James H. Aughey (1828 – 1911) was an American Presbyterian minister and author. He is best known for his outspoken anti-Secession and pro-Union beliefs during the American Civil War, which led to his imprisonment by Confederate forces. After escaping from prison, he served as a chaplain in the Union Army.
Aughey authored several books. His most famous being, Tupelo, which discusses his imprisonment and escape, and details his experiences during the Civil War and his views on his Christian faith and freedom. His writings also show us his strong commitment to social justice.
During his career as a pastor he served in many congregations. He was also active in evangelistic efforts in Mississippi. In addition, Aughey in the 1890’s served as a missionary in the Oklahoma territory.
Aughey’s legacy is rich indeed. His Christian teachings and commitment to championing social justice causes, along with his many quotes continue to inspire Christians today. Below are many of his most famous quotes that I pray will bless you as they did me.1
“The church is not a select circle of the immaculate, but a home where the outcast may come in. It is not a palace with gate attendants and challenging sentinels along the entrance-ways holding off at arm’s-length the stranger, but rather a hospital where the broken-hearted may be healed, and where all the weary and troubled may find rest and take counsel together.”
“God brings men into deep waters not to drown them, but to cleanse them.”
“Death to the Christian is the funeral of all his sorrows and evils, and the resurrection, of all his joys.”
“Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease He cannot heal; no sin He cannot remove; no trouble He cannot help. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician who has never yet failed to heal all the spiritual maladies of every soul that has come unto Him in faith and prayer.”
“Conscience is the voice of God in the soul.”
“The mission of the Church is to seek and to save them that are lost.”
“Holiness consists of three things – separation from sin, dedication to God, transformation into Christ’s image. It is in vain that we talk about the last, unless we know something experimentally about the first.”
“Our religion is not Christianity so much as Christ. Our gospel is the knowledge, not of a system, but the saving knowledge of a personal Savior.”
“Remember that holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness.”
“Nothing is eternal but that which is done for God and others. That which is done for self dies.”
“All Christian power springs from communion with God and from the indwelling of divine grace.”
“It is not affliction itself, but affliction rightly borne, that does us good.”
“Where science speaks of improvement, Christianity speaks of renovation; where science speaks of development, Christianity speaks of sanctification; where science speaks of progress, Christianity speaks of perfection.”
“God strikes not as an enemy, to destroy; but as a father, to correct.”
“A little thing will keep them from the house of God who have no desire to go to it.”
1 All of these quotes are from the websites below:
James H. Aughey: A Gospel with Iron in It.
I thought I’d just be dusting off some Civil War guy’s bio just for the exercise. I was wrong.
Curt presents James H. Aughey as more than a collector’s shelf of old devotional lines. Aughey is portrayed as a pastor whose Christianity had backbone: the church as refuge for the broken, holiness as union with Christ rather than moral cosmetics, conscience as accountable to God, and suffering as something God can use rather than waste.
That is the real nerve in Curt’s piece. It matches all the links I read. Aughey is worth reading because he was not one of those decorative Christians some biographers like to frame in sepia and then ignore. He was a Presbyterian minister, a fierce anti-secession voice in the Civil War era, imprisoned by Confederate authorities, escaped, and later served as a chaplain with the Union Army.
His major books, The Iron Furnace and Tupelo, resulted from the collision between faith, public duty, and national moral crisis. His theology had dirt on its boots and iron on its wrists. History will test whether a man believes his sermons. In Aughey’s case, it did not ask politely.
(citation: Documenting the American South https://www.docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/aughey/summary.html).
Read thru an apologetic lens, that matters. Christian truth is not defended only in lecture halls, podcasts, or those endless arguments where everybody is “nuanced” and nobody risks a thing.
It is also defended by the shape of a life. Aughey’s sayings keep circling back to that life: Christ over system, holiness over pretense, communion with God over theatrical religion, and duty over self.
His line of thought is recognizably apologetic. It argues Christianity is true not just when it is stated well, but when it produces moral clarity, courage, and endurance under pressure.
That is an argument modern unbelief dislikes to take on, because it cannot be brushed aside as mere abstraction. (ChristianQuotes.info)
What makes Aughey especially useful is that he refuses two cheap substitutes. First, he refuses the soft church lie that love means no repentance, no doctrine, no backbone. Second, he refuses the hard church lie that orthodoxy means coldness, vanity, and gatekeeping.
Curt’s chosen quotations show both sides clearly: the church must welcome the outcast, but it must also call sinners into holiness. Christ heals, but He does not flatter. Conscience speaks, but not as a pet mood or private preference.
That is old-school Protestant steel. The modern church could use a dose of it before it dissolves into mood lighting and slogans.
For me, Aughey’s treatment of suffering is refreshing. He does not romanticize affliction. He insists that hardship borne rightly can cleanse, instruct, and deepen the soul.
That is not sentimentalism. It is Christian realism. A man who had been hunted, jailed, and shackled earned the right to speak of suffering without sounding like a greeting card.
In apologetic terms, this gives his witness weight. He does not answer evil by denying it. He places it under the sovereignty of God and the cross-bearing life of the believer. That is more persuasive than polished nonsense that tells people faith should make them comfortable. Christ never promised upholstery. He promised resurrection.
So, an enjoyable way to read Aughey is not as a quaint quote machine, but as a rebuke. He reminds us Christianity is personal without being private, moral without being smug, and compassionate without becoming spineless.
Curt is right to retrieve him. Men like Aughey still speak because truth spoken under pressure carries a different sound. It rings.
For the kids still reading instead of gaming: James Aughey would tell you this. Jesus is the best doctor you will ever meet. He fixes hearts, not with bandages, but with love. His church is supposed to be a place where everyone—especially the hurting—can come in and rest.
Leave the Tip: Holiness may take a lifetime, but clarity takes only a moment: Christ is not the accessory to Aughey’s story. He is the explanation for it.
Thanks Curt.