19th Century Baptists, Slavery, and Christian Civility: Some Lessons from the Past

Posted by Nathan Finn @http://nathanfinn.blogspot.com/

As I have mentioned in the past, I have a book soon to be published by Mercer University Press entitled Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution. My coeditor is Keith Harper, who moonlights as my Ph.D. supervisor. The book is a critical reprint edition of a work published in 1845 about a month before the Southern Baptist Convention organized in Augusta. The book is a collection of letters between southerner Richard Fuller and northerner Francis Wayland. Both of these men were devout Christians, Baptist leaders, and moderates in the slavery debate. Fuller argued that slavery was not inherently sinful, but that there were many sinful practices associated with southern slavery. Wayland argued that slavery was inherently sinful, but that it was a blind spot among otherwise godly men in the south.

Though hopefully all of us would agree with Wayland's position, neither man comes out on top in the debate, at least biblically speaking. Fuller's letters are saturated with Scripture quotes (what Mark Noll calls the southern theological defense of slavery), but many of them are taken out of context or otherwise misinterpreted. Wayland's letters are brilliant, but nearly devoid of Scripture; his arguments are based on human reason and the inalienable rights of all men.

While the arguments of both men leave something to be desired, their correspondence is a model of Christian civility. They continually refer to each other "my dear friend," and in this case they meant it. Neither engages in ad hominem attacks of the other. Both men are quick to affirm anything they see as right and truthful in the other's argument. Though Wayland really does believe Fuller is misreading Scripture, and though Fuller really is convinced Wayland is ignoring Scripture, the two men are always cordial and dignified, and they never paint the other as sub-Christian or impugn each other's motives.

As we debate other Christians (and especially our fellow Southern Baptists) about theological and cultural issues, we would do well to remember that truth should never be defended at the expense of Christian civility. If the manner in which we carry out our arguments somehow distracts from the beauty of the truth we are defending, then it is best we leave the arguing to others. My prayer is that in our debates we would be both apologists and role models, scholars and gentlemen. This is one lesson we can learn well from our 19th century Baptist forebears.