CH208: American Church History — A House Divided — The Civil War & Denominational Schisms

Foundations for the Christian Life · Aug 1, 2026 · 40m

This educational overview examines how the institutional collapse of American Christianity served as a precursor to the Civil War, arguing that the breaking of religious fellowship made national political secession inevitable. The text details the mid-19th-century denominational schisms among Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, which were driven by a fundamental clash of biblical hermeneutics regarding the morality of chattel slavery. While Southern theologians utilized a literalistic defense of scripture to justify the institution, abolitionists prioritized the moral spirit of Christian…