"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.
Noah's Curse
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"Well-researched, interdisciplinary, and strongly moral Historians of American religion, race relations, or slavery, as well as theologians interested in the interplay between the Bible, culture, and social problems, will find this book as excellent resource."-- The Journal of Religion
"Noah's Curse must be recognized as the most innovative and enlightening study of the Biblical defense of American slavery ever published. The dubious legend of Noah, as Stephen R. Haynes points out, is still with us, along with the Confederate symbols flying over public places and fundamentalists denouncing racial mixing. The Southern mind, he brilliantly explains, has woven the conventions of honor, the burdens of shame, the practice of race subordination, and the concept of divine grace into a single cultural fabric. In the field of religious and sectional history, this work will take an honored place next to the studies of Eugene Genovese and Donald Mathews. No one interested in American religious history can ignore this intellectually powerful study."--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, University of Florida; Author of Southern Honor and The Shaping of Southern Culture
"The ancient rabbis suggested that every biblical text has seventy legitimate meanings (and no doubt an infinite number of illegitimate ones). Stephen Haynes has produced an amazing history of interpretation of the Ham and Nimrod narratives. It becomes clear through his careful research that such texts are supple and vulnerable to misguided theological passion. This book lets us reflect on old mistakes and, by inference, invites us to reflect on our own availability for parallel misreadings. Noah's Curse is an exercise in historical disclosure not to be missed by those who care about the crisis of reading in the church and in a Bible-rooted culture."--Walter Brueggemann, Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; Author of Spirituality of the Psalms>
"Haynes's study provides a thorough and rich sense of the interpretive history of the scriptural story"--Christian Century
About the Author
Stephen R. Haynes holds the A.B. Curry Chair of Religious Studies at Rhodes College, where he has taught since 1989. His publications include Reluctant Witnesses: Jews and the Christian Imagination (1995) and, as co-editor, To Each its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application (1993)
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More About the Author
Stephen R. Haynes is Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis and Theologian-in-Residence at Idlewild Presbyterian Church. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation (Oxford, 2012).
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I liked this book overall. It's an interesting bit of analysis on the issue. The author is a religious scholar, though, not a political historian. The analysis is very good, but there's not a great deal of discussion about how the South used the "curse" to justify slavery. That information is there, just not in as great a depth as possible. A nice addition to the study of religion and slavery, however.
10 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
"History repeats itself", someone said. Humankind keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over, and seems never to learn any lesson. We witness abuse, violence, war, and sacrifice almost on a daily basis, and we do not even realize that our senses are immersed in a secular slumber, a state of semi-hypnotic condition, that refrains us from seeing clearly the true nature of things; homicides, genocides, and horrific principles such as Slavery, have catalyzed - and still are catalyzing - the lives of millions around the world, becoming in some cases, socially accepted behaviors. Fortunately for us, courageous authors, writers, and scholars, attempt to lift humanity to a higher level of consciousness, by inquiring on the reasons behind the occurrence of such horrible and questionable acts; by publishing their works, they aim to unveil the mysterious motives that may have caused those terrible outcomes, and more importantly, reach for new readers, so that to propagate a sense of general awareness among the current and the next generations, preventing those events from happening again.
Stephen R. Haynes, Ph.D, is one of them: he focuses on the history of United States of America, and seeks to find a justification to American Slavery with his book "Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification to American Slavery". His work sapiently elucidates through a very extensive anthropological and historical analysis, how the Holy Bible has heavily contributed to the formation and continuation of the American social fabric, particularly in the Southern states of the Union; there, intellectuals, proprietors of lands, entrepreneurs, and simple citizens, relied on the scripts of the Bible - through their spiritual leaders and the clergy -, to create a religious rationale for slavery, racism, segregation, and secession from the Northern states. The key arguments of the book in actuality, are based on the centrality of the singular and biased interpretation of the paragraphs of Genesis 9-11 and 9-25 on behalf of the Southern religious congregations, whose most famous exponent was Benjamin M. Palmer, father founder of the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Bible's paragraph 9-11 treats of dispersion and segregation of the peoples on earth and racial differentiation, as supposedly conceived and designed by God. Paragraph 9-25 instead, relates to the overly famous curse that Noah throws to one of his three sons, Ham -who has disrespected and dishonored him - as an explanation and a justification for racial slavery. In fact, Ham casually views his father's nudity and derides him in front of his brothers, Shem and Japheth, who instead, remaining loyal to their father cover him with a blanket. Noah will curse Ham and all his descendants - biblically the "African Race", based on Genesis 9-11 -, condemning them to perpetual slavery to the progenies of the brothers, ergo, the rest of the population of the world.
