The Battle of GettysburgSSUSH9

Religious Litmus Test of God’s FavorLogan Porter and Anthony Shelton

RELIGIOUS

In the Battle of Gettysburg; God is Everywhere

Religious Perspectives of the War• Some 750,000 soldiers died during the Civil War and many of them carried and quoted

from the Bible. But they read it in divergent ways that still caused division within our already separated nation.

• As it turned out, both sides came to interpret Scripture in ways that would support their views on slavery, with literal interpretations hardening in the South and figurative ones gaining favor in the North.

• “The North had its own agenda, its own reasons for reading the Bible the way it did along with its own interpretation. And the South had its own reasons for reading the Bible along with their interpretations.

• http://religionandpolitics.org/2013/11/19/abraham-lincolns-gettysburg-address-150-years-later/

Which God did they Worship?• Was it the God that ordered total

death and destruction?

• "Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey,” (1 Samuel 15:2-3).

Which God did they Worship?

• Or was it the Loving, Sacrificing, Giving God we hear about in John 3:16

• New International Version (NIV)

• 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Millennialism, a belief in the imminent earthly reign of Christ, was the dominant theme of mid-19th century Christianity.

• Christianity has the following key foundational ideologies:

– God creating the Heavens and the Earth– Separated the waters– Created vegetation (Plants and trees)– Set the Sun, Moon, and the Stars in their place– Created animals to fly in the air and to swim in the seas– Created animals to roam on the Earth– Created Man (and women)– And Sacrificed His only begotten Son to die for our sins!

The Union Faith

The North’s Ultimate Goal

• Most in the North believed that the eventual demise of wickedness and the flawlessness of man would enable Christ’s homecoming These individuals thought of the war as a means of eradicating slavery and other impediments to the establishment of Christ’s new order.

The Confederate Faith

Paraphernalia of Faith from the Confederacy

What other denominations roamed the fields of battle?

In Pennsylvania Protestant services such as Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian and even Jews were usual but not always the case. Hundreds of thousands of historic “peace” church members, chiefly Brethren and Mennonites, including Amish and Quakers, adhered to the doctrine of Christian pacifism, although some took up arms in the conflict.

What other denominations roamed the fields of battle?

• There were Jews that participated in the Battle Field and on the homestead.

• Jews were some of the leading manufactures in the Confederacy, including Haiman’s Sword Factory in Columbus, Ga.

*Brothers Edward Jonas (Union Soldier) and Charles H. Jonas (Confederate Soldier). Collection of Wendy Wells, and Collection of the American Jewish Historical Society.

Chaplain Horatio S. Howell, 90th PennsylvaniaChrist Lutheran Church which

initially appeared serve as a hospital and shelter for the Northern wounded. Reverend Horatio S. Howell, chaplain for the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry, aided with the caring for the casualties of his regiment in this house of peace. As he was exiting the building, a Confederate soldier demanded that he surrender and turn over his sword. He did not, and was shot on the steps of this church.

At the foot of the church steps “cruelly shot”

No one knows with any certainty if the soldier who pulled the trigger knew that the officer that he saw belonged to the chaplaincy, but the men of the 90th Pennsylvania were incensed.

Gettysburg Lessons: Horatio Howell - YouTube

Father William Corby

An American priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and a Union Army chaplain in the Civil War attached to the Irish Brigade.

He is best known for giving general absolution to the Irish Brigade on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Father William “Fair Catch” Corby• “That general absolution was intended for

all — in quantum possum — not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge. Let us hope that many thousands of souls, purified by hardships, fasting, prayer, and blood, met a favorable sentence on the ever memorable battlefield of Gettysburg." - Fr. Corby

“Fair Catch Corby” http://

nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/cwnorth.htm

Served as the Chaplin for Gen. George Meade's 88th New York Volunteer Infantry (aka the Irish Brigade) during the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863).

Fr. Corby is famous for giving general absolution to the Irish Brigade before many of its soldiers perished during the fighting."Later served as Notre Dame's third president

AESTHETIC

Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary

Gettysburg Seminary Cupola

Union Generals Buford and Reynolds used the cupola to view the battlefield and terrain and as a signal post on the first day of the battle. On the 2nd and 3rd days aides to Confederate General Lee did the same thing Having a “God’s View” or the “Eagle’s View” of the area.

Climbing the cupola - YouTube

Structures of Worship

Building such as these were a primary means through which gender and racial roles were outlined and civic knowledge was delivered to families and local communities. By the time the Confederates showed up in Gettysburg the local pastors had already painted an image of “Johnny Reb” which was hard to let go by the locals in the town.

The Eagle’s View

The Battle Hymn and the Ideas of Religion on the Battle Field

INTELLECTUAL

Reasons the North Believed that God was on their side

• 1. The Northern church emphasized that the Union had to be preserved because of the special place that America occupied in world history

• 2. In the Book of Revelations and in other portions of the Bible there are descriptions of events that a Northern victory might prepare the way for the Kingdom of God on earth. Rev 18: 14-20 “Fallen is Babylon the Great” (The South)

• 3. A few denounced the practice of slavery as a sin and called for immediate emancipation or abolition. At the other extreme, some argued that the Bible treated slavery as a morally legitimate institution. 

Examples of Prayer Books for Union Soldiers

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1789Selections/

Proclamation of Faith from the Union

http://www.loc.gov/item/amss.cw106190

Reasons the South believed that God was on their side

• It could be that the South believed that God favored them and honored their cause in the initial battles that were fought. It is well documented that the Northern Armies, although large in number lacked good military leaders. Those leaders won battles against the North time and time again.

• Believing that God welcomed slavery the South used the scriptures that reinforced the literal institution of slavery. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” Colossian 3:22

When do you think this prayer was written, before or after the war? What does this prayer mean?

SOCIAL

The Civility of the Battle• Rules of Engagement

–Who is a Combatant?–Who is a Non Combatant?

POLITICAL

Political

• The Gettysburg Address, spoken by the U.S. Presidents at the time, Abraham Lincoln, is drenched with religious vocabulary. This, no doubt used by most military and political leaders to encourage men to do something that they would not normally do and makes no sense to the average man: to run towards gunfire.

The Gettysburg Address

• Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

• Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

The Gettysburg Address (cont)

• But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

The Gettysburg Address (cont)

• It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

• Abraham LincolnNovember 19, 1863

• Mark 3:24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand

The Answer to the question, “Who did God favor?”

• Consider the following:• The “friendly fire” incident of Stonewall Jackson • Lee’s reaction to medication taken to alleviate an illness

(possible cause for his lapse in judgment on day three)• Considered the Union Army's defensive at Little Round Top

which defended successfully by the brigade of Col. Strong Vincent. The 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commanded by Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, fought the most famous engagement there, culminating in a dramatic downhill bayonet charge that is one of the most well-known actions at Gettysburg and in the American Civil War. (after they ran out of ammunition)

The Answer to the question, “Who did God favor?”(cont.)

• The Reconnaissance Commander Jeb Stuart who got “lost” when director to reconnoiter (observe/survey) the area.

• Lee’s pride which led to the insistence that Pickett make a doomed charge against the advisement of council.

• Some believed God caused the loss of the war to show humility to the South and that their humility would lead them to a greater reward. This is how the South justified defeat at the hands of the Godless Northern Soldiers. History has revealed. God favored the victors.