A special two-day series of lectures that explore the role that religion had in the American Revolution are held in various venues March 26 and 27, as part of the 250th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the United States. Sponsors of the event are the Bristol Historical Association, the King University Institute of Faith and Culture, and the Rocky Mount Historic Site.
The speaker for the event is James Byrd of Vanderbilt University Divinity School. He is the author of the book “Sacred Scripture, Sacred War: The Bible and the American Revolution.” The book, published in 2017, was a winner of an Award of Merit in the Christianity Today Book Awards, History/Biography category.
A review stated that through this book “James Byrd offers the first comprehensive analysis of how American revolutionaries defended their patriotic convictions through scripture. ... Brilliantly researched and cogently argued, ‘Sacred Scripture, Sacred War’ sheds new light on the Revolutionary War.”
Byrd speaks in the chapel of State Street United Methodist Church at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 26. This event is free and open to the public. On Friday morning, March 27, at 9:15 a.m. Byrd speaks in the chapel of King University. This event is designed for the students of King University, but the public is welcome. On Friday evening, March 27, Professor Byrd speaks at the Rocky Mount Historic Site, with the time and details of that event to be announced.
