Mordecai Fowler Ham, Jr. (April 2, 1877 – November 1, 1961), was an American

Independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

and

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

leader.

Racism and Anti-Semitism

Ham had a reputation for racism and anti-Semitism. He believed and preached on various topics based on classical anti-Semitic canards such as believing Jews had special access to political power and influence and that they represent a subversive social force. The targets for his preaching were often "nebulous rings of Jewish, Catholic or Black conspirators plotting to destroy white protestant America."Hill, S. Lippy, C. and Wilson, C
''Encyclopedia of Religion in the South.''
Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2005, P.365. In 1926 W.O. Saunders, a newspaper editor in

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It ...

, confronted Ham for defaming a prominent Jew during an evangelistic campaign. Ham had accused the President of

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, Roebuck & Company in Chicago,

Julius Rosenwald Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions in ...

, of operating inter-racial prostitution rings in Chicago that exploited white women. Saunders wrote an account of the accusations Ham had made and how Saunders had proved them false called "The Book of Ham." The Book was widely distributed, describing instances of Ham's negative views towards Jews. Ham believed in the ideas of

British Israelism British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is the British nationalist, pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendant ...

, that the white Anglo-Saxon races had been chosen by God. Ham outlined this in a piece of writing called "the Need of the Anglo-Israel Truth" that is featured on some websites of the Identity Movement. However, in his booklet "The Jew" he stated unequally, "though the sins of the Jew have been many and great, yet vengeance belongeth to the Lord, and He will not let you escape if you have hated, or do hate the Jew. Are you a Christian? No Christian will hate the Jew. Through him came the Christ and your Bible. The best, the greatest and the only perfect man who ever lived on earth was a Jew by race." Such a statement would suggest if he ever was an anti-Semite, his views changed.

Works

*''The Second Coming of Christ and Revelation'' *''Believing a Lie'' *''Light on the Dance'' *''The Jews'' *''The Need of the Anglo – Israel Truth'' *''The Sabbath Question'' Ham received an honorary degree from

Bob Jones University , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = We seek, we trust , top_free_label = , top_free = , type = Private university , established = , closed = , f ...

in Greenville,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

References

* *Balmer, R.H.
''The encyclopedia of evangelicalism
''Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. *Dinnerstein, L
in America.''
New York : Oxford University Press. 1994. *Ham, M

Unpublished paper. *Hill, S. Lippy, C. and Wilson, C
''Encyclopedia of Religion in the South.''
Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2005. * Saunders, W.O
''The Book of Ham''Self
Published Booklett.1928.

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20161104094529/http://thetencommandmentsministry.us/ministry/blog/famous-believers/mordecai-ham/ The Ministry of Mordecai Ham on The Ten Commandments Ministry websitebr>Biography from Christian History Institute

Biography by RuckmanSermons by Mordecai HamGuide to the Mordecai Fowler Ham papers
housed in the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Mordecai 1877 births 1961 deaths Baptists from Kentucky Baptist ministers from the United States Southern Baptists Southern Baptist ministers Independent Baptist ministers from the United States American evangelicals American evangelists Radio evangelists People from Allen County, Kentucky Religious leaders from Louisville, Kentucky People from Chicago American radio personalities Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Critics of the Catholic Church American temperance activists American Christian creationists Christian fundamentalists Christian fundamentalism American conspiracy theorists British Israelism