Historic African American Baptist Calvinism

Yesterday, I began to do some serious work on a conference paper on Calvinism's influence on 18th and 19th century Af-Am Baptists. I read a letter from George Liele, who was a slave in VA and SC. He heard the gospel from a white New Light Baptist preacher, and the Lord opened his heart to repent from his sin and trust in Christ. He would become a slave preacher, and then his master manumitted him in order to pursue full-time ministry. Eventually, Liele would help to establish three independent Af-Am Baptist churches before fleeing the colonies in 1787 to settle in Jamaica. He is considered the father of American missions period. He is the first American Baptist to establish a church overseas.

In a letter he wrote to a white Baptist preacher in SC sometime after he settled in Jamaica, Liele mentioned that he believes in election among other biblical doctrines. He also believed in the final perserverance of the saints.

Here is a man born into slavery, fled the colonies as a loyalist to the British Crown, and founded the first Baptist church in Jamaica. He was a Calvinist. People have criticized Calvinism for being too heady and too cold. If this is so, how could this be attractive for a former slave? My point is that Calvinism makes sense of the Bible; it makes sense of the way of salvation, and the person and work of Christ. This is why a former slave was a Calvinist.