Comprised of many Christians of differing denominations who are thrown together in military service, the Confederate Army at times harbors within its ranks a variety of religious tensions. One particular religious practice is a flash point of controversy: communion. Each denomination’s way of doing communion is a bit different, and Baptists are no exception (other…
Baptist ministers respond to the war in diverse ways. Some remain in their pulpits; others leave the pastorate to enroll as chaplains or missionaries or soldiers; and a few step down from preaching in order to engage the enemy in an unofficial capacity. The latter is the case with an unnamed Baptist minister in Arkansas…
Today marks the two year anniversary of the surrender of Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, to the then newly-formed Confederate States of America. The surrender came two days after the Civil War began when South Carolina soldiers fired upon the federal fort. At the time, few South or North believed the…