As abovementioned, Haynes argues that these significant passages represent the foundation of the Southern religious thought, along with the legend of Ham's descendant Nimrod (Gen. 10: 6-10), and the Tower of Babel story (Gen. 11:1-10). From these sections of the Bible, Nimrod emerges as a rebel to the word and the sacred unquestionable teachings of God, an expansionist, a vain idolater and the precursor of tyranny, the symbol of human race's darker side; the writer explores tirelessly the numerous and variegate ways in which the Bible was read by American proslavery apologists, with reference to the same fundamental thesis of "Order and Disorder", which were truly sensitive values still, espoused in the Southern states. He comes to the conclusion that for these and other reasons, Nimrod and his descendants will be associated with "blackness", a synonym for impurity, lust, dishonor and disorder, and as such, inclined to disobey God and His laws. These components would eventually epitomize the rationale behind the intellectual and racial inferiority of the Africans, and support the cause for their subordination on behalf of the "superior white Christians".
Interestingly, the author emphasizes with outstanding accuracy how these concepts were initially adopted by the first devout Christian scholars, and then escalated throughout centuries of human history, particularly in chapter three of the book, (Unauthorized Biography-The Legend of
Nimrod and His Tower, 41-61), and later in chapter six, (The Grandson of Disorder-Nimrod Comes to America, 105-121); there, Haynes accompanies the readers in a ideal maritime journey that touches the havens of Jewish and Christian diverse interpretations through the Middle Ages, Reformation and Renaissance, and Eighteen and Nineteen Centuries. Fascinatingly, during these phases of history, the themes that shaped the ideological contribution that later led to the engagement in the activity of Slavery of the African Race, appear to be progressively tangible and evident.
A significant part of the book however, is dedicated to the figure of Benjamin M. Palmer, a proslavery intellectual and leader in the southern Presbyterian Church from the 1850s until his death in 1902. Haynes provides facts and references on the life of this individual, whose endeavors twisted irreparably the minds of the Southern people. Palmer's speeches were able to attract thousands of viewers, and become legendary. "National Responsibility Before God", delivered in New Orleans in 1861 and strongly endorsed by the Government of Louisiana, is one of them, in which Palmer makes a very strong case for Slavery and Segregation by referring to the testament of the Sacred Scriptures. More importantly, Palmer accentuates the uniqueness of the God-given mission of the White Christians to prosper, expand their territories - as direct descendants of Noah's son, Japheth -, and perpetuate the state of servitude of Ham's progenies.
Interestingly, the use of verbs such as "prosper and expand" represent the true leitmotif behind the institution of Slavery, a motive that was never acknowledged by the Southern supporters. Slavery guaranteed the supply of labor at no-cost whatsoever and rich plantations' owners subtly sheltered in the aforementioned religious rationale to justify it and motivate its preservation.
Haynes portrays Palmer at times as a living paradox, because of his remarkable and chameleonic ability to adapt his interpretation of the Bible to the different moments of American history. Whether to advocate slavery or secession Palmer acts as an apostle towards his congregation and his proselytes, providing an appropriate version depending on the cause to defend. Curiously, the author also attempts to draw a psychological profile of Palmer based on his biography (159), where the conflicted relationship with his father seem to have impinged on the aggressive bias that conditioned Palmer's view of Noah's prophecy; in actuality however, although Haynes' argument potentially carries some hints of veracity and tends to offer an interesting reading key to better comprehend Palmer's perspectives, we should recognize that it is probably dictated by the author's basic disapproval of his ideas; it amounts to a brief, succinct and non-scientific analysis that essentially cannot be proved.
Nevertheless, the book is particularly appreciable and represents an amazing source of information, if not for the extensive work of research, at least for the endless list of references to other texts and the Bible itself, which amounts to almost thirty percent of the whole volume. In fact, Haynes repeatedly includes references to the efforts of other scholars, such as Eugene Genovese, and quotes citations from other proslavery writers of the past centuries, such as Christopher Memminger and Michael P. Johnston (79); astonishingly, Memminger explained in 1835 that "the slavery institution dignifies the family, because each planter is a patriarch" (like Noah, who was attempting to re-establish order in the world after the deluge). He was then echoed by Johnston, who suggested that "the reciprocal parent-child obligations and affections of the plantation household gave meaning to those involved". In essence, Haynes helps us understand that according to the southern intellectuals, the institution of slavery was sacred because it was synonym of social order and stability, and both the master and slave benefited from it.
On the other hand, although Haynes' approach certainly attests the diligent and profound dedication invested in the development of this extraordinary work, it is somewhat observable that the unprepared reader - or at least that who does not regularly enjoy the pace and the structure of similar academic tomes - might face a few difficulties with his writing style; in fact, the majority of the passages of the book continuously refer to other texts, so that the reader is compelled to consult with notes and bibliography, with the result of losing the harmony and the flow of Haynes discourse.
