Domestic slavery considered as a scriptural institution / Richard Fuller and Francis Wayland ; edited by Nathan A. Finn and Keith Harper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fuller, Richard, 1804-1876.

Contributor:

Wayland, Francis, 1796-1865.

Finn, Nathan A.

Harper, Keith, 1957-2025

Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery--United States--Justification.

Slavery.

Slavery--United States--History--19th century.

Slavery and the church.

History.

Slavery and the church--Baptists.

Justification (Christian theology).

United States.

Slavery--United States--History--19th century--Sources.

Slavery and the church--Baptists--History--19th century.

Slavery and the church--Southern States--History--19th century.

Southern States--Religion.

Southern States.

Religion.

Southern States--Race relations--History--19th century.

Race relations.

Genre:

Sources.

Physical Description:

xii, 203 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Mercer University Press annotated edition.

Place of Publication:

Macon, Ga. : Mercer University Press, [2008]

Summary:

Domestic Slavery originated in the nineteenth century as a literary debate between two Baptist leaders over the Bible's teachings on slavery. The chapters were originally letters published in a Baptist newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts. Southern pastor Richard Fuller and Northern educator Francis Wayland were each able defenders of their respective positions. These men were also good friends who believed that a difference of opinion about slavery should not necessitate a breaking of Christian fellowship. Unfortunately, these two Baptists leaders proved naive in this regard. Just weeks after the publication of the correspondence in book form, Fuller's Southern Baptist Convention broke away from the larger Baptist denomination and formed a new ecclesiastical body. A number of issues factored into the division, though the slavery debate was what ultimately led to the creation of a separate Baptist denomination in the South.

Historians of Southern religion consider Domestic Slavery to be one of the major contributions to the nineteenth-century debate over the peculiar institution. This critical edition of Domestic Slavery, which includes annotations and an appendix of related documents, represents the first reprint of this important work to be published since the mid-nineteenth century. Scholars of Southern culture and religious history will benefit from a close examination of what was undoubtedly the most significant Baptist contribution to the slavery debate in the years leading to the Civil War.

Contents:

Introduction to the 1847 Edition 1

The Letter from Dr. Fuller to the Editor of the Christian Reflector 3

Dr. Wayland's Letters to Dr. Fuller 12

Letter I Errors on Both Sides 12

Letter II Definition of Slavery-Two Meanings of the Term Moral Evil-Slavery a Violation of Human Rights 18

Letter III The Holding of Slaves Does Not Necessarily Involve Guilt-Principles by Which the Innocence or Guilt Is to Be Determined 28

Letter IV Examination of the Argument in Favor of SLAVERY from the Old Testament 38

Letter V The Doctrine of Expediency 49

Letter VI The Argument in Favor of Slavery from the New Testament 58

Letter VII The Method of Prohibiting Slavery in the New Testament-Principles and Permission 71

Letter VIII The Duties Devolving on Christian Slaveholders 82

Dr. Fuller's Letters to Dr. Wayland 94

Letter I The Southern States Not Answerable for the Existence of Domestic Slavery 94

Letter II Slavery Is Not to be Confounded with the Abuses of Slavery 102

Letter III Slavery Proper, No Violation of Right-Analogy with Civil Government-Despotism-Comparison of the Condition of Slaves with That of Laborers in Other Countries 109

Letter IV The Argument from the Old Testament 122

Letter V The Argument form the New Testament-Argument, Inference, Proof, Demonstration 136

Letter VI The Mode of Teaching by Principle in this Case at Variance with the Character of God-The Practice of the Primitive Church 149

Dr Wayland's Closing Letter 166.

Notes:

Newly annotated from 1847 ed., with new introd.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780881461077

0881461075

OCLC:

226291698