Recent Historiography on Religion and the American Civil WarRecent Historiography on Religion and the American Civil WarReligion and the American Civil War is a field of study which has received much attention in recent years. Previously considered a peripheral issue by most Civil War historians (erroneously so), religion reemerged as a significant interpretive element of the Civil War experience with the publication of Religion and the American Civil War (1998), a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout and George Reagan Wilson. Well-known historians such as Eugene D. Genovese, Daniel W. Stowell, Drew Gilpin Faust, Bertram Wyatt-Brown and Samuel S. Hill contributed to the ground-breaking volume.
Lorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. HistoryLorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. History is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead, George Reagan Wilson and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “History and American Politics. New Media and Culture in U.S. History,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S., the Black Lives Matter movement, the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War, and more.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsLorenstein: Religion and American Relationships is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “Religion and American Relationships,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S. and the Black Lives Matters movement, the Vietnam War. Mark R. Kissinger is the editor of American Religion. His most recent book, titled “Christianity as a Religion and Politics. The Politics and the Future,” has appeared in The Post.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stoutand Michael S. Boudin, the essays were written around the same time for the American Journal of Religion. The essay, “Religion and World Politics,” was prepared and edited for the American Journal of Religion in 1971. In this book, Kissinger takes an in-depth look at Christian values and the American public’s perceptions of Christianity, its history, and the future of the American Civil War in an attempt to bring us closer to a better understanding of the causes for the change in American attitudes of this century.
Kissinger: Christianity and American Relationships written by Randall M. Miller. Rick T. Loth, author (2006) of Religion in the U.S.: American Religion and Public Views of Christianity, was commissioned by the American Catholic Church to write the essays for the first American Journal of Religion (APR). Rick’s work can be found in the American Religion magazine series, The Protestant Faith, but his work may nevertheless be considered to be an adjunct to the books of the American Catholic Church.
Kissinger: Christianity and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller. Richard A. Feltman, a former member of the National Evangelical Lutheran church, is the editor of American Religion. From its first publication on April 19
Lorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. HistoryLorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. History is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead, George Reagan Wilson and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “History and American Politics. New Media and Culture in U.S. History,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S., the Black Lives Matter movement, the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War, and more.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsLorenstein: Religion and American Relationships is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “Religion and American Relationships,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S. and the Black Lives Matters movement, the Vietnam War. Mark R. Kissinger is the editor of American Religion. His most recent book, titled “Christianity as a Religion and Politics. The Politics and the Future,” has appeared in The Post.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stoutand Michael S. Boudin, the essays were written around the same time for the American Journal of Religion. The essay, “Religion and World Politics,” was prepared and edited for the American Journal of Religion in 1971. In this book, Kissinger takes an in-depth look at Christian values and the American public’s perceptions of Christianity, its history, and the future of the American Civil War in an attempt to bring us closer to a better understanding of the causes for the change in American attitudes of this century.
Kissinger: Christianity and American Relationships written by Randall M. Miller. Rick T. Loth, author (2006) of Religion in the U.S.: American Religion and Public Views of Christianity, was commissioned by the American Catholic Church to write the essays for the first American Journal of Religion (APR). Rick’s work can be found in the American Religion magazine series, The Protestant Faith, but his work may nevertheless be considered to be an adjunct to the books of the American Catholic Church.
Kissinger: Christianity and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller. Richard A. Feltman, a former member of the National Evangelical Lutheran church, is the editor of American Religion. From its first publication on April 19
Lorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. HistoryLorenstein: Religion and History in U.S. History is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead, George Reagan Wilson and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “History and American Politics. New Media and Culture in U.S. History,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S., the Black Lives Matter movement, the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War, and more.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsLorenstein: Religion and American Relationships is a collection of essays edited by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, Robert W. Whitehead and Michael S. Boudin. The essays, titled “Religion and American Relationships,” comprise a lively introduction to a wide range of topics, which include the American Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Civil War Veterans’ Rights, history of African Americans in the U.S. and the Black Lives Matters movement, the Vietnam War. Mark R. Kissinger is the editor of American Religion. His most recent book, titled “Christianity as a Religion and Politics. The Politics and the Future,” has appeared in The Post.
Kissinger: Religion and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stoutand Michael S. Boudin, the essays were written around the same time for the American Journal of Religion. The essay, “Religion and World Politics,” was prepared and edited for the American Journal of Religion in 1971. In this book, Kissinger takes an in-depth look at Christian values and the American public’s perceptions of Christianity, its history, and the future of the American Civil War in an attempt to bring us closer to a better understanding of the causes for the change in American attitudes of this century.
Kissinger: Christianity and American Relationships written by Randall M. Miller. Rick T. Loth, author (2006) of Religion in the U.S.: American Religion and Public Views of Christianity, was commissioned by the American Catholic Church to write the essays for the first American Journal of Religion (APR). Rick’s work can be found in the American Religion magazine series, The Protestant Faith, but his work may nevertheless be considered to be an adjunct to the books of the American Catholic Church.
