Commendations for Robert Copeland's new book
A Candle Against the Dark
A Candle Against the Dark brings into the light the courageous story of the Reformed Presbyterian Church’s fight against slavery. Robert M. Copeland, building on the earlier writing of D. Ray Wilcox, offers a book that is both informative and insightful.
—Ronald C. White
author of Lincoln in Private: What His Most Personal Reflections Tell Us About Our Greatest President.
A Candle Against the Dark tells the story of a resolute people who, against strong countervailing winds, helped prod the nation toward clearer vision and truer belief. This account reminds us of a crucial truth: There is nothing more foresighted than standing on principle.
—Eric Miller
professor of history at Geneva College and author of Glimpses of Another Land: Political Hopes, Spiritual Longing (Cascade Books, 2012)
This is a fascinating and valuable study of a Protestant denomination that, while small in numbers, was strong in its commitment and its influence toward the abolition of slavery and recognition that all humans are of one blood.
—Steven E. Woodworth
professor of history, Texas Christian University
If you've ever wondered why a picture of John Brown the abolitionist hangs in Geneva College's Macartney Library, read this book. Copeland and Wilcox present a study that is historical as well as theological in connecting the lineage of the Reformed Presbyterian Church to the abolitionist cause. Utilizing primary and secondary sources across multiple centuries, the book shows how the RP church was uniquely positioned to bring leadership with conviction in the fight against the sin of slavery before, during, and immediately following the Civil War. Students of American religious history and religious liberty in particular will find great value in this intriguing book.
—Greg Jones
instructor of history at the University of Northwestern (St. Paul), author of Civil War History, and America's Civil War (University of Notre Dame Press)
In A Candle Against the Dark, authors Copeland and Wilcox display in vivid colors the brave and brilliant resolve of Reformed Presbyterians to oppose the great sin of American slavery, to risk their own lives to emancipate slaves, and—most importantly—to shine against the dark the light of the Gospel. As John Knox wrote long ago, "In the hope of the life to come, God hath made all equal." Read and weep. Then read and rejoice.
—Byron Curtis
professor of biblical studies at Geneva College
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in America, whose members are also known as Scottish Covenanters, embraced some of the most controversial political ideas of any denomination. Firm supporters of the War for American Independence, they opposed the U.S. Constitution because it did not explicitly recognize God's sovereignty over the nation and so refused to vote or otherwise participate in national politics. But they were also among the earliest and most committed opponents of slavery in America. A Candle Against the Dark provides an excellent overview of this interesting group of Calvinists. Highly recommended.
—Mark David Hall
George Fox University, author of Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: How Christianity has Advanced Liberty and Equality for All Americans
A Candle against the Dark lays out the long fight of the Reformed Presbyterian Church against American slavery and racism. The earliest denomination in the USA to take this position, its Christian and Biblical reasons, clearly and concisely laid out in Chapter 6, give the lie to Confederate and modern neo-Confederate tales that Abolitionism was all infidel, anti-Biblical, Enlightenment and Unitarian nonsense. Extensively noted and with a large bibliography, this volume is a must-read in our time of renewed racial sensitivities.
—Phil Pockras
RP pastor