March 22

On this day in 1873, slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico. 

Today is the birthday, in 1808, of Caroline Norton of London. She was an author and social figure who would become an early defender of the rights of women in marriage law and domestic abuse situations. She left her abusive husband, but he refused to grant her a divorce and retained custody of their children. Under existing English law, he was also able to confiscate her earnings as an author. She was instrumental in changing the laws to give women marginally more power in marriage and family. Her own experience also made her a sympathetic supporter of other social justice issues.  

Today also marks the death, in 1758, of Jonathan Edwards, preacher of the Great Awakening whose most famous sermon is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards also loved science, and argued that reason was an important part of Christian faith. While I am no fan of hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Calvinist theology, or most revival preaching, I think it’s important for progressive Christians to understand what the Great Awakening meant historically. Early evangelicalism was often subversive of religious, gender, and racial hierarchy. The idea that real Christianity was a matter of the heart and an individual relationship with Christ went against the “socially respectable” and hierarchical religion that was culturally dominant at the time. It was only after the Revolutionary War and the reduction of the influence of the Church of England that evangelicalism filled the power vacuum and began to support, among other forms of domination, slavery.

Reflection: 

When her children’s custody was granted to her abusive husband, Caroline Norton said: 

She also said: 

Jonathan Edwards wrote: 

He also said: 

Prayer: God of reason and revelation, give our society the deep knowledge that only love, justice, and equity will glorify you. Anything less, and certainly any gender supremacy, is of the devil and has the stench of hell. Let such sinful systems burn. Amen.