I have been talking about the theological groundwork of the Revolutionary war and the sermon Content in the years leading up to it. The amount of Biblical and philosophical knowledge is amazing and the density of the sermons and studies are remarkable. There is none of our favorite process of reading a passage, hopefully in context, and than asking what everyone feels about the passage or what personal benefit does each individual feel they get from. Sermons had headings that basically showed what God spoken and what we should believe and according to the speaking. Amazing erudition is brought bear upon passages that are clear such as “rebellion is like unto witchcraft” or “every authority comes from God” 1 Samuel 15, Romans 13, to commandments to care for and protect the neighbor. How do you square God calling your activity witchcraft when you are rebelling against what you consider an unjust King but your neighbors believe that subjection to the crown is a blessing?
i also noticed that good historical information came from chaplains who chronicled battles, retreats, victories, defeats, morale, sickness, food preparation, and put all of it terms of victory was because of God’s favor and defeat meant routing out some shame or vice. There is also some heart searching on obvious ethical issues like one persons right to free expression or freedom of assembly and the denial of the same rights to neighbors and former friends who were royalist and sang “God Save the King”. The law of love that was supposed to extend too all was denied these folks and there needed to be a theological and moral reason.
In one chaplain’s journal after a particularly harrowing retreat through territory controlled by loyalists and finding food and forage hidden and the population gone the chaplain talked in valed and dark terms of another “Meroz”. I didn’t know what Meroz was but found a patriot sermon about it that must have lasted 2 hours as spoken. It is a dense treatise that shows an intellectual depth that is amazing. Someday I would like to compare this covenant theology with Lutheran perspective Of the theology of the cross and the two Kingdoms.
For you edification read Judges 5 especially verse 23.
