On Hammond and Haynes
On Hammond and Haynes
Embedded Files
Jupiter Hammond. Lemuel Haynes.
If these names seem unfamiliar, you are not alone. These oft-forgotten, faithful men of God were born in what would eventually be called the United States of America in the 1700s.
Jupiter Hammond (1711 – 1806?), an enslaved man in the state of New York, was the first person of African descent to have his writings published in 1761 and is considered one of the founders of African-American literature. His piece entitled “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York” (1786) is a Christ-centered, gospel-driven plea to the other slaves in New York to seek eternal freedom from the shackles of sin in Christ Jesus, which is far better than freedom in this life. He also pleads with free Africans to not waste their earthly freedom by not believing in Him who frees men from the bondage of sin for eternity, namely Jesus Christ.
Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833) was a former indentured servant who received his freedom and went on to fight in the Revolutionary War with the Minutemen of Granville, Massachusetts. In 1785 he became the first African-American ordained by any religious body in America. On March 28, 1788 he became the pastor of an all-white congregation in Rutland, Vermont where he served for 30 years. His surviving writings and the writings or others concerning him reveal a man with constant view of eternity and urgency to preach the gospel to people because of the frequency of death in his time.
As I have been studied these men and other women and men like them for the past few years I have been encouraged by their faith and trust in the Lord, their love for other believers and their desire to see people not just have earthly freedom but that they would be free from damnation as well. I would encourage anyone reading this to read the writings of Jupiter Hammond and Lemuel Haynes and have your urgency to preach the gospel and your desire to see men and women saved increased.
Grace and Peace!
Jupiter Hammond’s “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York”: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=etas
Lemuel Haynes’ “The Character and Work of a Spiritual Watchman”: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N18083.0001.001/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse