Channels, Fall 2019

Channels • 2019 • Volume 4 • Number 1 Page 49 A Religious Interpretation of the American Civil War as Evidenced by Biblical Language in Songs and Hymns Alyson J. Punzi History and Government Introduction he claims, “God’s on our side” and “Secure in God’s almighty name, our confidence remains” are explicitly religious lyrics. Civil War songs and hymns claimed confidence in a God who fought on their side in the national conflict. But without the rest of the song, one would find it difficult to identify which claim belonged to the Union and which belonged to the Confederacy. Soldiers on both sides claimed the same theological confidence and identity, interpreting the Civil War in biblical terms. The use of biblical language in these songs provides insight to the religious lens through which Americans understood the conflict, their role in war, and the anticipated outcome. This study argues that the nature of biblical language used in Civil War era songs and hymns, both as borrowed biblical vocabulary and as textual and narrative allusions, reveals a religious interpretation of the war. Following the methodology, this paper will include a survey of the historical and religious background of the Civil War. While the focus of this paper is not on the history, a historical and theological background of the Civil War will be necessary to properly analyze biblical language within these song lyrics. After examining the general use of songs during the war, a few songs and hymns will be analyzed to reveal the nature and function of the biblical language. Presented after each song will be a summary regarding the religious interpretation of the war that is demonstrated by the use of biblical language. Methodology Approach The methodological approach and organization will fairly and accurately represent the function of biblical language in Civil War songs and hymns. The nature of this research will be a survey of the lyrics in these Civil War songs. A varied selection of songs will be used to gain a broad understanding of the scope of biblical language use. Biblical language connections will be limited to the exact words, and the primary comparative text will be the Authorized King James Version of the English Bible. Because of the focus on words, concepts will not be considered apart from exact wording. Other musical elements of songs and hymns will also not be the object of study. This survey-like approach is similar to a study done by Peter Wood and Emma Wild-Wood, in which they T