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E-book
Author Byrd, James P., 1965- author.

Title A holy baptism of fire and blood : the Bible and the American Civil War / James P. Byrd
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]

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Description 1 online resource (376 pages)
Contents "His terrible swift sword" -- "The stone which the builders rejected" -- "The Red Sea of war" -- "This second war I consider equally as holy as the first" -- "A covenant of death" -- "Trust in Providence and keep your powder dry" -- "A holy baptism of fire and blood" -- "Welcome to the ransomed" -- "Without shedding of blood is no remission" -- "The sword of the lord" -- "We cannot escape history" -- "Of one blood all nations" -- "These dead have not died in vain" -- "Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood" -- "Woe to that man by whom the offense cometh" -- "Baptized in the blood of their president" -- Epilogue. "Pyrotechnics of providence."
Summary "In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln said both North and South "read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other." Lincoln quoted several biblical texts in this address - which, according to Frederick Douglass, "sounded more like a sermon than a state paper." The Bible, as Lincoln's famous speech illustrated, saturated the Civil War. In this book, James Byrd offers the most thorough analysis yet of how Americans enlisted scripture to fight the Civil War. As Byrd reveals in this insightful narrative, no book was more important to the Civil War than the Bible. From Massachusetts to Mississippi and beyond, the Bible was the nation's most read and most respected book. It brought to mind sacred history and sacrifice. It presented a drama of salvation and damnation, of providence and judgement. It was also a book of war. Americans cited the Bible in addressing many wartime issues, including slavery, secession, patriotism, federal versus state authority, white supremacy, and violence. In scripture, both Union and Confederate soldiers found inspiration for dying and killing like never before in the nation's history. With approximately 750,000 fatalities, the Civil War was the deadliest of the nation's wars. Americans fought the Civil War with Bibles in hand, with both sides calling the war just and sacred. This is a book about how Americans enlisted the Bible in the nation's most bloody, and arguably most biblically-saturated war"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 22, 2021)
SUBJECT Bible -- Study and teaching -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Bible fast
Subject Bible and politics -- United States -- History -- 19th century
War -- Religious aspects -- Christianity -- History -- 19th century
Religion and politics -- United States
Civil war -- Religious aspects -- Christianity
Bible and politics
Education
Religion
Religion and politics
War -- Religious aspects -- Christianity
SUBJECT United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2020006174
United States -- Religion -- 19th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140500
United States -- Religious life and customs. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140506
Subject United States
Genre/Form Electronic books
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2020028350
ISBN 9780190902827
0190902825
9780190902810
0190902817
9780190902803
0190902809