A Consuming Fire: The Fall of the Confederacy in the Mind of the White Christian South (Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures) by Genovese, Eugene D.(January 1, 1999) Hardcover

Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures

by Eugene D. Genovese

The fall of the Confederacy proved traumatic for a people who fought with the belief that God was on their side. Yet, as Eugene D. Genovese writes in "A Consuming Fire," Southern Christians continued to trust in the Lord's will. The churches had long defended "southern rights" and insisted upon the divine sanction for slavery, but they also warned that God was testing His people, who must bring slavery up to biblical standards or face the wrath of an angry God.In the eyes of proslavery theorists, clerical and lay, social relations and material conditions affected the extent and pace of the spread of the Gospel and men's preparation to receive it. For proslavery spokesmen, "Christian slavery" offered the South, indeed the world, the best hope for the vital work of preparation for the Kingdom, but they acknowledged that, from a Christian point of view, the slavery practiced in the South left much to be desired. For them, the struggle to reform, or rather transform, social relations was nothing less than a struggle to justify the trust God placed in them when He sanctioned slavery.The reform campaign of prominent ministers and church laymen featured demands to secure slave marriages and family life, repeal the laws against slave literacy, and punish cruel masters. "A Consuming Fire" analyzes the strength, weakness, and failure of the struggle for reform and the nature and significance of southern Christian orthodoxy and its vision of a proper social order, class structure, and race relations.

Genres: History, Civil War, Cultural, Politics, Religion, American, Race

Unknown Binding

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Eugene Dominic Genovese was an American historian of the American South and American slavery. He has been noted for bringing a Marxist perspective to the study of power, class and relations between planters and slaves in the South. His work Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made won the Bancroft Prize. He later abandoned the Left and Marxism, and embraced traditionalist conservatism.

Reviews

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is typical of Genovese: incredibly well-researched, informative, and though-provoking work. Though often repetitive, you can't fail to come away with a better understanding of the issues and the times--the failure of Southern slaveholders to live up to their Christian ideals and duties, the coming judgment on the South, the means and method of this judgment, the work to reform the social order according to Biblical precepts. His concluding thoughts offer a good, though cursory, summary of the book: "Let us thank God for slavery's demise. But however badly the pro slavery social theorists, clerical and lay, erred in their proposed solution to the great social question of their--and our--day, they offered a profound analysis of the relationship between the social order and the prospects for upholding sound Christian doctrine." The "and our" is particularly worth considering.

[Joe Rigney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered how white Christians in the ante-bellum South could justify race-based slavery, this book explains it. Really well written and explains both the good "intentions" of Christians and their failure to follow-through on what they knew to be right.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Important history to understand the Southern arguments for the system of slavery and their utilization of Scripture. Highly recommend reading this alongside of Noll’s work on the Civil War.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important work

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative...

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think that I have ever read such a masterful work on slavery in the South. Genovese carefully examines proslavery arguments against the abolitionist and reformist critiques of the system. His final conclusion, that slavery could not have survived being reformed to a more Christian and biblical system, brought all the primary source arguments and their implications to perfection. I can’t recommend this book enough for people who want to understand why Southerners supported slavery over free labor and to learn about the exact nature of the racial views they held before and after the Civil War.

[Wei Han Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expounds upon the nuance at the intersection between the Christian faith and slavery in the South that many often erroneously simplify or overlook. Extremely well written. Almost reads like a novel. Well, maybe not.

[Daniel Stepke · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fascinating thesis, and a cool, short read--wish it had been more clearly structured, but it was fun to consider the role of scripture and pastors in slavery and the way the south would have and did react to the war

[Peter Bringe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book unique and insightful in its description of how the white Christian South viewed slavery and in its account of the unsuccessful attempts of reform by Southern Christians. This period of history is complicated and prone to stereotypes, and I believe this book makes a vital contribution to the study of this period.

[Dwight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a bit short on significant historical or philosophical insight, but useful nonetheless for acquainting one with the debates internal to the world that was the Old South about how the institution of slavery (and, by extension, Southern society) ought to be configured. By the same token, I learned a good deal about the theological and moral frameworks that conceived of slavery as not only justified by the Bible and/or natural law, but also as mandated for a truly Christian society. I'm convinced that understanding the contemporary South, a vitally important task for anyone attempting to think through how we might move our common political life towards a constructive resolution of the "culture war" that currently rages in America, requires one to return to the Old South in order to study its moral and spiritual topography. The Civil War may have brought a formal end to the Old South, but its moral and spiritual topography persists, if in various refashioned and unexpected forms.

[Jacob Aitken]

EG pointed out that in terms of argument, logic, and theological reflection, the Southern slave-owners were far more refined than their Northern counterparts. However, some Southern theologians (RL Dabney) saw that if the South did not refine slavery according to biblical guidelines, God would issue awful judgment on the South. Prophetic, eh?

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at the way Southern Christians thought about slavery before, during, and after the Civil War. Sad. Sad because of what I would call willful ignorance on their part, and sad because of the way the Southern 'divines' (that's the term the author used for the theologians!) saw the dangers of Northern liberalism but were not able to stand firm against it.

[Ak Hauck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, informative read. One would not completely understand the War Between the States with just a reliance on the usual good guys vs. bad guys narrative that fill most books dealing with this pivotal time in American history. Highly recommended for those homeschooling.

[Jeremy]

Recommended here and here.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupendous.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A proper introduction to how the divines in the time leading up to, during, and post civil war viewed their plot (with God & man) regarding slavery in the South.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good accounting of the South's sins and strengths in understanding the Fall of the Confederacy.

[Case Tatro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that will enable you to realize what occurred in the minds of the South after they lost the Civil War.

[Donnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I learned more about why Southern Christianity exists in its present state from Genovese than all the lectures, sermons, and articles from contemporary theologians and sociologists combined!