A Consuming Fire

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The fall of the Confederacy was traumatic for those who believed God was on their side. In A Consuming Fire, Eugene D. Genovese explores how Southern Christians maintained their faith in divine will. While churches defended "southern rights" and claimed divine sanction for slavery, they also cautioned that God was testing them, urging a transformation of slavery to meet biblical standards to avoid His wrath. Proslavery theorists argued that social relations and material conditions influenced the spread of the Gospel and readiness to receive it. They believed "Christian slavery" was the best hope for preparing for the Kingdom, yet acknowledged the shortcomings of Southern slavery from a Christian perspective. The struggle for reform was seen as essential to justify the trust God placed in them when He sanctioned slavery. Prominent ministers and laymen campaigned for reforms such as securing slave marriages, allowing literacy, and punishing cruel masters. The book analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of these reform efforts, as well as the nature and significance of Southern Christian orthodoxy, its vision of social order, class structure, and race relations.