The truth about the Confederate Battle Flag

CSA 31st Reg. Tenn. Volunteers Battle Flag

~ Introduction to the Book ~
I was born a YANKEE in Hammond, Indiana and educated in “Yankee” schools to believe that the North rightly won the “Civil War.” I grew up believing that Abe Lincoln was a great president and Jefferson Davis was a traitor. I also grew up believing that Ulysses S. Grant was a hero and Robert E. Lee was not.

For most of my life I despised the “Rebel Flag” and, like most, believed it to be a symbol of racism and hate. I automatically assumed that anybody who displayed the “Rebel Flag” was either a racist or just a “dumb redneck.” Surely no intelligent person would ever fly such a flag. Sadly, I carried these beliefs well into my adult years.

During my Sophomore year at Hyles-Anderson College (an Indiana school) I was called to a ministry position in Texas where I married a Southern Girl. But still, I managed to maintain my Yankee pride for several years while living in Texas.

Then one day, while doing some research for a class I was teaching at the college, I began to restudy the “Civil War.” And, to my shock and surprise, not to mention my wife’s utter disbelief, I came to the conclusion that the South was Right.

Gen. Robert E. Lee

About 18 months later, my good friend, Dr. Roy Branson (a preacher from Tennessee), was preaching a revival in our church. During one of his sermons he commented on the Christian character of Robert E. Lee. The next week I began to research the life of General Lee. As a result I now have a portrait of the General hanging on the wall of my office at the church.

Then federal agents threatened to seize the Indianapolis Baptist Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana. Church members, patriots, and about 20 preachers from across America moved into the Baptist Temple for 92 days and were finally carried out at gunpoint by 85 U.S. Marshals and 70 Indianapolis Police Officers. I lived at the Baptist Temple for 45 of those days. During that time I was intrigued at the number of Yankees flying Confederate Flags in support of a northern Church.

It was during my stay at the Baptist Temple that I met Pastor John Brown (a Hoosier) and Evangelist Steve Kukla (an Okie). We had some interesting discussions about the Confederate Flag, its Christian history and its Christian heritage.

When I returned to Texas I began to research the history of the Confederate Battle Flag in earnest. As a result of that study I led our church to proudly display the Confederate Battle Flag, or as we prefer to call it “the Believer’s Banner” from our church platform.

Needless to say, my confrontations with the truth have led me to publicly confess my sin and repent of the animosity I once held toward the Christian Republic of the Confederate States of America, her godly leaders, and her glorious flag.

This book is a compilation of some of the things that God has graciously shown me during the last 2 years. The hardest part of writing this book was not in deciding what to include – but rather in deciding what not to include. Finally, I decided to limit the book primarily to the history and significance of the Flag as an Ensign of the Christian Faith, leaving the rest of what could be written about the war and her hero’s to another book, or perhaps even to another more capable author.

The goal of this book is to give the reader just enough information to make a sensible and documented (see Endnotes) case for the flag and to provide a Suggested Reading List (Appendix 2) for those who desire a more complete study.

Edward R. DeVries, Th.D., 2001
Deo Vindice

The COMPLETE Book: The Truth About the Confederate Battle Flag