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Bearing Witness: What the Church Can Learn from Early Abolitionists
In an era when the label "evangelical" is hotly contested and often entangled with political agendas, Daniel Lee Hill's Bearing Witness offers a timely reexamination of what it means to live out the gospel in public life.
Drawing on the rich legacy of 19th-century abolitionists Maria Stewart, David Ruggles, and William Still, Hill constructs a compelling evangelical framework for public witness, anchored in Scripture and the practice of lament and burden-bearing. Hill challenges evangelicals to rediscover their roots in a tradition that speaks powerfully to contemporary debates over church, culture, and the call to social justice.
Bearing Witness will be an indispensable guide for professors, students, pastors, and laypeople committed to a faith that speaks to the public square.
Drawing on the rich legacy of 19th-century abolitionists Maria Stewart, David Ruggles, and William Still, Hill constructs a compelling evangelical framework for public witness, anchored in Scripture and the practice of lament and burden-bearing. Hill challenges evangelicals to rediscover their roots in a tradition that speaks powerfully to contemporary debates over church, culture, and the call to social justice.
Bearing Witness will be an indispensable guide for professors, students, pastors, and laypeople committed to a faith that speaks to the public square.
- GenresReligionAmerican History
208 pages, Paperback
Published April 22, 2025
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June 3, 2025
Jim Wallis called slavery America's original sin. Although many Americans would like to forget or diminish the impact of that sin on American life and history, it still stains. During the years of slavery, movements of abolition arose. American abolitionists represented various religions and ideologies, but they held in common a belief that slavery must end. While many, especially white evangelicals, would like to forget the past, is it possible that the church can learn something from early abolitionists, especially if they were Black? Might we learn something about our own public witness as the church by exploring the lives of those who stood against the sin of slavery?
Daniel Lee Hill believes the church can learn from Early Abolitionists. He offers his take in his book Bearing Witness. In essence, the book is divided into two parts. One part looks back to the past, looking to retrieve resources from America's abolitionists, while thinking theologically about the public witness of the church in the present and future. Hill holds a Ph.D. from Wheaton College and serves as assistant professor of theology at Truett Theological Seminary. He is an African American evangelical who seeks to call evangelicals back to a form of public witness that seeks the common good. Throughout the book, Hill uses the descriptor Afro-American, since that is the choice I will use it in the remainder of the review.
Hill focuses on the witness offered by three Afro-American abolitionists-David Ruggles, Maria Stewart, and William Still. The title given to Part 1 is helpful: "Giving the Faithful Dead a Vote." Thus, he invites the reader to listen to their ancestors, in this case, nineteenth-century evangelicals who offered a public witness that addressed the evils of slavery. As we reflect theologically on the work of these ancestors, Hill reminds us of the need to keep in mind their context and the ways they responded. We also must remember the past faithfully, such that the community continually undergoes reformation. In choosing these three figures, to each of which Hill devotes a chapter, he notes that they all share a common social location --- the 19th-century antebellum United States.
Hill begins by offering the reader a historical introduction in chapter 1 that sets up the conversation as it moves forward. He wants to help address the strangeness of nineteenth-century America, with its institution of slavery. Having set the context in chapter 1, he moves on in chapter 2 to engage with the story of David Ruggles, who was a free born Afro American abolitionist, who lived and worked largely in New York City advocating for fugitive slaves and opposing efforts to kidnap fugitive slaves and free born or emancipated Afro Americans. Then, in Chapter 3, he focuses on Maria Stewart, who presents a very interesting face to the abolitionist movement. She was known as a writer who encouraged the building of new institutions and renewing old ones, but most of all, she focused on creating communities of character. The third figure is William Still, whose life and work is explored in chapter 4. Still was involved in the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia, documenting every fugitive who came through Philadelphia on their way to freedom. His work provides an important record of the work of abolishing the evil institution that was slavery.
