In the early 19th century, Richard Furman was one of the most influential Baptist leaders in the American South. Revered for his intellect and preaching, Furman left behind a legacy that is now deeply controversial: he defended slavery not just as Godly, but as spiritually beneficial for enslaved Africans.
Born in Esopus, New York, Furman grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, in a family of preachers. Despite limited formal schooling, Furman’s curiosity and discipline led him to teach himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and a wide range of subjects including theology, history, and medicine.
Furman embraced the Baptist faith at sixteen and began preaching soon after, quickly earning a reputation as a knowledgeable and persuasive minister. During the American War of Independence, he played an active role in supporting the patriot cause.
After the war, Furman devoted himself entirely to the Baptist church, becoming pastor of Charleston Baptist Church in 1786, a position he would hold for life. His influence extended far beyond the pulpit: he helped educate aspiring ministers, founded the Charleston Bible Society, and encouraged missionary activity across the state.
Furman also played a central role in the formation of the Triennial Convention, the earliest national Baptist organization, serving as its first president in 1814. His advocacy for ministerial education helped lay the groundwork for institutions like Columbian College, now George Washington University, and later, Furman University was founded in his honor.
Yet despite his achievements, Furman’s legacy is deeply controversial. While he opposed slavery in his youth, he later became a slave owner and a vocal defender of the enslavement of Africans, publishing in 1822 Exposition of the Views of the Baptists Relative to the Coloured Population of the United States.
Written after the Denmark Vesey conspiracy, a planned slave uprising in Charleston that heightened fear among slaveholders, the treatise defended slavery on both religious and moral grounds and influenced Southern thinking for many decades.
In this work, Furman made the shocking argument that slavery could be a spiritual blessing for enslaved Africans. He suggested that by placing Africans under the care of Christian masters, they were given access to the Bible, moral instruction, and guidance in faith, opportunities they might never have had otherwise.
Furman went beyond saying the Bible tolerated slavery; he argued that if slavery were morally wrong, the Apostles would never have tolerated it in the early church. Instead, he claimed, early Christian leaders left the master‑slave relationship “untouched as being lawful and right.” He wrote that proving slavery justifiable by Scripture actually proved its morality because, in his view, “the Divine Law never sanctions immoral actions.”
He even rejected the idea that the Golden Rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” should apply to slavery, claiming it could not override a divinely established social order. According to Furman, social hierarchy existed because God willed it.
Furman argued that enslaved Africans had a religious responsibility to obey their masters, presenting obedience as part of God’s divine order. He wrote that it was the duty of slaves to respect their masters, work diligently, remain faithful, and look after their masters’ interests. Without fulfilling these duties, he claimed, they could neither be considered faithful servants of God nor recognized as proper members of the Christian Church.
At the same time, Furman placed moral obligations on masters. He insisted that they were responsible for guiding and disciplining their slaves, including overseeing their religious instruction. Furman warned that without such control, slaves might be exposed to “dangerous ideas” that could lead to disobedience or even rebellion, framing the master-slave relationship as both a spiritual and social hierarchy.
Furman also warned that abolitionist teachings were more threatening than slavery itself, claiming they could destabilize society and corrupt the spiritual lives of the enslaved. Furman went so far as to argue that sudden emancipation could bring poverty, ignorance, and moral decline to those freed. By presenting slavery as potentially spiritually beneficial,
Furman’s work gave theological cover to pro‑slavery arguments in the antebellum South for decades. By presenting slavery as not only lawful but spiritually defensible, even beneficial, he helped shape a religious framework that allowed white slaveholders to see themselves as moral agents rather than oppressors.
Richard Furman died on August 25, 1825, at the age kf 69, leaving behind a complicated legacy. While he shaped Baptist institutions and ministerial education, his writings defending slavery as morally and spiritually justified continued to influence the South for decades after his death.
Today, Furman’s treatise reminds us how religion can be used to justify injustice. It also exposes the disturbing ways morality and faith were manipulated to uphold power and racial hierarchy, forcing enslaved Africans into obedience and stripping them of freedom and dignity
Source:
https://locatinglegacies.org/s/furman/item/619
https://macmillan.yale.edu/glc/exposition-views-baptists-relative-coloured-population
