Today Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, beloved of white Southern Baptists (and a Baptist church-goer as a teenager), is promoted to lieutenant general. Thus rewarded for his battlefield daring and bravery, upon Jackson’s shoulders falls ever more the burden of ensuring that the Confederacy emerges victorious over the United States. The general’s exploits are already…
Support of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation from Northern Baptists continues unabated. Today, the New York Baptist Convention unanimously approves a resolution in support of the Lincoln administration. Avoiding Christian nationalistic rhetoric, the statement voices harsh condemnation of the slave-based Confederacy and takes for granted that God wills freedom for all persons. Whereas…
Baptists of the North continue celebrating U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s decision to emancipate African slaves. The Philadelphia Baptist Association — the oldest Baptist association in America, founded in 1707 — joins in a stream of praises for the president’s actions by writing a letter to the Lincoln administration. Quoting scripture, evidencing patriotism, and claiming the…