After examining the lives of these three important figures whose lives are not as well known as persons such as Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman, they still provide us with important information about what it means to bear public witness. With their stories shared, Hill moves in Part 2 to "The Twofold Work of Public Witness. In this section, Hill seeks to engage in theological construction using readings from Romans 8 and Galatians 5-6, together with the witness of the three historic figures, to provide foundations of an evangelical public witness that pursues the common good. This section provides two chapters. The first chapter (Chapter 5) is titled "Lament as Public Witness." In this chapter, Hill lifts up the church's witness in the midst of "suffering, futility, and decay." Thus, the church's call to engage in lament. Then in Chapter 6, he addresses the church's "Burden bearing as public witness." Thus, even as the church engages in lament, it also joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing the world's burdens. This involves sharing in the common good and in temporal goods. He writes that "one of the primary ways that Christians attest to the freedom that God has opened up for them in the person of Christ is by seeking their neighbors 'good.'" (p. 142). This involves, he believes, three things - extending, preserving, and cultivating temporal goods. The point here is that the church is not just called to engage in "spiritual things" while neglecting common temporal goods. By doing this, the church offers public witness to God's realm --- something the three figures did in their own context.
Hill speaks to fellow evangelicals, calling them to embrace the principles he finds in the historic past among Afro American evangelicals. While that is the focus, the message is to be heard by all of us, whatever our Christian traditions. Thus, Hill's book is to be commended!
Daniel Lee Hill believes the church can learn from Early Abolitionists. He offers his take in his book Bearing Witness. In essence, the book is divided into two parts. One part looks back to the past, looking to retrieve resources from America's abolitionists, while thinking theologically about the public witness of the church in the present and future. Hill holds a Ph.D. from Wheaton College and serves as assistant professor of theology at Truett Theological Seminary. He is an African American evangelical who seeks to call evangelicals back to a form of public witness that seeks the common good. Throughout the book, Hill uses the descriptor Afro-American, since that is the choice I will use it in the remainder of the review.
Hill focuses on the witness offered by three Afro-American abolitionists-David Ruggles, Maria Stewart, and William Still. The title given to Part 1 is helpful: "Giving the Faithful Dead a Vote." Thus, he invites the reader to listen to their ancestors, in this case, nineteenth-century evangelicals who offered a public witness that addressed the evils of slavery. As we reflect theologically on the work of these ancestors, Hill reminds us of the need to keep in mind their context and the ways they responded. We also must remember the past faithfully, such that the community continually undergoes reformation. In choosing these three figures, to each of which Hill devotes a chapter, he notes that they all share a common social location --- the 19th-century antebellum United States.
Hill begins by offering the reader a historical introduction in chapter 1 that sets up the conversation as it moves forward. He wants to help address the strangeness of nineteenth-century America, with its institution of slavery. Having set the context in chapter 1, he moves on in chapter 2 to engage with the story of David Ruggles, who was a free born Afro American abolitionist, who lived and worked largely in New York City advocating for fugitive slaves and opposing efforts to kidnap fugitive slaves and free born or emancipated Afro Americans. Then, in Chapter 3, he focuses on Maria Stewart, who presents a very interesting face to the abolitionist movement. She was known as a writer who encouraged the building of new institutions and renewing old ones, but most of all, she focused on creating communities of character. The third figure is William Still, whose life and work is explored in chapter 4. Still was involved in the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia, documenting every fugitive who came through Philadelphia on their way to freedom. His work provides an important record of the work of abolishing the evil institution that was slavery.
After examining the lives of these three important figures whose lives are not as well known as persons such as Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman, they still provide us with important information about what it means to bear public witness. With their stories shared, Hill moves in Part 2 to "The Twofold Work of Public Witness. In this section, Hill seeks to engage in theological construction using readings from Romans 8 and Galatians 5-6, together with the witness of the three historic figures, to provide foundations of an evangelical public witness that pursues the common good. This section provides two chapters. The first chapter (Chapter 5) is titled "Lament as Public Witness." In this chapter, Hill lifts up the church's witness in the midst of "suffering, futility, and decay." Thus, the church's call to engage in lament. Then in Chapter 6, he addresses the church's "Burden bearing as public witness." Thus, even as the church engages in lament, it also joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing the world's burdens. This involves sharing in the common good and in temporal goods. He writes that "one of the primary ways that Christians attest to the freedom that God has opened up for them in the person of Christ is by seeking their neighbors 'good.'" (p. 142). This involves, he believes, three things - extending, preserving, and cultivating temporal goods. The point here is that the church is not just called to engage in "spiritual things" while neglecting common temporal goods. By doing this, the church offers public witness to God's realm --- something the three figures did in their own context.
