CHRISTIAN HSTI ORY Issue 123 Captive Faith Prison as a parish “ ...I was in prison and ye came unto me.” Matthew 25:36b THE ROCK IS A HARD PLACE Now closed, Alcatraz in San Francisco housed some of the United States’ most infamous criminals. • Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37–38) was put away as a political prisoner. • King Jehoiachin of Judah (2 Kings 24–25, Jeremiah 52) was dethroned and put in prison by the king of Babylon but eventu- ally released. • John the Baptist (Mark 6), was impris- oned for speaking against King Herod and S MAGE eventually beheaded. I • Peter (Acts 12) was imprisoned during a persecution of the church by King Herod and released by an angel. • Paul (Acts 16, 22–28) was put into prison HARMET / BRIDGEMAN several times on accusations of blasphemy and dis- C Did you know? turbing the peace, and eventually beheaded. S And, of course, Jesus himself was arrested, impris- RCHIVE A PRISONS AND PRISON MINISTRIES FROM THE oned, and executed, as all four Gospels tell us. 1 Peter 3:19–21 makes a brief reference to Jesus’ “preaching to BIBLE TO THE PRESENT DAY , FRANCE / the spirits in prison” in the underworld between his S death and Resurrection. Eastern Christian icons often FROM JOSEPH TO JOHN TO JESUS show Jesus at his Resurrection leading all of humanity Many people in the Bible spent significant time in out of prison, beginning with Adam and Eve. ATIONALE, PARI prison. The biblical record speaks of both their pain- N ful imprisonments and their ultimate trust in God. PRISON FIRSTS AND FACTS E 1330 SS Examples include • The first document to state that no one can be LIOTHEQUE B • Joseph (Genesis 39–41) was put in prison for the imprisoned without trial by a jury of his or her peers ANT, LIA B false charge of assaulting Potiphar’s wife. was the Magna Carta in 1215. • Samson (Judges 16) was imprisoned by the Philis- • While upper-class and political prisoners were EIL DE BRA tines for his activities against them. often imprisoned for long periods of time, common S ON • King Manasseh of Judah (2 Chronicles 33) was held criminals were usually sentenced (or released) on C captive by the Assyrians, an experience that led him the spot. The only exception to this was imprison- CAL DU to repent his previous policies. ment for debt, though locking poor people up pretty S much guaranteed they would never be able to pay. ICE FI OFF The United States had debtors’ prisons until the , S 1830s. EL • Beginning in the 1500s, criminals were sometimes SS sent to workhouses if convicted of “leading a Rogu- IN BRU S ish or Vagabond’s Trade of Life.” In 1516 Thomas RCHIVE More’s Utopia was the first written recommendation A of prison as a means of punishment for the average , C. 1759 (COLOUR ENGRAVING), FRENCH SCHOOL, (18TH CENTURY) / BI criminal as opposed to common alternatives—death, RIS LAMY STOCK PHOTO A A THE STATE / F fines, public shame, and beatings. By 1680 Quakers S Y O EU S were advocating the prison system as an alternative H to the death penalty. ICK FUND, 1947 D • You may remember the “A” for “adulterer” that ERRIT DE G ANE Hester Prynne wears in A Scarlet Letter. Other letters SB BRI used in public shaming of criminals included “B” S tcard—Wikimedia S on rodeo— (blasphemer), “D” (drunk), “F” (fighter), “M” (man- ARRI O S H P RI slaughterer), “R” (rogue), and “T” (thief). P DREAM CATCHER Joseph interprets the dreams of the • The modern penitentiary is based in large part NGOLA LCATRAZ yndale letter—With the courte ARREST OF PROSTITUTES BY THE POLICE IN P T A WIKIMEDIA: butler and baker in prison in this 17th-c. print. on theories put forth in Cesare Beccaria’s Of Crimes A Christian History INTO THE CART, PLEASE Left: French police arrest prostitutes in this 18th-c. engraving. Their punishment might have involved prison, fines, flogging, or public shaming. MESSAGE TO THE WORLD Below left: This let- ter from prison is the only item we have in William Tyndale’s handwriting. Jefferson (1743–1826) and Benja- min Rush (1746–1813), advanced prison reform in the United States. S • Jailers begged Quaker Eliza- MAGE I beth Fry (1780–1845; see CH 117) not to enter the women’s prison ward, for fear that she would be attacked. But Fry went anyway, saying, “I am come to serve you, if you will allow me.” Her calming presence HARMET / BRIDGEMAN C and attention to their physical needs allowed her to S share Scripture and prayer, bringing many women RCHIVE to their knees. A A PRAYER FOR PRISONERS , FRANCE / S “Lord