Fire From the Midst of You: A Religious Life of John Brown

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View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction."[DeCaro] provide[s] a concise, sympathetic, and, on occasion, dramatic and compelling account of Brown."
—The Journal of American History"Readable and well-researched."
—Journal of the West"The biography nicely integrates the moral imperative of the Brown family, particularly the ideal of racial egalitarianism, with increasing sectional tension.

Engagingly written."
—American Historical Review"In this biography, Louis A. DeCaro reveals the religious integrity of a man whom others have seen as a criminal, a lunatic or a study in contradictions."
—Christian Century""Fire from the Midst of You" is the first major religious biography of John Brown...should become a classic religious biography...no future work on Brown can be complete without a serious consideration of its many claims and insights."
—Journal of the American Academy of Religion"DeCaro's challenging book depicts [John Brown] as a man ahead of his time...From its title (a line from Ezekiel) to its last line, Fire From the Midst of You brings to life an austere time when America saw itself as a Christian nation and fire-and-brimstone gospel shaped the populace."
—Philadelphia Inquirer"Handsomely produced and fluently written, the book is based on extensive research: a very worthwhile addition to the scholarship relating to John Brown."
—Journal of American Studies"A welcome addition to the literature of John Brown."
—Publishers Weekly?Decaro sets out to establish Brown?s legacy as one grounded in an alternative evangelical tradition that decried pacifism, developed a doctrine of holy war, and called any church that did not actively work for abolition anti-Christian.

He places Brown in his religious milieu, reforming the legacy of this religious extremist.?
—Library Journal"DeCaro mines a wealth of information about Brown and the black community, showing that Brown was a well known antislavery activist and ally long before the Harper's Ferry raid of 1859."
—Oakland PostJohn Brown is usually remembered as a terrorist whose unbridled hatred of slavery drove him to the ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859.

Tried and executed for seizing the arsenal and attempting to spur a liberation movement among the slaves, Brown was the ultimate cause celebre for a country on the brink of civil war."Fire from the Midst of You" situates Brown within the religious and social context of a nation steeped in racism, showing his roots in Puritan abolitionism.

DeCaro explores Brown's unusual family heritage as well as his business and personal losses, retracing his path to the Southern gallows. In contrast to the popular image of Brown as a violent fanatic, DeCaro contextualizes Brown's actions, emphasizing the intensely religious nature of the antebellum U.S. in which he lived.

He articulates the nature of Brown's radical faith and shows that, when viewed in the context of his times, he was not the religious fanatic that many have understood him to be. DeCaro calls Brown a "Protestant saint"-an imperfect believer seeking to realize his own perceived calling in divine providence.In line with the post-millennial theology of his day, Brown understood God as working through mankind and the church to renew and revive sinful humanity.

He read the Bible not only as God's word, but as God's word to John Brown. DeCaro traces Brown's life and development to show how by forging faith as a radical weapon, Brown forced the entire nation to a point of crisis."Fire from the Midst of You" defies the standard narrative with a new reading of John Brown.

Here is the man that the preeminent Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois called a "mighty warning" and the one Malcolm X called "a real white liberal."