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Interpreting God's Word: John Brown's Family Bible
The Bible directed John Brown's adult life. A stern Calvinist by temperament and outlook, he was not a formal member of any organized church. Still, Brown read the Bible daily, receiving inspiration from both the Old and New Testaments. Brown marked passages which spoke to him in this family Bible.
Although slavery often is condoned in the Bible, Brown believed that the Golden Rule -- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you -- implicitly condemned slavery. In Brown's eyes, God supported violence in the service of a just cause. |