A Candle Against the Dark

How did the early Reformed Presbyterian church speak out against slavery? In A Candle Against the Dark, Robert M. Copeland & D. Ray Wilcox share the story of Reformed Presbyterians and the struggle against slavery in the United States.

Freedom and Equality

Built on a body of research that Wilcox submitted as his thesis at the University of Northern Colorado over 70 years ago, Copeland helps us see slavery from the perspective of the early Reformed Presbyterian church. Freedom and equality were important to this early church. During the Civil War, sermons were centered upon the sin of rebellion versus the sin of slavery.

Originally hailing from Scotland, the Reformed Presbyterians in America were disorganized. They did, however, find common ground in objecting to the original Constitution -- which had no mention of God or Jesus and protected slavery.

Feeling and Heartbreak

I was able to see slavery not in a clinical and detached way but with actual feeling and heartbreak. Frederick Douglas is quoted as saying “The songs of the slaves represent the sorrows of his heart; he is relieved by singing only as an aching heart is relieved by tears.” The Reformed Presbyterians primary objection was not to the treatment of slaves, but to the existence of slavery.

The book does not claim that Reformed Presbyterians were the only ones or even the heroes of the Abolitionist Movement. But there is evidence that churches made the decision that any who were unwilling to free their slaves left the communion of the church, and no slaveholder was subsequently admitted.

See the Sovereign Hand of God Guiding History

While the church claimed to have biblical and theological arguments against slavery, some were still tied to the nation rather than to the notion of the Imago Dei. Nevertheless, the conscience of America was being awakened.

Economic and political factors played a part in the end of slavery, but it is good to hear how the church had helped. I was encouraged to see the sovereign hand of God guiding history. The Church should be encouraged to continue shining light into darkness.

I received a media copy of A Candle Against the Dark and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.