‘If there’s any lesson to be learned from Nat Turner and his legacy it’s that not all forms of violence are created equal, and in fact certain forms of violence are inevitable. … But through the lens of political theology, like the work of Walter Benjamin, one sees Turner’s Messianic visions not as mania, but as part of a coherent political project. One might view his identification with the deity not as pathology, but as making use of theological concepts; as insight. One may then see the Turner revolt not as a mild catastrophe, but as an act of divine violence. We can understand Nat Turner not as a “madman” but as a Benjaminian Messiah.’