Part 1
Transcriber’s Note Italic text displayed as: _italic_ Bold text displayed as: =bold=
=No. 38.=
PRAYER
FOR THE OPPRESSED.
A PREMIUM TRACT.
BY
REV. JAMES A. THOME,
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, BOSTON.
SLAVERY UNCHRISTIAN.
There is a deep and growing conviction in the minds of the mass of mankind, that slavery violates the great laws of our nature; that it is contrary to the dictates of humanity; that it is essentially unjust, oppressive, and cruel; that it invades the rights of liberty with which the Author of our being has endowed all human beings; and that in all the forms in which it has ever existed, it has been impossible to guard it from what its friends and advocates would call _abuses_ of the system. It is a violation of the first sentiments expressed in our Declaration of Independence, and on which our fathers founded the vindication of their own conduct in an appeal to arms. It is at war with all that a man claims for himself, and for his own children; and it is opposed to all the struggles of mankind, in all ages, for freedom. The claims of humanity plead against it. The struggles for freedom every where in our world condemn it. The instinctive feeling in every man’s own bosom, in regard to himself, is a condemnation of it. The noblest deeds of valor and of patriotism in our own land, and in all lands where men have struggled for freedom, are a condemnation of the system. All that is noble in man is opposed to it; all that is base, oppressive, and cruel, pleads for it.
The spirit of the New Testament is against slavery, and the principles of the New Testament, if fairly applied, would abolish it. In the New Testament no man is commanded to purchase and own a slave; no man is commended as adding any thing to the evidences of his Christian character, or as performing the appropriate duty of a Christian, for owning one. Nowhere in the New Testament is the institution referred to as a good one, or as a desirable one. It is commonly—indeed, it is almost universally—conceded that the proper application of the principles of the New Testament would abolish slavery every where, or that in the state of things which will exist when the Gospel shall be fairly applied to all the relations of life, slavery will not be found among those relations.
Let slavery be removed from the church, and let the voice of the church, with one accord, be lifted up in favor of freedom; let the church be wholly detached from the institution, and let there be adopted by all its ministers and members an interpretation of the Bible—as I believe there may be, and ought to be—that shall be in accordance with the deep-seated principles of our nature in favor of freedom, and with our own aspirations for liberty, and with the sentiments of the world in its onward progress in regard to human rights, and not only would a very material objection against the Bible be taken away,—and one which would be fatal if it were well founded,—but the establishment of a very strong argument in favor of the Bible, as a revelation from God, would be the direct result of such a position....
There is not vital energy enough; there is not power of numbers and influence enough out of the church to sustain slavery. Let every religious denomination in the land detach itself from all connection with slavery, without saying a word against others; let the time come when, in all the mighty denominations of Christians, it can be announced that the evil has ceased with them for ever; and let the voice from each denomination be lifted up in kind, but firm and solemn testimony against the system—with no mealy words; with no attempt at apology; with no wish to blink it; with no effort to throw the sacred shield of religion over so great an evil—and the work is done. There is no public sentiment in this land—there could be none created—that would resist the power of such testimony. There is no power _out_ of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained _in_ it. Not a blow need be struck. Not an unkind word need be uttered. No man’s motive need be impugned, no man’s proper rights invaded. All that is needful is, for each Christian man, and for every Christian church, to stand up in the sacred majesty of such a solemn testimony, to free themselves from all connection with the evil, and utter a calm and deliberate voice to the world, AND THE WORK WILL BE DONE.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.
PRAYER
FOR THE OPPRESSED.
A PREMIUM TRACT.
BY
REV. JAMES A. THOME,
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, BOSTON.
CALL FOR A PRIZE TRACT.
The subscriber is authorized to say, that a friend, not wishing his name should be publicly known, offers $100 to the person who will write the best tract on the duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery and oppression, especially in our own country, particularly adapted to interest new converts before their minds become embarrassed with political and party strife.
The tract is to be entitled, “Prayer for the Oppressed.” The offerer nominates and requests the gentlemen named below to act as committee of award, to wit: Rev. Elnathan Davis, Fitchburg, Mass.; Rev. George Trask, Fitchburg, Mass.; John W. Sullivan, Boston, Mass.; Charles B. Wilder, Esq., Boston. Mass.; Rev. E. H. Nevin, Chelsea, Mass.
The tract should not exceed 24 pages of common size when printed, and should be sent to the committee of award in season to be examined, and the prize one transmitted to the publication committee of the A. T. S., Boston, by the 1st of June next.
NOAH EMERSON, For the offerer of the Prize.
