African American Religion
Freedom is something I take for granted. It is something I have come to expect and abuse. Unfortunately the writers I will be exploring were not afforded this luxury. David Walker, Maria Stewart and Frederick Douglas all share the common thread of religion in their works. The thread of religion is explored in various ways by the authors; but they all seem to use soul, brutes, the bible, historical references, and Christianity to define their situation in life. Soul, what is soul and who or what has a soul? First to understand soul you must first understand what a soul is "the spiritual, rational, immortal substance in man which distinguishes him from brutes, the part of man that enables him to think and reason, and which renders him a subject to moral government. Such is the nature of human soul that it must have a God an object of supreme affection." (Webster's Dictionary) The Catholic Encyclopedia's definition of soul is "The soul may be defined as the ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, by our bodies are animated. The term "mind" usually denotes this principle as the subject our conscious state, while "soul" denotes vegetative activities as well." In David Walker's Appeal, Preamble, Arti
The slaveholder's religion according to Douglass is that of a nominal Christian and because of this really isn't Christian because a Real Christian could not and would not believe that one person could own another. Douglass believes he is a true Christian and that he practices what he preaches. It is impossible to believe in both Christianity of the land and the Christianity of God. Douglass realizes that there is a difference between the Christianity of the land and that, which would be of heaven. " I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slave holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land."(Norton 365) Douglass asks how come man can be sold to help build churches and our women sold to support the gospel, and our children sold to purchase Bible for the poor whites, and they say that it is all for the glory of God and the good of souls? The only answer Douglass could come up with was " here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other-devils dressed in angels' robes and hell presenting the semblance of paradise. Frederick Douglass questioned the beliefs of that of the white Christian. He stated " How like a brute was he treated, even by those professing to have the same mind in them that was in Christ Jesus!"(Norton 305) How could people who said they are followers of the good Lord treat another human, a person created in the likeness of God himself, like an animal a brute? An uneducated man can understand, can see the wrongs in the thought of owning another a person, an individual, a mind, a soul. "God made man to serve him alone, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but Himself- that God almighty is the sole proprietor or master of the WHOLE HUMAN family." (Norton 181-182) This belief is the same as natural law that just for being alive you are given certain rights and these rights can be tied into free will. The so-called educated Christian white man believed that he too could "own" a coloured because deep in his heart of hearts there was lit
Some common words found in the essay are:
Christianity Christ, Maria Stewart, Christ JesusNorton, Britain- Jews, Frederick Douglas, Himself- God, Christians Masters, Frederick Douglass, Catholic Encyclopedia's, Pharaoh Moses, soul soul, christianity land, maria stewart, christianity land christianity, land christianity, christianity christ, thread religion, slave holding, frederick douglass, understand soul, soul god, soul understand soul,
Approximate Word count = 1411
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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