But, there was an issue that was taking place here on this continent during the 19^th Century that was quite a serious one, and that the issue of slavery. Perhaps no other issue in American history had produced more strife, both political and religious, than the slavery issue. All of these things took place during the 19^th Century, but contemporary with those things was this issue of slavery. Of course, I don’t need to spend a lot of time telling you about the results of that for our nation. However, I would just point out that it not only affected the social and the political fabric of the nation, it also had a profound effect on the religious aspect of this nation, as well.

There were many religious groups who were very much opposed to slavery, going all the way back to the beginning of the 19^th Century. The Quakers were very vocal in the anti-slavery movement. It was through their influence, as well as the influence of some other religious groups, that a plan was actually put together that would hopefully abolish slavery, a plan where slaves could be purchased from the slave owners, and actually, a colony for slaves was created in West Africa, and this gave rise to the country of Liberia. Well, that didn’t work out. It might have been a good effort; it might have been a good move, but it didn’t work out.

And, during the period from 1830 to 1860, there was great turmoil. There were the abolitionists on the one side, primarily in the North; there were the slave owners and the supporters of slavery on the other side. And, there was a great cry throughout our nation to abolish slavery, or to keep slavery. Finally, in 1861, words were replaced by swords, and ballots were replaced with bullets, as the nation blundered its way into the terrible Civil War.

The question of slavery between the North and South took its toll on numerous religious bodies. The issue divided three of the largest and most influential denominational groups in the nation. In 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church split into Methodist Episcopal North and South. The issue really came to a head because a Methodist bishop by marriage became a slave owner, and thus, the members of the denomination demanded and said that he could not own slaves—these were Northerners. Southern Methodists said that he could own slaves. And so, in 1844, the Methodist Church split between the Southern Methodists and the Northern Methodists. In 1845, the Baptist Church split between Northern and Southern Baptists over the issue. That division came to a head over one who was a slave owner who was going out doing mission work, and there were some on the Northern side who said that ought not to be, and the ones on the Southern side said it could be and should be, and so the Baptists split, as well. The Presbyterian’s first split occurred in 1837, and then another split occurred in 1857. Well, slavery was a terrible issue. The Methodists and the Baptists never did reunite. However, the Presbyterians would eventually reunite.

There was also something else that resulted from this issue of slavery, and from the war. That was, the rise of a number of separate African American denominations. Have you heard or seen the acronym AME, churches with the suffix AME? Well, that’s African Methodist Episcopal. There are several denominations. For example, the African Methodist Episcopal Church as mentioned; the African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion; the National Baptist Convention of America is an African American denomination; and the National Baptist Convention USA. So, there was something else that came out of the Civil War and this issue of slavery.

This will sort of set us up for next week to begin looking at the Restoration. As I mentioned, during the 19^th Century here in America revivalism was afoot. I mentioned Dwight L. Moody, who was well-known, and there was Timothy Dwight, who was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards, and many others, who led revivals, attempting to have a reawakening among their various denominations about spiritual things.

And, something was taking place on the frontier. Beginning about 1800, a series of camp meetings began to stir the West. It was in Kentucky, but that was the “frontier” in the 19^th Century. These camp meetings culminated in a great camp meeting in 1801 at the Cane Ridge Meeting House near Paris, Kentucky. It was a huge gathering. From ten to twenty thousand persons attended this great meeting. In fact, I’ve seen numbers as high as thirty thousand. People of all denominations came there for this great revival. Numerous preachers of several denominations were kept busy preaching to the throngs. Among them was a young, relatively unknown Presbyterian preacher named Barton W. Stone. I believe the date was August 1, 1801, when he preached and declared that the Gospel was universal, and that the Gospel, through faith—belief in Jesus Christ—could save. That, of course, flew in the face of the Calvinistic doctrine of the Presbyterian Church—the doctrine of election.

The Cane Ridge Meeting House is still there today. It is a national monument, and I frequently see people who are leading tour groups down through the Bible belt; and usually one of the stops on one of the tours is at the Cane Ridge Meeting House.