Hill speaks to fellow evangelicals, calling them to embrace the principles he finds in the historic past among Afro American evangelicals. While that is the focus, the message is to be heard by all of us, whatever our Christian traditions. Thus, Hill's book is to be commended!
August 16, 2025
A powerful and insightful work. This is a book I was not sure how to approach at first, wondering how Hill’s engagement with early Christian abolitionists would serve to craft a call to action for the church today – are we as the Christian church to attempt to live out a social gospel in denigration of the work of Christ for us or ought we spend our time in a Christian bunker priding ourselves on our own fidelity and adherence to the orthodox faith? Hill masterfully addresses both these ditches while providing a pattern and ethos for how the church might truly bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in this modern world in which we live. I much appreciate the author’s dedication to centering the work of Christ and refusing to downplay the true gospel while at the same time pleading with the church to understand what it means to bear the burdens of both our fellow Christian and our fellow man as we live in this world in this present age, yes aware of its fallenness and looking forward in hope to the coming redemption and renewal of this world when Christ returns, but also keeping our eyes open and seeking to understand the mission of Christ on this world so that we might model such and in the moments that pop up around us, improvise on the themes of mercy and grace and suffering that we see running throughout all of Scripture and indeed, those themes that our very soul resonates with as we are sealed and enlivened by the Spirit of God.
I fear this somewhat rambling first paragraph may not do the force of Hill’s argument justice. I have not even begun to express my appreciation for how the author works through the narrative of slavery and the abolitionary movement in the early history of the States. There is so much history and so many stories that could be told, but I feel the author does a very fair job of attempting to lay the groundwork for the story tellers he is about to unveil. I love that Hill recognizes that the three fiery and faithful Christians he highlights in this book – David Ruggles, Maria W. Stewart, & William Still – are Christian voices that can still speak to us today, as they are indeed a part of the living and enduring church of Christ. So in retrieving their voices from the past, Hill lets us be part of the audience that hears these brothers and sisters speak and thus we can seek to understand what wisdom might they have that we can then ponder in our hearts and be blessed by such. I loved understanding the stories of these three historic figures – nay, not just historic figures – actual real people and brothers and sisters in Christ! – and hearing how they navigated the fraught waters of early 19th-century America, a place where it was not at all easy or safe to be a black person, enslaved or free. Hill seeks to show that even though it may not have been easy or safe, these three still sought to work in and cultivate the spaces they inhabited and to faithfully go forth to bear witness to the gospel of Christ in working and suffering alongside their fellow man. The historical facts of their lives were fascinating but even more so, the force and light of their testimony was humbling. Are we living such lives of witness in the places in which we live and move and have our being, understanding that we all live under the gracious and merciful hand of God?
And that brings us to the author’s conclusion, where he seeks to extract the nuggets of wisdom from the testimonies and stories we’ve been listening to and ask how the church might respond. Will the church’s response to our own modern horrors and nightmares look identical to how Ruggles, Stewart and Still acted? Perhaps not, for society is structured differently and we may not have the same mediums of communication or fellowship as were present in early 19th-century America. Still yet. Do we see in their actions a framework for how the church might keep its eyes open to the opportunities are around us? Even as we center our lives around the gospel of Christ and remember our call to proclaim such boldly, does not the presence of the church in this world and its calling to suffer as Christ has suffered indicate an allotted portion of stepping alongside our fellow and seeking to bear one another’s burdens and mourning with those who mourn as we recognize the patterns of decay even in the structures of our everyday? And we ought be so washed and enlivened in the Spirit that our thoughts ever more often resonate with the commands of Christ to love one another and so our patterns of behavior will then meet the moments that we encounter so that we truly exhibit the love of Christ.
