This week, readers of the Georgia Baptist Christian Index receive a good dose of commentary concerning the need to allow African slaves to read the Bible. The argument takes place against the backdrop of some laws in the Confederate states that disallow the practice, growing out of a suspicion that reading skills will further foster…
White Southern Baptists continue debating what the Confederate States of America has done wrong to invoke chastisement — in the form of a drawn-out war and the hardships associated thereof — from God. The slave-based Confederacy acknowledges itself as a Christian nation: the national motto is “Deo Vindice” (Under God, Our Vindicator), while the constitution…
Northern missionaries, some Baptists, are operating the first school for former slaves on the Union-controlled South Carolina island of St. Helena. The school is part of the United States’ Port Royal experiment of educating and training freed slaves for autonomous living. Began on the Oak Plantation in June, the school quickly grows and this month…