Masters and Savages
A saint who despises slavery yet traffics people. A Southern hero, but also a coward. A runaway aching for home. Civil War survivor Witfield Stone totters on the brink of insanity. Entrusted with transporting contract laborers from Africa to Brazil where his father and members of the Southern Land and Immigration Society plan to reconstruct their lost fortunes, Witfield takes special interest in the fate of eleven-year-old Fatima. On the eve of embarkation, disease breaks out, and there is pressure to sacrifice the child for the sake of the cargo. Witfield resists and even as the clipper ship sails and disease takes hold of all on board, Witfield protects her. But why does he stake the last vestiges of his crumbling humanity on saving this particular child among so many? What leads him to think she is the road to redemption? There is more to Witfield’s past than first meets the eye. And there is more trouble ahead than he can imagine.
About
J. M. Dawsey has lectured at major universities, churches, and other important venues in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. His latest writing is the theological thriller, Masters and Savages. “Stories have always appealed to me,” he explains. “Life is too complex, too nuanced really, for discursive description. Through stories we tap deep truths about ourselves and our world. Stories speak to us at different levels—when children at one level, as adults at another. They live with us, change us. We return to good stories and enjoy new insights. They become mythic. People live by stories. It’s no surprise that Jesus and other great religious leaders told so many of them.”
Other Books by James M. Dawsey
From Wasteland to Promised Land
The biblical perspective on land (and other natural resources) as a gift of God to the community, and not primarily to any individuals, has been obliterated by capitalism and mangled by secularist socialism and Marxism. This pioneering book cuts through failed solutions to the dilemmas of poverty by pointing out how misuse of land is at the root of human poverty and national underdevelopment.
Read More…- “I have been waiting for this book for thirty years.”
- John D. Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury
The Lukan Voice
Here is a Bible study that takes Luke’s gospel seriously as literature. The Lukan Voice focuses on how Luke employed the ancient storyteller’s devise of giving characters identifiable patterns of speech. Is this merely an expression of literary style? No, for what is said in the gospel is intertwined with how it is said. The different voices not only embellish the story; they are the stuff of the story. The confusion of Luke is purposeful; the purpose is pungently ironic; the irony is exquisite.
Read More…- “This small book will spawn many new studies of Luke.”
- Fred B. Craddock from Emory University
- “The Lukan Voice is a significant contribution to Lukan scholarship.”
- Donald L. Jones from the University of South Carolina.
The Confederados
This is a book about a group of southerners dissatisfied with the outcome of the American Civil War, who immigrated to Brazil. Arriving from Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina, they formed a community that lasted for 125 years. They kept their language and customs, while prospering within and contributing to the larger Brazilian economy and society.
Read More…- “The finest and most complete scholarly study yet of a fascinating chapter in Brazilian-American history.”
- Rollie E. Poppino from the University of California-Davis
Living Waters
This collection of stories, passed down from Cyrus B. Dawsey, Jr., recaptures the adventure of foreign places and the excitement of strange customs that is so much a part of life on the mission field. In this book, the love of Christ comes alive through the stories of his people.
Read More…- “There are no typical missionaries except in the movies.”
- Said about the Rev. Cyrus B. Dawsey, Jr.