The Rights and Duties of Masters
Overview
The Rights and Duties of Masters is rich with historical importance. A sermon preached on May 26, 1850, Thornwell spoke these words as an inaugural sermon at a church built and dedicated to educate slaves in the area of Christianity and religion. The sermon addresses the text of Colossians 4:1, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a master in heaven.”
Professor Eugene Genovese describes Thornwell as wanting “to envision a Christian society that could reconcile, so far as possible in a world haunted by evil, the conflicting claims of a social order with social justice and both with the freedom and dignity of the individual.” These ideas shine through in Thornwell’s writings, which are now more accessible than ever through Logos Bible Software. In electronic format, his writings are easily searchable and easily referenced—his works in Logos make the ideal companion to theological studies.
- Discusses the religious rights and education of Civil War-era slaves
- Remains of interest as a historical document
- Title: The Rights and Duties of Masters
- Author: James Henley Thornwell
- Publisher: Steam Power Press of Walker & James
- Publication Date: 1850
- Pages: 62
Reviews
2 ratings
Glenn Crouch
7/16/2015
The 4 stars given should not in anyway be seen as an endorsement of slavery - rather I appreciate having this historical work available and I do recommend it to those not only interested in US History but those interested in how Christians have dealt with social issues in the past. Personally I have read many works from the 18th and 19th Century from the "abolitionist side", but must admit this is the first work I have read from the other side. This is a short book - though one could argue that in today's term it is a long sermon (it is, of course, a Sermon commemorating the opening of a Church built for the education and evangelism of slaves. Admittedly some sections of this are quite hard to digest, but it is important to remember that this is prior to the US Civil War, and gives a good insight to how some of the Christians of that day were thinking.
Calvin L. Coles
7/11/2015