HOLLIS, N. H., January 21, 1859
Last winter, a Christian gentleman, by advertisement in the New York Independent, offered a premium of $100 for the best tract which might be submitted on “_Prayer for the Oppressed_.” The undersigned were nominated and requested to act as a committee of award in this case, and have received and examined a large number of manuscripts, many of which were of marked ability and power; but finding no _one_ of these so fully to answer the call of the offerer of the prize as to allow them to award the whole of it to _that_, they have awarded the same in equal divisions, to the authors of the _two best_ manuscripts, viz.: Rev. GEORGE W. BASSETT, Washington, D. C., and Rev. JAMES A. THOME, of Cleveland, Ohio. And they have strong confidence that these tracts will soon come before the public, and that God will mightily bless them as an instrumentality in inciting the Church universal to benevolent action and believing prayer, for the overthrow of slavery and oppression.
ELNATHAN DAVIS, EDWIN H. NEVIN, GEORGE TRASK, JOHN W. SULLIVAN, C. B. WILDER.
BOSTON, August, 1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Geo. C. Rand & Avery, Printers, 3 Cornhill, Boston.
PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED.
Who are the oppressed? Those who suffer wrong from the more powerful. They are to be found in all conditions of society, in the bosom even of the family and the church. All relationships which involve authority are liable to be abused to the infliction of injustice and outrage.
Who are THE OPPRESSED, distinctively? _The enslaved._ These differ from all other victims of abused power in this essential point, that, by the law, they are regarded not as _men_, but _things_, the property of men. Denied humanity, they are denied all human rights, and excluded from all human relations. They have under the slave code as administered, no legal protection; the show of it which the letter of the law, in some instances, affords, being designed rather to guard their value as property than their interests as men.[1] Outcasts in society, they are outlaws in the State.
Overlooking this vital distinction, many persons hold that slavery is one of the legitimate social relations, and therefore not in itself a proper subject of censure; while its grievous evils, the result of the abuse of rightful power, may justly be deplored. But others, with a closer discrimination, discern that the “chattel principle” which characterizes slavery is inherently wrong, and that it is the chief promoter of the spirit of oppression. It is believed that if slavery were abolished, oppression would thereby be materially diminished throughout society. Holding this view, the people of God are earnestly combating the slave system. The moral power of the church, wielding the pulpit and the press, has been increasingly arrayed against this stupendous wrong. A more perfect combination of the forces of Christendom for the overthrow of oppression is devoutly to be wished. But this will not avail without the power of God. That power must be invoked,—must be secured. The servants of the Most High, who would have him honored and his cause promoted by the extinction of slavery, must cry unto him day and night,—must give him no rest, till he come and deliver the oppressed. Fully persuaded of this, we wish to urge—
_The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery and oppression._
1. The fitness and effectiveness of prayer as a weapon against slavery claims attention.
It would be powerless in such an extreme case if it were in itself a feeble instrumentality. But all things are possible to prayer. What is the scriptural idea of prayer? This; it is the offering to God of desires which his own Spirit has kindled in the heart, with importunities which the same Spirit prompts and sustains; it is also made with humble reliance on the merits of Jesus Christ, and the prevalence of his intercessions. Prayer, then, is not the work of man alone; he is but a co-worker with God in this, as in every other gracious endeavor,—with the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart and moving him to pray, and with Jesus the Mediator who presents his supplications at the Father’s throne. This is the view of prayer which our Lord discloses in John 15:7, 16, Paul in Rom. 8:26, 27, and James, also, 5:16; “The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.” It availeth much, not because it is offered by a righteous man, but because it is effectually and fervently inwrought by the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth only with the righteous. The power of Elijah’s prayer is referred to in the connection, to illustrate and confirm the statement that all real prayer is mighty. Elijah had no more power than other good men may have; he had the infirmities common to the servants of God, but the strength of Jehovah was with him; that strength was in his prayer; and so it may be,—must be,—in all prayer.
The power of prayer, then, is God’s own power, exerted by the Spirit and the Son through the supplications of the righteous, and therefore it availeth much. Nothing can withstand it, because nothing can withstand God. The elements of nature yield to its control; the institutions of men, founded in sin, fall before its cry.
If slavery were beyond the power of prayer, it would be not because of its strength, but because it is right in the sight of God. And if it be right, the Spirit will not move the righteous to pray for its abolition. If God be for it, who can be against it?
Let us then inquire whether this be a proper subject of prayer?—whether a system of bondage which degrades man into a beast of burden and of traffic is pleasing or hateful to God? That it exists, and has endured for ages, is no evidence that it enjoys his favor. Sin exists, and has prevailed from the beginning. Romanism flourishes, and has had the ascendency in Christendom for fifteen centuries. Idolatry reigns, and the kingdom of Satan looks down from its ancient seats scornfully on the kingdom of Christ. Among the most dreadful exhibitions of God’s wrath and vengeance have been those in which he has, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, delivered the oppressed, and destroyed their oppressors.