Jesus, for our sake you were condemned as a criminal: Visit our jails and prisons with your pity and judgment. Remember all prisoners, and bring the guilty to repentance and amendment of life according ATIONALE, PARI N to your will, and give them hope for their future. When E 1330 any are held unjustly, bring them release; forgive us, SS and teach us to improve our justice. Remember those LIOTHEQUE B ANT, LIA who work in these institutions; keep them humane B and Punishment (1764). “Penitentiary” comes from and compassionate; and save them from becoming the same root as the word penance: it was meant to brutal or callous. And since what we do for those in EIL DE BRA S reform criminals by giving them an opportunity to prison, O Lord, we do for you, constrain us to improve ON C repent their crimes. their lot. All this we ask for your mercy’s sake. Amen.” • Until the rise of state prisons in the nineteenth cen- —Book of Common Prayer (1979) CH CAL DU S tury, prisoners had to pay for (or bribe ICE FI their guards for) bedding, food, and fuel OFF , to warm their rooms. S EL SS BRINGING LIGHT INTO DARK PLACES IN BRU • England’s first prison reformer was gov- S ernment official and philanthropist John RCHIVE A Howard (1726–1790), who was briefly imprisoned himself for political reasons. , C. 1759 (COLOUR ENGRAVING), FRENCH SCHOOL, (18TH CENTURY) / BI RIS He wrote in 1777, “No Prisoner should be LAMY STOCK PHOTO A A THE STATE / F S subject to any demand of Fees. The Gaoler Y O EU S H [jailer] should have a salary in lieu of them; and so should the Turnkeys [guards].” ICK FUND, 1947 D ERRIT DE • Several signers of the US Declaration G ANE SB of Independence, including Thomas BRI S tcard—Wikimedia S on rodeo— ARRI O S H P RI P PRISON AND PRAYER Louisiana State Peni- tentiary, or “Angola,” originated a wide- NGOLA LCATRAZ yndale letter—With the courte ARREST OF PROSTITUTES BY THE POLICE IN P A T A WIKIMEDIA: spread prison revival. Issue 123 1 Letters to the editor Readers in prison respond to Christian History Many incarcerated individuals receive Christian History, and although we have published their let- ters before, we decided this time to feature their voices exclusively on our letters to the editor page. ADDING TO THE LIST . AGAIN Dear CH, I am greatly enjoying your series on the Ref- and Worship in the Early ormation. The extensive timeline pull-outs are a won- Church (#37) has some informa- derful bonus. Please keep me on your subscription list! tion on your second. I am an indigent inmate and I am grateful for your gen- erous gift. God be with you. I am curious if you have I have learned a great deal ever or soon plan to do an issue on the phenomenon from the two issues I have of nineteenth and twentieth century Christian cults. received so far, and look for- — Wendell Scott, Imperial, CA ward to many more. Thank you and may God bless We’ll certainly add that suggestion to our ever-growing list! your ministry! P.S. Issue 119 briefly mentioned the A CORRIE STORY Bruderhof but I would love to know I was recently blessed to read issue 121 that one of my more about the Bruderhof community. Christian brothers shared with me. The articles were — Rick S. Whitman, Bismarck, ND powerful and amazing. One article which touched my heart was about Corrie ten Boom. I’d first heard The Bruderhof publishes the magazine Plough Quarterly. her name a few years back from Brother John, one of For books, you might start with Called to Community many Christian volunteers who visited our prison (2016) edited by Charles Moore and Why We Live in Com- unit. He knew Corrie personally, and told us stories of munity (2014) by Eberhard Arnold. his younger days when he and Corrie would smuggle Bibles into communist Russia. Back then it was practi- ONLY GOD CAN MAKE US WHOLE cally a death sentence if you were caught, yet the two Broken into a thousand pieces is my heart made of glass. of them persisted to spread God’s love. I’m currently on Shattered, with no regard to the pain. my thirty-first year on a life sentence and it’s rare to Seared into the leftover fragments. receive spiritual blessings from outside sources. I want No one cares or even notices. to let you know that your magazine was one such bless- This is all I have to offer. ing. Thank you!—David Dowler, Amarillo, TX Can you repair the damage that’s been done? Can you mend the pieces that are broken? I do enjoy your magazine very much and treasure every Can you put my glass heart back together again? copy.