Elijah J. Marrs of Company L, 12th U.S. Colored Artillery, is keeping a written record of his time in the service. Born a slave in January 1840 in Shelby County, Kentucky, in his youth Marrs converted to the Baptist faith, the denominational choice of most Christianized slaves in the South. Learning to read and write…
This week’s Georgia Baptist Christian Index extensively covers the war. A tribute to the late great Stonewall Jackson offers a longing glance backward at the biggest Christian superstar the war has produced within the Confederacy. “Thank God for such a hero!” are the opening words of a sonnet to Jackson. His “divine courage” and “patriot…
Today is a Sunday, a day observed in the North as one of Thanksgiving and Prayer for the capture of Atlanta and Mobile Bay. Sermons from dozens if not hundreds of pulpits celebrate the significant recent Union victories that have provided much-needed assurances that God is on the side of freedom for all, and that…