Rev Frederick Augustus Ross, was a Presbyterian minister whose 1857 book, Slavery As Ordained of God, became one of the most influential religious defenses of slavery in the United States. While abolitionists argued that slavery violated both Christian teaching and basic human rights, Ross insisted that slavery was not only biblical but part of God’s ordained order. His writings became a powerful weapon for those seeking to defend slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War.
Frederick Augustus Ross was born on December 25, 1796, in Cumberland County, Virginia. He was the son of David Ross, a wealthy businessman from Richmond whose family had emigrated from Scotland during the eighteenth century.
Ross attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, as part of the Class of 1815, although he never graduated. A few years later, in 1818, he entered the Presbyterian ministry and began what would become a decades-long career as one of the South’s most outspoken clergymen.
After entering the ministry, Ross moved to Kingsport, Tennessee, where he built the grand Rotherwood mansion along Netherland Inn Road. He became pastor of the Old Kingsport Presbyterian Church in 1826 and briefly served as an evangelist in Kentucky and Ohio before returning to Tennessee.
During the split between the Old School and New School branches of the Presbyterian Church in the late 1830s, Ross sided with the New School faction. After more than two decades in Tennessee, he accepted a call to First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama, where he served from 1855 until his retirement in 1875.
Although Ross reportedly emancipated enslaved Africans he owned early in his ministry, he later became a slave owner again and spent much of his career publicly defending slavery as a biblical institution.
The Book That Defended Slavery
In 1857, Ross published Slavery As Ordained of God, a book written to counter the growing anti-slavery movement within American churches.
Unlike some pro-slavery ministers who argued that Christians should simply accept slavery because the Bible did not explicitly forbid it, Ross went much further. In Slavery As Ordained of God, he argued that slavery was established by God Himself and that Christians had a duty to defend it against its critics.
Ross’ Main Arguments
In Slavery As Ordained of God, Ross attempted to prove that slavery was not simply tolerated in the Bible but was a permanent institution established by God. The book consists of speeches, letters and theological essays responding to Christian opponents of slavery. Its central arguments include the following:
Slavery was part of God’s divine order
Ross argued that all legitimate forms of human government, including the relationship between master and slave, were established by God. Since Scripture regulated slavery without abolishing it, he concluded that slavery itself could not be considered sinful. According to Ross, calling slavery immoral was equivalent to accusing God of approving evil.
The Bible’s patriarchs proved slavery was acceptable
Ross repeatedly cited Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other Old Testament patriarchs, noting that they owned slaves while remaining faithful servants of God. He argued that because God never condemned these men for slaveholding, slavery could not be inherently wrong.
Jesus and the apostles never condemned slavery
One of Ross’ strongest arguments was that Jesus never directly condemned slavery during His earthly ministry. He also pointed to the Apostle Paul’s instructions for slaves to obey their masters and for masters to treat their slaves justly. Ross argued that if Christ and the apostles had viewed slavery as sinful, they would have explicitly forbidden it.
The anti-slavery movement was rebelling against Scripture
Ross devoted much of the book to attacking Christian abolitionists. He accused them of allowing emotion, politics and public opinion to override biblical authority. In Ross’ view, Christians who declared slavery sinful were not merely challenging Southern society but rejecting the plain teaching of Scripture itself.
Slavery benefited enslaved Africans
Ross claimed slavery brought Africans into contact with Christianity, education and what he considered “civilized” society. He argued that, under Christian masters, enslaved Africans were spiritually and morally better off than they would have been in Africa. This paternalistic argument became one of the most common justifications for slavery among pro-slavery ministers in the nineteenth century.
Equality did not mean social equality
Ross also challenged the abolitionist use of the Declaration of Independence’s statement that “all men are created equal.” He argued that while all people were equal before God in a spiritual sense, God had established different ranks and relationships in society, including masters and slaves. Therefore, he believed the Declaration could not be used to condemn slavery.
His Public Battle Against Anti-Slavery Christians
Ross became one of the South’s most vocal critics of ministers who opposed slavery. He frequently attacked Presbyterian theologian Albert Barnes and other Christian abolitionists, accusing them of twisting Scripture to fit political ideology.
To Ross, defending slavery was not simply a political position. It was, in his mind, a defense of Christianity itself.
Frederick Augustus Ross died on April 13, 1883, in Huntsville, Alabama, leaving behind a legacy that remains deeply controversial.
Although he spent more than six decades in the Presbyterian ministry, he is remembered today primarily for Slavery As Ordained of God, a book that attempted to use the Bible to justify one of history’s greatest injustices.
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Sources:
https://papersofabrahamlincoln.org/persons/RO40287