Overall, Stephen Haynes, who is an associate professor holding a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from Emory University, an M.A. from Florida State University, and a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, has produced an amazing book, whose philosophical and social impact on the minds of readers cannot be neglected; it is in fact one of the recommendations, evidenced in his conclusion (220), that the we all should be aware of the intertwined nature of Religion and Society, and he argues that many in the past have failed to include the importance of the religious influence exerted on the development of racial prejudice. As an example, the author cites "The Anatomy of Prejudices", by Elisabeth Young -Bruehl, where psychoanalysis is instrumental in defining racism as a form of hysterical prejudice based on repressed sexual desires. Read more ›
Stephen R. Haynes, Ph.D, is one of them: he focuses on the history of United States of America, and seeks to find a justification to American Slavery with his book "Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification to American Slavery". His work sapiently elucidates through a very extensive anthropological and historical analysis, how the Holy Bible has heavily contributed to the formation and continuation of the American social fabric, particularly in the Southern states of the Union; there, intellectuals, proprietors of lands, entrepreneurs, and simple citizens, relied on the scripts of the Bible - through their spiritual leaders and the clergy -, to create a religious rationale for slavery, racism, segregation, and secession from the Northern states. The key arguments of the book in actuality, are based on the centrality of the singular and biased interpretation of the paragraphs of Genesis 9-11 and 9-25 on behalf of the Southern religious congregations, whose most famous exponent was Benjamin M. Palmer, father founder of the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Bible's paragraph 9-11 treats of dispersion and segregation of the peoples on earth and racial differentiation, as supposedly conceived and designed by God. Paragraph 9-25 instead, relates to the overly famous curse that Noah throws to one of his three sons, Ham -who has disrespected and dishonored him - as an explanation and a justification for racial slavery. In fact, Ham casually views his father's nudity and derides him in front of his brothers, Shem and Japheth, who instead, remaining loyal to their father cover him with a blanket. Noah will curse Ham and all his descendants - biblically the "African Race", based on Genesis 9-11 -, condemning them to perpetual slavery to the progenies of the brothers, ergo, the rest of the population of the world.
As abovementioned, Haynes argues that these significant passages represent the foundation of the Southern religious thought, along with the legend of Ham's descendant Nimrod (Gen. 10: 6-10), and the Tower of Babel story (Gen. 11:1-10). From these sections of the Bible, Nimrod emerges as a rebel to the word and the sacred unquestionable teachings of God, an expansionist, a vain idolater and the precursor of tyranny, the symbol of human race's darker side; the writer explores tirelessly the numerous and variegate ways in which the Bible was read by American proslavery apologists, with reference to the same fundamental thesis of "Order and Disorder", which were truly sensitive values still, espoused in the Southern states. He comes to the conclusion that for these and other reasons, Nimrod and his descendants will be associated with "blackness", a synonym for impurity, lust, dishonor and disorder, and as such, inclined to disobey God and His laws. These components would eventually epitomize the rationale behind the intellectual and racial inferiority of the Africans, and support the cause for their subordination on behalf of the "superior white Christians".
Interestingly, the author emphasizes with outstanding accuracy how these concepts were initially adopted by the first devout Christian scholars, and then escalated throughout centuries of human history, particularly in chapter three of the book, (Unauthorized Biography-The Legend of
Nimrod and His Tower, 41-61), and later in chapter six, (The Grandson of Disorder-Nimrod Comes to America, 105-121); there, Haynes accompanies the readers in a ideal maritime journey that touches the havens of Jewish and Christian diverse interpretations through the Middle Ages, Reformation and Renaissance, and Eighteen and Nineteen Centuries. Fascinatingly, during these phases of history, the themes that shaped the ideological contribution that later led to the engagement in the activity of Slavery of the African Race, appear to be progressively tangible and evident.
A significant part of the book however, is dedicated to the figure of Benjamin M. Palmer, a proslavery intellectual and leader in the southern Presbyterian Church from the 1850s until his death in 1902. Haynes provides facts and references on the life of this individual, whose endeavors twisted irreparably the minds of the Southern people. Palmer's speeches were able to attract thousands of viewers, and become legendary. "National Responsibility Before God", delivered in New Orleans in 1861 and strongly endorsed by the Government of Louisiana, is one of them, in which Palmer makes a very strong case for Slavery and Segregation by referring to the testament of the Sacred Scriptures. More importantly, Palmer accentuates the uniqueness of the God-given mission of the White Christians to prosper, expand their territories - as direct descendants of Noah's son, Japheth -, and perpetuate the state of servitude of Ham's progenies.
Interestingly, the use of verbs such as "prosper and expand" represent the true leitmotif behind the institution of Slavery, a motive that was never acknowledged by the Southern supporters. Slavery guaranteed the supply of labor at no-cost whatsoever and rich plantations' owners subtly sheltered in the aforementioned religious rationale to justify it and motivate its preservation.
