Issue 33

Little-known or remarkable facts about Christianity during the American Civil War

Where was God in this brutal national war? An unbaptized non-churchgoer came up with a profound answer.

How would Lincoln answer? His political opponent, a famous frontier preacher, wanted to know.

Leading people in religion and politics during the Civil War era

Despised and often attacked, they courageously carried the slaves’ cause for thirty years. Why have these inescapably Christian men and women been forgotten?

Selections from the most powerful anti-slavery pamphlet ever written

Key reasons advanced by southern church leaders

When slavery divided America’s churches, what could hold the nation together?

At first, most Civil War soldiers cared little for religion. But as the bloody war dragged on, hundreds of thousands converted to Christ.

The Confederate camp became “a school of Christ.”

While carrying tracts to Union troops, one preacher was seized by Confederates as a spy.

These Christian generals helped wage the Civil War, and their faith affected how they did it.

He was the Union’s leading general and twice president of the United States. But he was no saint.

What did Protestant ministers say about the raging national battle?

Selections from sermons during the Civil War era. From God Ordained This War: Sermons on the Sectional Crisis, 1830–1865 edited by David B. Chesebrough (University of South Carolina press, 1991). Used by permission.

They often risked floggings to worship God.

Christian History editors asked Dr. Charles Reagan Wilson to recommend books that creatively explore Christianity during the Civil War era. Here’s his list.