Slavery is the foe of Christianity, the enemy of souls, and it must be hateful to the God of love, who would have all men come to Christ. It is opposed to the gospel and to every evangelical work, to the tract, the Bible, the missionary enterprise. It disregards the spiritual interests of enslaved saints, and of souls perishing in their sins under its yoke. It is a ruling power in this Christian country, to the scandal of religion. It rises above other forms of sin, as the chief perverter of the right ways of the Lord. It hinders the spread of vital godliness through this land, walling about the dominions of its chattels and excluding the preacher of the cross. The Christianity it tolerates within its borders is not that which declares the whole counsel of God; which cries aloud and spares not, and shows the people their sins. The religion of America, fraught with salvation for the nations of the Old World, has been shorn of much of its power by the encroachments of Southern slavery. Can any Christian doubt that a system so hostile to the gospel is abhorred of God? And now, at this moment, the issue is forced upon us, whether slavery shall exclude the gospel, or be excluded by it. In this crisis our only help is in God. We must be persuaded that he will defend his gospel, and humble the slave power.
Note this, that slavery is not one of those organic vices of society which are to be left to the reformatory influence of Christianity operating silently upon them, but is rather an _opposing force_ to be directly and resolutely met, in the name of the Lord. In the advance of civilization, ignorance is gradually dissipated, but savage violence is to be encountered at once and subdued. In the school, the family, the nation, the church, certain evils admit only of indirect treatment, but others call for decisive, positive measures. Slavery in a Christian republic preëminently demands direct action, aimed at its speedy extermination. It may long resist such action, but no other is pertinent to its nature. When, after the Revival of 1830-33, the attention of the people of God, especially of the young converts, was turned to this subject, they proclaimed the truth—Chattel Slavery is a sin, and immediate emancipation is the duty of the slaveholder. With this battle cry _the institution_ was attacked by a host of witnessing warriors clad in the armor of God. That onset had undoubtedly a divine origin, and the principle that animated it was a true one, that slavery was to be swept away in righteousness. And had the entire weight of Christian power sustained the assault, and had the united energies of the saints in prayer been secured, the quarter of a century that has passed would probably have witnessed the downfall of the “peculiar institution.” But many leading minds in the churches thought it best to let slavery alone, and to leave it to the slow but sure influences of Christianity, by which it would be eventually extinguished. Twenty-five years have demonstrated that this grievous system of oppression is not undermined by the gospel, nor weakened by revivals. It has made most rapid strides, and is now far more defiant of religious powers than ever before. Shall not the teachings of the past suffice to prove that in dealing with slavery nothing is to be gained by _indirection_? Is it not time now, after the late gracious revival, to renew and reassert the declaration—Slavery is sinful, and must be abolished? Let this voice be raised; let it be echoed by all the churches; and let the saints carry to the throne of grace, and urge with faith and boldness this plea,—“Great God! abolish slavery.” This prayer will be acceptable, and will prevail, if God, as we are sure he does, hates this stupendous sin.
2. The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery appears from this—that if prayer does not prevail against slavery, slavery will disarm prayer of its prevailing power, and reduce it to an empty form.
It is an accredited maxim that “praying will make us leave off sinning, and sinning will make us leave off praying.” The reason is obvious, and the application is plain. If indulging sin in the heart is inconsistent with cherishing there the spirit of prayer, the allowing of any prevalent sin in society, on the ground that it is beyond the power of prayer, is equally inconsistent. For this is to admit that its removal is impossible with God. The alternative is forced upon us,—either slavery must be overcome by prayer, or prayer be foiled by slavery. These two powers now stand opposed to each other.
