Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Early Slavery Debates
2. Antislavery Moderation
3. The Antebellum Slavery Debate
4. Social Sin
5. God in History
6. The New Theology
Conclusion
Notes
Molly Oshatz is an assistant professor at San Francisco State University, where she teaches courses in American intellectual and religious history. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Political theology is back. In this fresh first book, Molly Oshatz
gives us a cogent and original portrayal of the debate among
antebellum theologians and ministers over the Bible as a warrant
for slavery. She also lucidly demonstrates how the moderate
antislavery theologians in this high-stakes battle were forced to
originate the contours of liberal Protestantism. In telling a
fascinating tale of thinkers making conceptual choices in a new
discursive world,
Oshatz offers us a genuine life of American minds."
---Charles Capper, author of Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic
Life
"Focusing on how and why northern Protestants developed an
antislavery theology before the Civil War, Molly Oshatz offers a
brilliant new perspective on the making and shaping of liberal
Protestantism in America. This book changes how we think about the
birthplaces, biblical approaches, historical worldviews, and
legacies of liberal Protestantism. Slavery and Sin deserves a spot
alongside works by Mark Noll and E. Brooks Holifield. It is a must
read for anyone
interested in American theology, faith and slavery, or the impact
of the Civil War on American religion."
---Edward J. Blum, author of Reforging the White Republic: Race,
Religion, and American Nationalism, 1865-1898
"Indispensable for understanding the religious debates over slavery
and the rise of liberal Christianity in the United States, Slavery
and Sin is a vital, beautifully written book that illuminates
ongoing debates over the relationship between religion, culture,
and politics."
---John Stauffer, author of GIANTS: The Parallel Lives of Frederick
Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
"In Oshatz's skilled analysis, liberal theology provided an
important, if short-lived, haven for those Christians who wished
for a biblical rather than a secular morality, but whose evolving
moral vision could not countenance the evils of antebellum
slavery."--Religion in American History
"Oshatz deepens our understanding of debates over slavery and their
legacy for the emergence of liberal Protestantism."--New England
Quarterly
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