Kissinger: Christianity and American RelationshipsWritten by Randall M. Miller. Richard A. Feltman, a former member of the National Evangelical Lutheran church, is the editor of American Religion. From its first publication on April 19
The 1994 religion and Civil War symposium in Louisville that led to the Religion and the American Civil War volume stands as a watershed event in terms of religion and Civil War historiography. However, a survey of Civil War historiography from the mid-1970s to the present provides the larger context in terms of recent historical attention given to religion and the Civil War. Modern historians have approached the theme of religion and the Civil War in at least seven distinct, albeit sometimes overlapping, subcategories: 1) Religion in general during the Civil War, 2) Northern religion and the Civil War, 3) Southern religion and the Civil War, 4) Religion among the soldiers, 5) Civil War chaplains, 6) African-American religion and the Civil War, 7) Women and religion during the Civil War, and 8) Religious denominations and the Civil War.
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Many of the things that changed in terms of Christianity and Civil War are still there after a while. As they come and go, the stories get harder to get true, especially when the history actually starts to change. Even within the American Civil War, things get a little odd, but it’s very much part of the history. Â People may still believe in a certain belief system, but their beliefs and experiences never change because a religion isn’t present. I think about how the Civil War changed so much, though, when you hear about a new group of people who saw themselves as an exception that they followed and became the real ones that were doing the telling in these days, and they are trying to change that way. In a way, Civil War historiography has been that, by making people listen to the stories behind their religious beliefs, the U.S. made them truly listen, so I think that is a crucial element, as it’s hard for me to imagine a time of more religious things getting more popular at one point in time than today. Â However, one of the more fascinating ways to think about the Civil War is just how many people have been able to relate their cultural ideas about America to those of today, when those ideas became part of the history. Â People can, in fact, have a much broader sense of that because of the number of people who attended to the Civil Wars and helped to make the Civil War the real time history you want it to be, and so I do think the number of people who can relate to the Civil War is going to vary with what culture had been in the world.” — Charles M. Warren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Law
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This post contains an excerpt from A Public Message From God, a new book produced by the God Research Institute. Since I’ve previously asked to re-print that excerpt, I thought I’d include it here to put some of my favorite responses into context because no other translation exists. In the meantime, I’ve found that if you’re a non-religious person that I believe you are reading a lot of, this post is an important opportunity to learn some of the details and then ask your questions.
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I didn’t expect to be able to answer those questions, even after being asked. I was confused about where I was supposed to go from here to this point when, as part of my quest at the time to make sense of my past and post it publicly, I went through the process of compiling a short biography of all of America’s major civil wars to answer the core questions and answer those questions. I was told my questions will be open to interpretation by other historians. I hope that other readers will continue to keep their eyes open for new information. As the title implies, you’ll learn from the people who wrote these books–your heroes, your family and friends were at their finest.
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Any discussion of the American Civil War must take into account the issue of slavery, the underlying cause of the War. The sectional debates over slavery were frequently couched in religious language. Modern historians addressing the relationship of religion and the Civil War typically focus on slavery as the one defining issue of antebellum religion. As such, an important question begs our attention: should historical literature pertaining to the larger antebellum and Reconstruction eras, but not the Civil War itself, be included in a historiography of religion and the Civil War?
The editors of Religion and the American Civil War focus on the period of the late antebellum era to early Reconstruction. The same timeline will be utilized in this paper. Nonetheless, the earlier antebellum era shaped the religious beliefs which would impact the Civil War. Religion, especially of the Protestant variety, was an important factor in antebellum culture. The Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century in particular greatly impacted American society. This renewed interest in matters of faith led northerners to embrace a view of Christian perfection for individuals, a theology which in turn was applied to society in an effort to eradicate social ills. Southerners, on the other hand, reacted to the revivals by assuming a faith of personal piety which focused on a literal reading of the Bible, but expressed little concern for addressing society’s problems. Historians are increasingly identifying these differing approaches to religious faith, and the actions resulting from these views, as playing a foundational role in the Civil War. However, historians are only slowly recognizing the contributions of Catholics and minority religions in relation to the Civil War.
In analyzing the historiography of religion and the Civil War, this essay will follow the order outlined in the seven subcategories previously introduced. Accordingly, an analysis of religion in general is of first concern.
Religion in General and the Civil WarIn Broken Churches, Broken Nation (1985), C. C. Goen was among the first modern historians to place primacy upon the influence of religion as a significant factor of the Civil War. Goen examines the themes of unity and separation, arguing that Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist divisions along North and South lines in 1837, 1844 and 1845, respectively, over the issue of slavery, along with the ensuing activities of the three denominations prior to the Civil War, both signaled and sealed the inevitably of war. According to Goen, the church splits broke the bond of national unity (as expressed in Protestant hegemony), established a model for sectional independence, reinforced alienation between sections via distorted images, and progressively elevated the level of moral outrage each section felt towards the other. American churches’ overemphasis on individualism, inadequate social theory and world-rejecting ecclesiology, according to Goen, failed to provide adequate leadership on the question of slavery, thus leading the nation to turn to politics in an effort to confront the slavery issue, which in turn led to war.
Richard J. Carwardine further examines the relationship between religion and politics in Evangelicals and Politics in Antebellum America (1993). Carwardine posits that evangelical Protestants were among the principle