The Religious Life of Robert E. Lee by R. David Cox (review)

R. David Cox, an Episcopal priest and a former rector at the R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in Lexington, Virginia, has embarked on an ambitious project, one that examines the religious life of the Confederacy's most iconic general. Not only does Cox promise to trace the roots and the development of Robert E. Lee's religious beliefs as well as the expression of those beliefs to his family and fellow churchmen, but also the author pledges to explain why the Virginian "made some of his most crucial decisions" (p. xvi). This amounts to a herculean task when one considers, as even Cox admits, that "Lee was not a religious thinker" (p. xvi).

Robert E. Lee was born into and raised by a family of Episcopalians. As a baby he was baptized into that denomination, and as a child he attended church services, recited the catechism, and displayed no animosity toward Protestant Christianity. Despite having ample opportunity, Lee did not become a communicant in the Episcopal Church until 1855, when he was forty-five years old, which was somewhat unusual for someone of his specific upbringing. Cox contends that the death of Lee's mother-in-law and his desire to set a proper example for his children influenced him to make this momentous decision. Lee's religious life before, during, and after the Civil War can best be described as conscientious. He dutifully attended church services, financially supported Episcopalian parishes and the denomination's religious work, and even served as a vestryman. The Virginian was clearly a man of religious fidelity and individual piety. Lee did not, however, explore theological matters, and "no evidence indicates that he read devotionally on his own" (p. 86). During his numerous extended military postings, Lee attended church services whenever possible and wrote home about those occasions. He noted the scripture references in the sermons and remarked on the oratorical skills of the speakers but offered no doctrinal commentary on the messages. In fact, Lee avoided theological controversies throughout his life, and in cases where scientific inquiry clashed with religious dogma, he "compartmentalized" the two into "separate, noncompeting categories" (p. 122).

Lee believed in a Protestant variant of the depravity of man and displayed "touches of Arminianism," meaning he accepted that "one could rely on God's grace while also cooperating with the grace that God offered" (p. 183). In the end, the most dominant feature of Lee's religious life was his providential worldview. Some scholars have asserted that the general was a Stoic, but Cox contends that Lee's concept of divine providence allowed for humans to "influence the course of events" while finding assurance in failure or in the face of death (p. 138). Lee's introspection during periods of mourning and his expressions of condolence, as revealed in his personal letters, show a man striving to reconcile "his conviction in a providential God with the realities of earthly suffering" (p. 145). However, for political matters such as slavery and war, Lee held that divine intervention was required to solve those types of problems; "beyond that, mortals could only pray" and submit to the "heavenly plan" (p. 158).

Cox notes the general's endorsement of and occasional appearances at the religious revivals of the Army of Northern Virginia, but some readers will be disappointed with the lack of analysis. Likewise, other readers may desire a more in-depth portrait of the general's wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, who was clearly a more compelling religious figure by virtue of her "personal awakening," her recognition of a form of spiritual incompatibility with Robert E. Lee during their courtship, her religious instruction of slave children, which included teaching them to read, and her theological discussions with her children.

Cox is clearly an admirer of Lee, and his biography of the general will appeal...