Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery

By Stephen R. Haynes

Book Overview

"A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." So reads Noah's curse on his son Ham, and all his descendants, in Genesis 9:25. Over centuries of interpretation, Ham came to be identified as the ancestor of black Africans, and Noah's curse to be seen as biblical justification for American slavery and segregation. Examining the history of the American interpretation of Noah's curse, this book begins with an overview of the prior history of the reception of this scripture and then turns to the distinctive and creative ways in which the curse was appropriated by American pro-slavery and pro-segregation interpreters.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195142799
• ISBN13: 9780195142792
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

In Depth Look at Historic Old Testament Slavery Justification

All serious Bible students will enjoy this deeply researched story of Ham and Noah and it’s relation to slavery and segregation. Also students of last two subjects may be interested in the use of literary studies, language studies, and other techniques to interpret one of the oldest Biblical human stories. Also, graduates of Southwestern at Memphis/Rhodes College will be challenged by the story of the Rev Palmer of New Orleans, the great theological justifier of slavery & segregation and key founder of the college!!