...On Being Confederate and Christian
The average Confederate soldier was devoutly Christian. They came from families strongly influenced by the camp meetings of the Great Revival that had swept thru Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas in the early parts of the nineteenth century. Most were of Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian heritage. Many carried their Bibles from home, as well as a Soldier's Prayer Book. The faith that kept them going under the direst of circumstances is the same faith held to by many conservative evangelical christians today. The basis of that faith is contained here in the scriptures known collectively as The Roman Road.
The Roman Road To Salvation
Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 5:8 (KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
Romans 10:9 (KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
Romans 10:13 (KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Romans 10:10 (KJV) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
The Soldier's Prayer Book was a pocket sized book that contained a collection of prayers for different occasions as well as assorted hymns and psalms. Click here to see excerpts from The Soldier's Prayer Book, printed in 1861.