A Kingdom Divided

Evangelicals, Loyalty, and Sectionalism in the Civil War Era

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book A Kingdom Divided by April E. Holm, LSU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: April E. Holm ISBN: 9780807167731
Publisher: LSU Press Publication: December 11, 2017
Imprint: LSU Press Language: English
Author: April E. Holm
ISBN: 9780807167731
Publisher: LSU Press
Publication: December 11, 2017
Imprint: LSU Press
Language: English

A Kingdom Divided uncovers how evangelical Christians in the border states influenced debates about slavery, morality, and politics from the 1830s to the 1890s. Using little-studied events and surprising incidents from the region, April E. Holm argues that evangelicals on the border powerfully shaped the regional structure of American religion in the Civil War era.

In the decades before the Civil War, the three largest evangelical denominations diverged sharply over the sinfulness of slavery. This division generated tremendous local conflict in the border region, where individual churches had to define themselves as being either northern or southern. In response, many border evangelicals drew upon the “doctrine of spirituality,” which dictated that churches should abstain from all political debate. Proponents of this doctrine defined slavery as a purely political issue, rather than a moral one, and the wartime arrival of secular authorities who demanded loyalty to the Union only intensified this commitment to “spirituality.” Holm contends that these churches’ insistence that politics and religion were separate spheres was instrumental in the development of the ideal of the nonpolitical southern church. After the Civil War, southern churches adopted both the disaffected churches from border states and their doctrine of spirituality, claiming it as their own and using it to supply a theological basis for remaining divided after the abolition of slavery. By the late nineteenth century, evangelicals were more sectionally divided than they had been at war’s end.

In A Kingdom Divided, Holm provides the first analysis of the crucial role of churches in border states in shaping antebellum divisions in the major evangelical denominations, in navigating the relationship between church and the federal government, and in rewriting denominational histories to forestall reunion in the churches. Offering a new perspective on nineteenth-century sectionalism, it highlights how religion, morality, and politics interacted—often in unexpected ways—in a time of political crisis and war.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A Kingdom Divided uncovers how evangelical Christians in the border states influenced debates about slavery, morality, and politics from the 1830s to the 1890s. Using little-studied events and surprising incidents from the region, April E. Holm argues that evangelicals on the border powerfully shaped the regional structure of American religion in the Civil War era.

In the decades before the Civil War, the three largest evangelical denominations diverged sharply over the sinfulness of slavery. This division generated tremendous local conflict in the border region, where individual churches had to define themselves as being either northern or southern. In response, many border evangelicals drew upon the “doctrine of spirituality,” which dictated that churches should abstain from all political debate. Proponents of this doctrine defined slavery as a purely political issue, rather than a moral one, and the wartime arrival of secular authorities who demanded loyalty to the Union only intensified this commitment to “spirituality.” Holm contends that these churches’ insistence that politics and religion were separate spheres was instrumental in the development of the ideal of the nonpolitical southern church. After the Civil War, southern churches adopted both the disaffected churches from border states and their doctrine of spirituality, claiming it as their own and using it to supply a theological basis for remaining divided after the abolition of slavery. By the late nineteenth century, evangelicals were more sectionally divided than they had been at war’s end.

In A Kingdom Divided, Holm provides the first analysis of the crucial role of churches in border states in shaping antebellum divisions in the major evangelical denominations, in navigating the relationship between church and the federal government, and in rewriting denominational histories to forestall reunion in the churches. Offering a new perspective on nineteenth-century sectionalism, it highlights how religion, morality, and politics interacted—often in unexpected ways—in a time of political crisis and war.

More books from LSU Press

Cover of the book Journalism's Roving Eye by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Marketing the Blue and Gray by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Theater of Memory by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Archaeology of Louisiana by April E. Holm
Cover of the book If the Sky Falls by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Selected Letters of Robert Penn Warren by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Tramp by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Soldier of Southwestern Virginia by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Litanies Near Water by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Venera by April E. Holm
Cover of the book My Father's People by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Ambivalent Nation by April E. Holm
Cover of the book The Life of Johnny Reb by April E. Holm
Cover of the book Resisting History by April E. Holm
Cover of the book The Defeat of Black Power by April E. Holm
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy