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The Conversion of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became an abolitionist and American statesman. His work made a significant impact of the fight against slavery in the United States. He was also a committed Christian whose biblical worldview shaped his involvement with culture.

This is the story of his conversion told in his own words,

I was not more than thirteen years old, when in my loneliness and destitution I longed for some one to whom I could go, as to a father and protector. The preaching of a white Methodist minister, named Hanson, was the means of causing me to feel that in God I had such a friend. He thought that all men, great and small, bond and free, were sinners in the sight of God: that they were by nature rebels against His government; and that they must repent of their sins, and be reconciled to God through Christ. I cannot say that I had a very distinct notion of what was required of me, but one thing I did know well: I was wretched and had no means of making myself otherwise.

I consulted a good old colored man named Charles Lawson, and in tones of holy affection he told me to pray, and to “cast all my care upon God.” This I sought to do; and though for weeks I was a poor, broken-hearted mourner, traveling through doubts and fears, I finally found my burden lightened, and my heart relieved. I loved all mankind, slaveholders not excepted, though I abhorred slavery more than ever. I saw the world in a new light, and my great concern was to have everybody converted. My desire to learn increased, and especially, did I want a thorough acquaintance with the contents of the Bible. (Douglass, Frederick (1882). The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: From 1817–1882. London: Christian Age Office. p. 63)

In this straightforward account, we see how God used the proclaiming of the gospel to awaken the teenage Douglass to his own sinfulness and need for Christ. He then used the wise counsel of an older man to encourage him to repent and believe. Upon being saved, God produced in Douglass love for others, hatred for sin, enthusiasm for disciple making, and thirst for the Scriptures.

The same God is still working in the same way today.

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