Covenanters and Slavery - Part Ten: Conclusion - Was the War Between the States God's Judgment on America?
By Angela Wittman Readers may be familiar with the National Reform Association and the movement for a national Christian amendment acknowledging Christ as Lord in the United States Constitution. This movement has a noble history and was led by men with theological roots to the Scottish Covenanters. Wikipedia reports the movement began during the Civil War: In February 1863, while the American Civil War was being fought, a coalition of eleven Protestant denominations from seven northern states gathered to discuss the state of the nation. Seeing the Civil War as God's punishment for the omission of God from the Constitution, they discussed a proposed amendment to alter the wording of the Preamble to acknowledge God. The idea that civil governments derive their legitimacy from God, and Jesus in particular, was alleged to be based on Biblical passages such as Psalms 2 and Romans 13. Raymond Joseph was a senior pastor of Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Church , Southfield, Michigan (F