Haynes portrays Palmer at times as a living paradox, because of his remarkable and chameleonic ability to adapt his interpretation of the Bible to the different moments of American history. Whether to advocate slavery or secession Palmer acts as an apostle towards his congregation and his proselytes, providing an appropriate version depending on the cause to defend. Curiously, the author also attempts to draw a psychological profile of Palmer based on his biography (159), where the conflicted relationship with his father seem to have impinged on the aggressive bias that conditioned Palmer's view of Noah's prophecy; in actuality however, although Haynes' argument potentially carries some hints of veracity and tends to offer an interesting reading key to better comprehend Palmer's perspectives, we should recognize that it is probably dictated by the author's basic disapproval of his ideas; it amounts to a brief, succinct and non-scientific analysis that essentially cannot be proved.
Nevertheless, the book is particularly appreciable and represents an amazing source of information, if not for the extensive work of research, at least for the endless list of references to other texts and the Bible itself, which amounts to almost thirty percent of the whole volume. In fact, Haynes repeatedly includes references to the efforts of other scholars, such as Eugene Genovese, and quotes citations from other proslavery writers of the past centuries, such as Christopher Memminger and Michael P. Johnston (79); astonishingly, Memminger explained in 1835 that "the slavery institution dignifies the family, because each planter is a patriarch" (like Noah, who was attempting to re-establish order in the world after the deluge). He was then echoed by Johnston, who suggested that "the reciprocal parent-child obligations and affections of the plantation household gave meaning to those involved". In essence, Haynes helps us understand that according to the southern intellectuals, the institution of slavery was sacred because it was synonym of social order and stability, and both the master and slave benefited from it.
On the other hand, although Haynes' approach certainly attests the diligent and profound dedication invested in the development of this extraordinary work, it is somewhat observable that the unprepared reader - or at least that who does not regularly enjoy the pace and the structure of similar academic tomes - might face a few difficulties with his writing style; in fact, the majority of the passages of the book continuously refer to other texts, so that the reader is compelled to consult with notes and bibliography, with the result of losing the harmony and the flow of Haynes discourse.
Overall, Stephen Haynes, who is an associate professor holding a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from Emory University, an M.A. from Florida State University, and a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, has produced an amazing book, whose philosophical and social impact on the minds of readers cannot be neglected; it is in fact one of the recommendations, evidenced in his conclusion (220), that the we all should be aware of the intertwined nature of Religion and Society, and he argues that many in the past have failed to include the importance of the religious influence exerted on the development of racial prejudice. As an example, the author cites "The Anatomy of Prejudices", by Elisabeth Young -Bruehl, where psychoanalysis is instrumental in defining racism as a form of hysterical prejudice based on repressed sexual desires. Read more ›
By andy
Format:Paperback
Ignore the odd negative reviews that seem to be written by agenda driven posters--esp the thinly veiled anti-Semitic posts that imply Black slavery was created by the Jews. This is a well written thought provoking book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ham story as justification for "white" "Race" domination n slavery &...
Although Dr. Haynes, a religion professor at Memphis' Rhodes College sent me this book, as part of his self explanation for the more recent LAST SEGREGATED HOUR, (OXFORD 20120) I... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Howard M. Romaine
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why care about Noah?
The Old Testament has never been of much interest to me either theological or literary. Perhaps being able to read this book is one reason I rate it with four stars. Read more
Published on November 14, 2009 by Barrie W. Bracken
2.0 out of 5 stars
There is no Biblical justification of black slavery - this book is a...
"Noah's Curse - The Midrash and Maimonides' Justification of American Slavery" --now that would be an accurate title for a book on the theme of sacred texts that support black... Read more
Published on November 10, 2009 by Michael Hoffman
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 131
books:
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7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. 5: Gregory of Nyssa: Domatic Treatises, Etc. by Philip Schaff on 6 pages
- A Commentary on the Whole Bible: Genesis to Deuteronomy (Reference Library) by Matthew Henry on 6 pages
- Honor and Violence in the Old South by Bertram Wyatt-Brown on 6 pages
- City of God (Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans) (Pelican Classics) by Augustine of Hippo on 6 pages
- Religion and the American Civil War by Randall M. Miller on 5 pages
See all 131 books this book cites
- Miracle in Birmingham: A Civil Rights Memoir 1954-1965 by W. Edward Harris on page 17
- Nathaniel Taylor, New Haven Theology, and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards (Religion in America Series (Oxford University Press).) by Douglas A. Sweeney in Front Matter
- Professing in the Postmodern Academy: Faculty and the Future of Church-Related Colleges. (Issues in Religion and Higher Education) by Stephen R. Haynes in Back Matter
- A Controversial Spirit: Evangelical Awakenings in the South (Religion in America) by Philip N. Mulder in Front Matter
- The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World) by David M. Goldenberg in Back Matter
See all 7 books citing this book
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