. Although there are beliefs and practices that are universal to all Baptists, there is no such thing as a Baptist Church, in the same way there is a Roman Catholic Church. Each Baptist church views itself as an autonomous entity. 57 This understanding of the autonomy of Baptist groups, whether it be a church, an association, or a convention, 58 is important to understanding the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, which will be the subject in chapter three. In short, Leonard tells the story, a part of which, needs to be researched further. 55 Bill J. Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2003), 22-32. 56 Leonard, Baptist Ways, 11. 57 Leonard, Baptist Ways, 6. 58 A church is a local gathering of Christians for teaching and worship. An association is a group of churches, usually in a geographical area, that join together to accomplish teaching and benevolent work in that area. A convention is a national organization bringing many churches, associations and state conventions under its umbrella. 22
One of the main ideas behind this thesis is that beliefs, when applied to life, have real consequences in the secular world. Like the proverbial pebble in the pond, beliefs, when lived out, make a difference (whether for good or ill) in the world. Wesley focuses on how the preaching of clergy, both North and South, influenced the people and the people made their opinions known to the elected leaders who represented them. In this way, Wesley demonstrated that the preaching in the pulpits had a direct effect on the political decisions that were being made. While some, for example Goen, have suggested that the clergy, both North and South, helped to cause the war, Wesley s work strengthens that contention. The review of the literature has demonstrated the following conclusions. First, there is a dearth of writing on the place of religion and the Civil War. Almost every writer acknowledges this is true and that their books are an attempt to fill part of that void. The subject of religion and Civil War, because of this lack of previous scholarship, is an area of study that is wide open for further research. As this research was started, Mark Noll encouraged this writer with hopes for success on what he called a good work. 59 Bruce Gourley, after assisting in locating archives not previously thought of, offered that this researcher was working in a fertile field and Civil War. 60 Second, it can be seen that extant scholarship has discussed religion broadly. Sometimes, an author will focus on Evangelical or Protestant or Christian. However, scholars do not often study specific religious denominations or sects. While the writings that have been offered on specific groups are very good, there remain opportunities for much more to be accomplished. Third, the study of religion and the Civil War is an important field of research. Whether one is a military historian or a religious historian, many authors are in agreement that religion, 59 Mark Noll, e-mail message to author, February 22, 2017. 60 Bruce T. Gourley, e-mail message to author, January 30, 2017. 23
especially the Evangelical Protestantism of the antebellum United States, either contributed to or actually caused the Civil War. Even if one takes that sentence as an overstatement, it points out that this field of research needs to be done. This is a story worthy of an investment in time and research. It is the hope that this thesis will join the growing historiography on this topic. By focusing on the beliefs of Southern Baptists in the antebellum and Civil War years, the thesis takes a magnifying glass to a segment of Southern Baptist life and then expands it for detailed study. The goal is to show how a denomination that was born from conflict, was changed and shaped by the conflict that changed America. This thesis will add to the historiography of about Baptists and the Civil War. Chapter Three The Formation of the Southern Baptist Convention Some historians, such as Goen, Noll, and Chesebrough, have held that religion was the cause of the Civil War. Others have said it was one of the causes of the Civil War. Whichever view one holds, it cannot be denied that religion played a role, whether great or small, in bringing about the Civil War. It has only been in the last few decades that historians have realized this. The seeds of religious division, which many believe looked prophetically towards the great national division that would happen later, were sown in the years beginning near the turn of the century. In the late eighteenth century, Baptists generally were against slavery. Yet, at the start of the Civil War, Southern Baptists were ardently pro-slavery. As one of the three large Protestant denominations that experienced schism over the issue of slavery, Southern Baptists helped bring about the great severing of the American nation. To truly understand Southern 24