Sacred Conviction

The South's Stand for Biblical Authority

By: Joseph Jay

Narrated by: George Bagby

Historians have long understood that conflicts over slavery, Constitutional interpretation, economic interests, and culture contributed to the coming of the War Between the States. Joseph Jay’s original and insightful study illuminates yet another important difference that fueled conflict between the North and South — theology.

It has been more than once observed that Southern clergy were among the strongest advocates of Southern Independence. Jay shows why that was so. He explains how Southerners based their faith on Biblical authority and regarded the “Higher Law,” Unitarianism, and crusading political religion of their Northern counterparts as a threat to Christianity.

©2018 Shotwell Publishing LLC (P)2020 Shotwell Publishing LLC

Don't believe everything you've been taught

The Civil War was about slavery, right? That’s what I’ve always been taught. “Why didn’t the southern churches put an end to it?” Is slavery itself unbiblical? Can someone be a slaveholder and still be a Christian? The rhetoric of today, fueled by the new religion of Critical Race Theory would have you believe that racism is the unforgivable sin, and by the way, all you white people are racists cause, you know, whiteness…. The CRT priests want you to believe that no southerner who held slaves could possibly be in heaven and that the Confederacy was as evil as Nazi Germany. You may be one of those people who believe that. Perhaps you’re like me and you are against Critical Race Theory, but aren’t very well versed in the actual history of the War of Northern Aggression or slavery beyond a few classes in high school or college? Sacred Conviction is an excellent book no matter what position you hold. It’s a short book, a little over 2 hours on Audible, and is something you’ll want to listen to multiple times. It’s chock full of sources and references you can verify for yourself and go deeper. No matter what your stance is on slavery, the war between the states, or any of the topics so hotly contested today, your preconceived notions will be challenged. Do yourself a favor and spend a couple hours hearing a perspective on the confederacy, the churches, and slavery you’ve probably never been allowed to hear before. Don’t believe everything you’ve been taught.

Challenged my preconceived notions

This book was very illuminating in describing how theology was a major factor that led to the division between the North and the South. It helped that I read this on the heals of reading Thomas Sowell's "Black Rednecks and White Liberals", in which Sowell dedicated an entire chapter on the complex topic of slavery, and consequently openned my eyes to facts and considerations that totally challenged my original notions on the topic ( I grew up thinking the South was "bad" and the North was "good", and that was that). What books like Sowell's and now this one do is cause us to expand and adjust our preconceived notions of history, where the reality always turns out to be far more complicated than we ever imagined. Good historians will allow history to speak for itself, which may make us uncomfortable.

I found this to be a very helpful book and thought the narration was very good. I also appreciate that the book is short. My one quibble is that I would have liked more space dedicated to the thorny topic of how Christians should think about slavery in light of there not being any direct prohibitions against it in the Scriptures, as that is going to be one of the most challenging issues for readers. But other than that, I recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand this complex part of our nation's history.

Informative take on religious reasons

This is a very well put together book explaining the mostly overlooked religious reasons for the Civil War. It's short, but well worth the listen! There was quite a bit of information here that was new to me and very informative!

Very interesting perspective

This book took you through which side was using exegesis and which side was atheistic and didn't deal with scripture. Very informative book and unique as to what it looks at when it comes to this topic.

Give yourself 2 hours to hear the South out

This book will only take you 2 hours to listen to, and it is well worth it. If you need a primer on where the South was coming from during this time in history, this is a great place to start.

Well Researched and Eye Opening

I was absolutely surprised from this well researched book. The author looked into the nuance of the civil war and history is usually much more complex than what is usually taught at school. I would highly encourage people to pick this book or give this book a listen. It will definitely challenge your thinking like how the South was more closer to reformed Christian ideals. I appreciate the honesty about the theological nature of slavery and the theological battles the North and the South did have. I wish the book was a bit longer and I am very interested in the author's thoughts on Reconstruction.

Excellent Book

An excellent book that fills a long-neglected gap in Civil War historiography. Highly recommend.

Horrible human beings. Best argument for atheism.

Where exactly are the white slaves? A great argument for atheism...Saying religion is the excuse for slavery is disgusting.