Spoke 19
Psalms, Mark, II John
O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of
thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and
will call upon the name of the LORD.
Spoke 19, Cycle 1
(Psalm 116.16)
The Nineteenth Letter Quph has has the seemingly paradoxical association with both Holiness and
the Flesh. This duality manifests most obviously in the Holiness Movement and
the introduction of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Both of these ideas
come together in the Nineteenth Century abolition of Flesh Trade (Slavery)
led largely by prominent members of the Holiness/Evangelical Movement.
Abolition in England (1809 - 1833)
God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave
trade and the reformation of manners [i.e. morality]. [W. Wilberforce]
From his teens, William Wilberforce 
was appalled by slavery. At the age of 17, he wrote to a York paper
"in condemnation of the odious traffic in human flesh." His passions were only amplified by his conversion
to to an evangelical (Wesleyan style) branch of the Anglican Church in 1784. His efforts to end slavery
were applauded by his spiritual father in this, the
John Wesley's last letter to him, written
in 1781:
Dear Sir:
Unless the divine power has raised you us to be as Athanasius contra
mundum, [Athanasius against the world] I see not how you can go through your glorious
enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy which is the scandal of religion,
of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very
thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be
fore you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O
be not weary of well doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his
might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall
vanish away before it.
The Holiness Movement and the Abolition of Slavery were
profoundly related, the one being instrumental in the destruction of the other. Here's another link
to a biography about William Wilberforce, where he is called
The Liberator .
Abolition in America (1865)
If Wilberforce's struggle threatened to wear him out "by the opposition of men and devils" what then
would be the fate of he who would oppose American slavery "the vilest that ever saw the sun?"
Abraham Lincoln was murdered, and the fight against American slavery tore the
country apart, setting brother against brother, and soaking the
land in blood. But victory was finally won, and in 1865 the 13th Ammendment was passed, abolishing
slavery from the United States of America.
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Bible Wheel Forum
Abolition of Slavery