Since I already knew quite a bit about Wesley, Edwards, and Whitefield (=The Big Three), I wondered whether it was time well spent reading Ownership. I decided to read it, and am very glad I did.
In fairly short compass (184 pages of text followed by almost 30 pages of endnotes), Sean McGever has written a clear, convicting, and careful account of how slavery was addressed by The Big Three.
This is a cautionary tale where we see the problems and rationalizations of pragmatism, blind spots, and a tragic separation of heavenly existence and our present pilgrimage here on earth. On this last one, The Big Three (and many others) didn’t bother themselves with slavery because they were so focused on seeing people make it to heaven.
Jonathan Edwards spoke movingly that true virtue was “seeking the ultimate good of another person,” but it took several of his followers to make that apply to slaves.
This is a balanced and wise book on a most unsavory subject.
Highly recommended!
Since my annual books of the year was posted earlier, I was not able to include this book. It is now on that list.