This is providential, and fraught with vital consequences; as when Goliah and David met. Slavery is to test the strength of prayer, the faith of Christians. Which shall prevail? Is the Slave Power too strong for prayer, or have the saints such faith and argument touching this thing, that they may ask what they will, and it shall be done? It is a first principle of evangelical faith, that, “all things are possible to them that believe.” If this principle is yielded, the foundations of prayer are removed. If _any_ thing is impossible, nothing is possible; faith that fears is dead, and prayer that quails is powerless. If the servants of the Lord flee before the formidable front of chattelism, instead of compassing it with mighty prayer, and dragging it before the Lord to be slain, they will betray a fearfulness which must preclude all acceptable prayer. The great God loveth strong intercessors, strong and bold, who “wrestle not against flesh and blood,”—weak foes; but “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,”—“praying always with all prayer in the Spirit.” The only aristocracy in Christ’s kingdom is composed of the princes who have power with God and with man, and all who will believe may wear the title of this order, “Israel.” But they must believe _only_, “lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting.” They must believe only, not mixing fear with faith, nor trying with trusting; that trying which first scans the magnitude of a sin, estimates its power, and counts the cost of assailing it. The faith that prevails in prayer has its sphere above the calculations of difficulty and danger, where sense fails, and strength staggers. It is just as easy for believing prayer to take hold of great things as of small. The little English girl, languishing in her mortal sickness, when she was told that Bonaparte was preparing to invade her country, could grasp that national peril in her hourly prayer; and who will say that the threatened invasion which might have changed the fate of Great Britain was not averted in answer to that dying child’s intercessions?
Side by side in the Lord’s Prayer stand the petitions, “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven;” and, “Give us this day our daily bread.” No topics could be more dissimilar in magnitude, yet God hath joined them together, and the believer passes easily from the greater to the less. But let the petitioner put these asunder, and pray for bread alone, as deeming the other too great a favor to ask for, and his prayer will not prevail. God is honored by that fearless, resolute faith which says, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before the Zerubbabel of prayer thou shalt become a plain!” This great mountain of slavery is the providential provocative in our day of the prayer of faith which removes mountains. The aspects of it which most dishearten man do most arouse against it the spirit of prayer. “Is any thing too hard for God?” Is slavery too great for the Almighty? We must either pray against this national sin, or limit the Holy One to minor evils. We dare not do the latter, we should fear to pray at all. To every intercessor coming to the mercy seat, the gracious King says, “What is thy request?” And if, despite the pressure of the times, no mention is made of the crying wrong of oppression, he is grieved, and turns away. It is as if queen Esther, going into the presence of the king, with the fate of her doomed people claiming her entreaties, had feared to ask so great a favor as that their doom might be averted, and had only craved for herself a new chariot, or a larger retinue of servants.
In this view of the subject, it is painful to reflect that the theme of supplication which for twice ten years God has been urging upon his people has been so strenuously excluded from the prayer meeting, the monthly concert, and the sanctuary. Who can say how provoking this has been to the Hearer of prayer, and how often it may have rendered the petitions of his saints an abomination unto him? Had not the Holy Spirit, with more than human forbearance, borne with the manners of the people, and laid the unwelcome burden on their hearts, and inwrought fervent desires, impelling many to pray earnestly for the oppressed, there might by this time have been little more than the form of prayer in the American Zion. Yes, prayer for the oppressed has done much to preserve the vitality of prayer in the churches! This has been its happy reflex influence, although it has had to struggle against much gainsaying of misguided brethren. When it shall have prevailed against slavery, and wrought out the deliverance of them that are in bonds, then will be seen, as now is not, the irresistible power of prayer. We rejoice in the assurance that prayer will overcome slavery. We have no fear of the alternative. We are glad to have this decisive test applied. Let it be seen in this crisis what the prayer of faith can endure, and what it can do. It has other trials to overcome, other triumphs to win.
3. The importance of prayer for the abolition of slavery in this country, is shown from the inefficacy of other means to effect it.
Every other mode of opposition has been vigorously employed. The first minds of Christendom have written and spoken against this monster iniquity. Its champions have been forced to acknowledge, “The literature of the world is against us.” But oppression laughs at literature,—it defies the rostrum and the press. The moral influence of the nation has borne against it with a pressure seemingly irresistible; State and national anti-slavery societies with the motto, “agitate, agitate, agitate;” mass meetings hurling the thunders of popular indignation; Christian conventions uttering the reprobations of religion; notes of warning from dying patriots; appeals to justice and humanity from honored philanthropists; remonstrances from the purest divines; the entreating voice of Christian women;—all these moral forces have borne against slavery. But it mocks at moral suasion. Political measures have been tried,—tried in good faith and with the utmost energy. But the Slave Power, versed in the intrigues of politics, has gained victory after victory, and grown stronger by this species of opposition. Providential events have signally fought against slavery. The successive acts of European powers have swept chattel slavery from their colonies. Cuba and Brazil, with our own country, alone retain it. Repeated emancipations by individual slaveholders at the South have kept alive the anti-slavery feeling. The violent measures which the slave power has employed to fortify and extend its dominions have exasperated and alarmed the people of the North. For a quarter of a century this movement of the people, of the churches, of political machinery, sustained by favoring providences, has been in progress; yet slavery in America is mightier to-day than it was at the beginning of the movement.