"Fire From the Midst of You" : A Religious Life of John Brown / Louis A. Decaro Jr.
Decaro Jr., Louis A., author.
2002
E451 .D43 2002eb
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Title "Fire From the Midst of You" : A Religious Life of John Brown / Louis A. Decaro Jr.
Author Decaro Jr., Louis A., author.
ISBN 9780814744062
DOI https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814744062.001.0001
Published New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2002]
Copyright ©2002
Language English
Language Note In English.
Description 1 online resource
Other Standard Identifiers 10.18574/nyu/9780814744062.001.0001 doi
Call Number E451 .D43 2002eb
Dewey Decimal Classification 973.7/116/092 B
Summary John Brown is usually remembered as a terrorist whose unbridled hatred of slavery drove him to the ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Tried and executed for seizing the arsenal and attempting to spur a liberation movement among the slaves, Brown was the ultimate cause celebre for a country on the brink of civil war."Fire from the Midst of You" situates Brown within the religious and social context of a nation steeped in racism, showing his roots in Puritan abolitionism. DeCaro explores Brown's unusual family heritage as well as his business and personal losses, retracing his path to the Southern gallows. In contrast to the popular image of Brown as a violent fanatic, DeCaro contextualizes Brown's actions, emphasizing the intensely religious nature of the antebellum U.S. in which he lived. He articulates the nature of Brown's radical faith and shows that, when viewed in the context of his times, he was not the religious fanatic that many have understood him to be. DeCaro calls Brown a "Protestant saint"-an imperfect believer seeking to realize his own perceived calling in divine providence.In line with the post-millennial theology of his day, Brown understood God as working through mankind and the church to renew and revive sinful humanity. He read the Bible not only as God's word, but as God's word to John Brown. DeCaro traces Brown's life and development to show how by forging faith as a radical weapon, Brown forced the entire nation to a point of crisis. "Fire from the Midst of You" defies the standard narrative with a new reading of John Brown. Here is the man that the preeminent Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois called a "mighty warning" and the one Malcolm X called "a real white liberal."
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Source of Description Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
In New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
Available in Other Form print 9780814719213
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Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction.
Part I. A Power above Ourselves
1. "And They Had No Comforter"
2. John Brown's Heritage
3. Revival, Resistance, and Abolition in the Time of John Brown
Part II. A Good Cause and a Sovereign God
4. The Early Years
5. Millennial Hopes, Abolitionist Awakenings
6. "This Path of Life"
Part III. Providence and Principle
7. Citizen Brown's Calvinist Community
8. Citizen Brown's Calvinist Community
9. Of Vows and Tears
Part IV. In Times of Difficulty
10. Belted Knights and Practical Shepherds
11. "We Are Tossing Up and Down"
12. The Practical Shepherd in Springfield
Part V. Big Difficulties and Firm Footholds
13. A Cold and Snowy Canaan Land
14. "So We Go"
15. "All the Encouragement in My Power"
Part VI. Enduring Hardness
16. Ohio and Beyond
17. "Kansas the Outpost"
18. Pottawatomie and the Fatherless
Part VII. I Will Raise a Storm
19. "The Language of Providence"
20. "This Spark of Fire"
21. "My Public Murder"
Epilogue. A Saint's Rest
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author

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