Channels, Fall 2019

Channels • 2019 • Volume 4 • Number 1 Page 53 more for themselves, turning away from authorities on Bible interpretation. 17 Perhaps this offers a reason how both sides could make the same moral claims from the Bible that could not both be true. These religious beliefs influenced how many Americans understood war. In fact, religion gave war in America a sort of purpose, where churches were “asserting divine blessing and pleading for divine deliverance and triumph.” 18 Specifically, during the Civil War, churches and church leaders held incredible positions of influence. It is estimated that half of the southern clergy took on additional roles for the war effort such as chaplains or hospital workers, believing that contributing to the success of the Confederacy meant working as a chosen instrument of God for His divine plan in the nation. 19 Church leaders not only taught but modeled that religion and society were related. Lincoln’s “A Kingdom Divided” speech may be one of the most famous biblical reference examples during the Civil War. April Holm discusses the nature of Lincoln’s citation of Matthew 12:25 in her book, A Kingdom Divided. She claims that the listeners would have immediately recognized the textual reference as a citation from Scripture. 20 Lincoln’s use of this passage and its reception show that Americans saw their nation as one that “embodied the divine promise of a kingdom of God on earth.” 21 Even Lincoln’s second inaugural address “drew on Puritan oratory, the jeremiad, and themes from biblical texts in Psalms and Matthew.” 22 Such usage of biblical language reveals a religious way of interpreting the Civil War. Religion and clergy helped the nation understand the war and what their moral obligations were, but songs and hymns also played a role in the Civil War. War has a tendency to cause religious reflection, especially in hymns. 23 Edward Spann argues that “During the classic struggle of the Civil War, the hymn was a most important form of music in America.” 24 These songs affected the soldiers and stirred within them hope, bravery, patriotism, and comfort. 25 James Davis also studied the relationship between music and gallantry during the Civil War. He concludes that soldiers needed courage to survive and succeed and that soldiers believed that the outcome of the war was substantially impacted by the unified courage in their companies. 26 The words of these songs were important, and there were occasions where chaplains tweaked lyrics for specific situations soldiers encountered. 27 There are even cases where both sides sang the same songs, changing only a few words, as in the case of “The Battle-Cry of Freedom.” 28 These songs included genuine beliefs about 17 Robert J. Miller, Both Prayed to the Same God: Religion and Faith in the American Civil War , (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2007), 43-44. 18 Harry S. Stout, ”Review Essay: Religion, War, and the Meaning of America,” Religion & American Culture , 275, 284. 19 Silver, Confederate Morale & Church Propaganda , 25, 77-78. 20 Holm, A Kingdom Divided , 16. 21 Holm, A Kingdom Divided , 16. 22 Witham, A City Upon a Hill , 143. 23 Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, 15. 24 Spann, “Hymns and the Civil War,” 78. 25 Ibid, 81, 84-85. 26 James A. Davis, “Music and Gallantry in Combat During the American Civil War,” American Music , 142-143. 27 Spann, “Hymns and the Civil War,” 79. 28 Ibid, 80.