Compelling lives : five Methodist abolitionists and the ideas that inspired them / Christopher P. Momany.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Momany, Christopher P., author.

Series:

Wesleyan and Methodist explorations

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Methodists--United States--Biography.

Methodists.

Abolitionists--United States--Biography.

Abolitionists.

Abolitionists--Religious life--United States.

Slavery and the church--Methodist Episcopal Church.

Slavery and the church.

Antislavery movements--United States.

Antislavery movements.

Slavery--United States.

Slavery.

Physical Description:

ix, 150 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Cascade Books, [2023]

Summary:

"What motivates people to work for justice? Recent studies have moved away from an emphasis on specific principles and toward an understanding of social and cultural forces. But what about times in history when distinct ideas were critical for positive change? The pre-Civil War abolitionist movement represents one such time. During an era when race-based slavery was buttressed by the machinery of civil law, many people developed arguments for freedom and equity that were grounded in divine law. There were Methodist witnesses for justice who lived by this distinction between civil and godly authority. While Methodism, as an institution, betrayed its founding opposition to slavery, many within the movement expressed a prophetic vision. A vibrant counterculture borrowed from Scripture and modern philosophy to argue for a "higher law" of justice. The world-changing ideas that overcame slavery in America were not disembodied and ethereal. They were mediated through the lives of multidimensional individuals. Sojourner Truth, Luther Lee, Laura Haviland, Henry Bibb, and Gilbert Haven were very different from one another. Yet they were animated by similar ideas, grounded in faith, and shaped by a common commitment to human rights." -- Page 4 of cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-150).

ISBN:

9781666744620

166674462X

OCLC:

1392341360

Publisher Number:

99994921685