War of Northern Aggression Had Theological Reasons--Part Two

by Al Benson Jr.

Professor Bradford stated that many Southern clergymen during the War were "convinced that 'apostasy' and 'infidelity' had become the dominant religions of the North." And Bradford mentioned Theodore Parker, a noted Northern abolitionist, who insisted on treating "each man as his own Christ." Parker, like other Unitarians, felt that "true religion was independent of the revelation of the Bible." In other words, if you can manage to throw out the Scriptures why you can believe just about anything you want and your apostate friends will find some justification for it. Parker was very typical of those who held influential positions in the North, whether they were honest enough to admit being Unitarians or not.

Bradford stated: "As the War approached, these clergymen (Southerners) more and more tended to view the sectional controversy as a dispute between those who acknowledged the authority of the Scripture and those who set their own moral sense above it--in other words, between Christians and infidels."  I contend that Bradford's observances are right on target. The research Donnie Kennedy and I did for our book Red Republicans and Lincoln's Marxists amply demonstrated the truth of what Bradford contended. He, almost prophetically noted: "For all the great issues fought out in the 1860s are with us still, sometimes disguised, but in their fundamental character never changing." That is something we ought all to reflect on where we are today. How many of the issues from the 1860s do we still grapple with? While the War of Northern Aggression promoted Marxist revolution and apostasy, all it did otherwise was to exaggerate existing problems, not to solve them. But, then, that is ever the nature of the class struggle technique of the Marxists. Their "solutions" and their "healing" only work to create more dissention. That's the name of the game.

Alexander H. Stephens in his Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States stated: "The contest, so commenced, which ended the war was, indeed, a contest between opposing principles; but not such as bore upon the policy or polity of African Subordination. They were principles underlying all considerations of that sort. They involved the very nature and organic structure of the government itself."

And whether men today, or in any other day, are willing to admit it or not, their view of the functions of government ultimately rests upon their theology. Each person, even the atheist, has a theology that governs his life. He or she has a worldview, biblical or otherwise. This is true even among those who staunchly deny it. It's sort of like the person who shouts "There are no absolutes--absolutely." A person's most deeply held convictions constitute his or her theology, his or her religion, if you will.

To deny the theological reasons for the War of Northern Aggression is to deny one of the most, if not the most, primary causes of that War. Doing such will make shipwreck of any possibility for uncovering the deepest reasons men had for doing what they did. A person's theology will determine their view of government and its functions. That truth should be more than clear in view of the actions of the current administration in Washington. For them, government is the one true god. In this, they are good spiritual descendents of Abraham Lincoln.