The Civil War years are a time of story-telling, corporately and personally. Soldiers and civilians on both sides oftentimes pass along personal stories that reinforce sectional pride and prejudices. The truth of such stories typically cannot be qualified, yet the stories themselves convey truths that transcend questions of factual accuracy. One of the tens of…
The First Baptist Church of Dandridge, Tennessee, a notable congregation within the state, struggles to navigate the war years. Founded in 1786 (seven years prior to the formation of the town of Dandridge, named after Martha Dandridge Washington, wife of George Washington), the Jefferson County congregation is no stranger to difficult times. In July 1845,…
Published in this week’s North Carolina Baptist Biblical Recorder is the testimony of a Confederate soldier, a testimony that reflects common evangelistic language and imagery among Baptists of the South. I belonged to a Virginia regiment, engaged in active service, in the mountains, far away from friends and home. I was surrounded by wicked and…