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Originally Posted by Contra_Mundum  As a theologian, he rates very high. He was incredibly prescient concerning certain trends.
He was a "man of his time and place," ante- and post-bellum South; and (if we would like a drop or two of charitable judgment ourselves) we should remember that, even while we assuredly want to distance ourselves from any of his racist remarks. I have never come across any of them in his theological material, but he did say and write some things which, in our time, grate upon our sensibilities. But I do not think you will find such in the vast majority of his compendious writings.
I bring up this last point, because someone (even a "person of color") could read and love Dabney, and then have some acquaintance of theirs blindside them with: "But he's an old southern racist! What are you reading him for?" Better to know ahead of time. |
I don't know about his other works. But, Dabney's
Systematic Theology does not contain anything I could find that involved ugly racism. He did, however, as you observed, say things that will grate against modern sensibilities. His use of slavery as an example of the ineffectiveness of fear as a motivator will cause more than a raised eye or two by those of us outside the south. Still, in a VERY thick book, it is amazing that the man who was a "person of his time" did not engage in such political discourse during his writing of his theology.
For example, practically the only time he touches upon the subject in his major work is when he observes:
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Indeed, slavery itself showed, by the occasional instances of tyranny, which occurred, that fear was an inadequate principle; the rod by itself never secured industry and prosperity on a plantation; but the best examples of success were always those, where kindness was chiefly relied on, (with a just and firm authority), to awaken in the slaves affection and cheerful devotion (p. 374)
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And, even though he wrote an entire biography on Stonewall Jackson, the man's name does not appear once in his
Systematic Theology.
Outside of his systematics, you can find plentiful references to slavery. For example,
The Southern Church And The Presbyterian Alliance deals with the "foul slander" and "libels" by the northern Presbyterians against those in the south over the issue of slavery. In his
Anti-Biblical Theories Of Rights, Dabney declares:
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The Scriptures indisputably declare, in both Testaments, that it is not always essentially unrighteous, since they legitimate it under suitable circumstances, and declare that godly masters may so hold the relation as to make it equitable and righteous.
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In 1861, Dabney wrote the following:
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How horrible is this war to be, of a whole North against a whole South! Not to dwell on all its incidents of shame and misery, let us ask, who are to fight it out to its bitter issue? Not the tongue-valiant brawlers, who have inflamed the feud by their prating lies about the “barbarism of slavery;” these pitiful miscreants are already hiding their cowardly persons from the storm; and its brunt must be borne by the honest, the misguided, the patriotic men of the North who in a moment of madness have been thrust into this false position.
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On The State Of The Country
As a loyal southerner, Dabney viewed the abolitionist senetiments in the north through a different lens than notherners did.
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True, they thus contradicted at once the word of God, the law of their own church as settled for all parts of it by their own Assembly of 1845, and the constitution whose integrity alone could give the North any pretext of right to rule or judge in the South.
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Fraternal Correspondence
Dabney saw the problem of northern "agitation" as a threat to one's very means of making a living:
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Thus again is illustrated the fact that abolitionism is virtual agrarianism. The new progeny of the old heresy will, in due time, convince the antislavery plutocracy of New England and Britain of their folly, by showing them that the same arguments which were suited to overthrow our right to the labor of our lawful bondsmen, are equally good to destroy their rights to their lands, factories, mines, ships, warehouses, and incomes.
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The Sabbath Of The State
If you want some of the best Reformed theology anywhere, get Dabney's
Systematic Theology. But, don't expect him to be politically correct or to reflect 21st century attitudes on mid-19th century conflicts. And, stick to his theology, not his defense of the south. That is where you will find the greatest number of racist statements.