Uncle Sam's Bible, Part 1


Abstract:
The following is an excerpt from pp. 55-58 of James B. Converse's Uncle Sam's Bible, or Bible Teachings About Politics. Chicago: Schulte, 1899.

Body:
"Principle 6 – whoever consciously and intentionally rejects or neglects the political teachings of the Bible is guilty of a great sin, of which he should at once repent."
...God has given us a fair vineyard, reaching from the lakes to the gulf, and from ocean to ocean, over sear coast and mountain and prairie, yielding nearly every vegetable and mineral product that men can desire and embracing nearly every climate. He wants fruit from us. ...The fruit he wants is justice and righteousness. Instead of justice there is the oppression of trusts and monopolies, the extortion of usury and of unjust taxation, and instead of righteousness there is the cry of the poor and afflicted. If, instead of listening to the messengers of the lord of the vineyard, we deliberately turn our backs to them and shut our ears, what will he do?

The chapters include:
4. Christ and Reform
5. Expediency vs. Righteousness
7. The Judgment of the Church (including a section on "Ministers should study their Bibles before Trying to Preach Politics")
13. The Ideal Woman (including "Is There Any Better Way of Hearing Them in Political Matters than through the Ballot Box?")
19. Usury, or Interest
22. Labor's Book (including "the Fourth Commandment is a Labor Law")
23. Natural and Artificial Monopolies
24. The Railroads
25. The Trusts
26. The Liquor Traffic

The foil for the main teacher of the book, Brother Jones, is a very learned preacher named Dr. Luther Calvin Wesley (yeah, it's not very subtle), who insists that Jesus' teachings are about spiritual things and not political things.

Just for emphasis, the date on this book is 1899. Anyone who believes popular evangelical Christianity has always been either apolitical or wedded to a conservative agenda needs to learn their history.

Posted: Tue - September 27, 2005 at 10:30 AM           |

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