I am writing too many words, but I am grateful for this book. It is written at a fairly high academic level and though I enjoy such, it may not be for all. Still, I found it profitable. Some may not like that this book is not more "practical" or does not put forth any sort of concrete action plan. But I would argue that is not this author's aim. Instead the author is attempting to set forth a paradigm for the church that will of necessity lead to a multiplicity of responses. There is not and cannot be a cookie-cutter approach to living Christ-like lives in this fallen world in which we live. Also in this book there are moments of dry humor that I greatly appreciated, but more than that, I very much was struck by the awe and reverence the author has for our God and for His Word and for the holy calling that is upon all of us to follow Christ. While we are yet on this world, we groan as we recognize that it is not our home and that while we are absent from our Lord, we are incomplete. We now inhabit the temporal but we look for the eternal, for that city that will one day be our home where we shall see our Lord face to face. We long for the day when our Lord will return and make all things new and wipe away every tear. And so in the now, we with hope look for what is to come and bear witness to the God who is our hope. Might we cry out to God that he might give us eyes to see and the grace to live in such a way that this witness is one that to the world makes it clear that God has not abandoned this world and that we are not alone.
I fear this somewhat rambling first paragraph may not do the force of Hill’s argument justice. I have not even begun to express my appreciation for how the author works through the narrative of slavery and the abolitionary movement in the early history of the States. There is so much history and so many stories that could be told, but I feel the author does a very fair job of attempting to lay the groundwork for the story tellers he is about to unveil. I love that Hill recognizes that the three fiery and faithful Christians he highlights in this book – David Ruggles, Maria W. Stewart, & William Still – are Christian voices that can still speak to us today, as they are indeed a part of the living and enduring church of Christ. So in retrieving their voices from the past, Hill lets us be part of the audience that hears these brothers and sisters speak and thus we can seek to understand what wisdom might they have that we can then ponder in our hearts and be blessed by such. I loved understanding the stories of these three historic figures – nay, not just historic figures – actual real people and brothers and sisters in Christ! – and hearing how they navigated the fraught waters of early 19th-century America, a place where it was not at all easy or safe to be a black person, enslaved or free. Hill seeks to show that even though it may not have been easy or safe, these three still sought to work in and cultivate the spaces they inhabited and to faithfully go forth to bear witness to the gospel of Christ in working and suffering alongside their fellow man. The historical facts of their lives were fascinating but even more so, the force and light of their testimony was humbling. Are we living such lives of witness in the places in which we live and move and have our being, understanding that we all live under the gracious and merciful hand of God?
And that brings us to the author’s conclusion, where he seeks to extract the nuggets of wisdom from the testimonies and stories we’ve been listening to and ask how the church might respond. Will the church’s response to our own modern horrors and nightmares look identical to how Ruggles, Stewart and Still acted? Perhaps not, for society is structured differently and we may not have the same mediums of communication or fellowship as were present in early 19th-century America. Still yet. Do we see in their actions a framework for how the church might keep its eyes open to the opportunities are around us? Even as we center our lives around the gospel of Christ and remember our call to proclaim such boldly, does not the presence of the church in this world and its calling to suffer as Christ has suffered indicate an allotted portion of stepping alongside our fellow and seeking to bear one another’s burdens and mourning with those who mourn as we recognize the patterns of decay even in the structures of our everyday? And we ought be so washed and enlivened in the Spirit that our thoughts ever more often resonate with the commands of Christ to love one another and so our patterns of behavior will then meet the moments that we encounter so that we truly exhibit the love of Christ.
I am writing too many words, but I am grateful for this book. It is written at a fairly high academic level and though I enjoy such, it may not be for all. Still, I found it profitable. Some may not like that this book is not more "practical" or does not put forth any sort of concrete action plan. But I would argue that is not this author's aim. Instead the author is attempting to set forth a paradigm for the church that will of necessity lead to a multiplicity of responses. There is not and cannot be a cookie-cutter approach to living Christ-like lives in this fallen world in which we live. Also in this book there are moments of dry humor that I greatly appreciated, but more than that, I very much was struck by the awe and reverence the author has for our God and for His Word and for the holy calling that is upon all of us to follow Christ. While we are yet on this world, we groan as we recognize that it is not our home and that while we are absent from our Lord, we are incomplete. We now inhabit the temporal but we look for the eternal, for that city that will one day be our home where we shall see our Lord face to face. We long for the day when our Lord will return and make all things new and wipe away every tear. And so in the now, we with hope look for what is to come and bear witness to the God who is our hope. Might we cry out to God that he might give us eyes to see and the grace to live in such a way that this witness is one that to the world makes it clear that God has not abandoned this world and that we are not alone.
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