Revivalism in the New Republic. The Second Great Awakening

Transcription

1 Revivalism in the New Republic The Second Great Awakening

2 Population Growth in Early National America Atlantic Seaboard Western Frontier Total Population % Frontier million 109, million 3% million 386, million 7% million 1.08 million 7.24 million 15% million 2.21 million 9.64 million 23% million 3.67 million million 29%

3 The Democratization of American Christianity First Amendment (1791) A crisis of authority in popular culture Awakening as social control? Voluntaryism = religious association should be by mutual consent Outgrowths: revivalism, religious innovation, social reform Elias Smith ( ) cofounded the Christian Connexion Source:

4 Methodism in Early National America Early lay leadership (1760s) Wesley s missionaries in North America Impact of the American Revolution The Christmas Conference (1784) German-speaking Methodists Early schism: The Republican Methodists Source: Francis Asbury ( ) was among the first of Wesley s missionaries to arrive in North America

5 African American Methodism (Philadelphia) Source: St. George s Methodist Episcopal Church (1769) The Free African Society (1787) 1794 Richard Allen ( ) led in the formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1794) St. Thomas African Episcopal Church Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Becomes the AME Church (1816)

6 Westward Migration and Settlement Source: A series of ordinances passed by Congress between 1785 and 1820 opened for settlement the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

7 Camp Meeting Revivalism in the Old Southwest Origins in Scots-Irish holy fairs The contribution of James McGready ( ) Revivals in Logan County, Kentucky ( ) Cane Ridge Revival (1801) Religious exercises at the camp meetings Theology of camp meeting revivals Presbyterian Barton Stone ( ) was a key leader at the Cane Ridge Revival (1801) Source:

8 Finneyite Revivalism Source: Garth Rosell, the Original Memoirs of Charles Finney (2002) Charles G. Finney ( ) is regarded as the father of modern revivalism. He is pictured here with his wife Elizabeth. Brief biography of Finney Lectures on Revival (1835): revival is the right use of the appropriate means The new measures Opposition to Finney s revivals (esp. in Boston) New Lebanon Conference (1827) Eventual schism within Presbyterianism

9 American Millennialism in the 19 th Century Post-Millennialism 1,000-year reign leads to Second Coming; Optimism about human capacity; Most 19 th -century evangelicals. Pre-Millennialism Second Coming leads to 1,000-year reign; Pessimistic about human capacity; Minority sects and radicals.

10 A Typology of Religious Innovators Utopian Communalists Illuminists Adventists Basic Position Pursuit of Christian perfection in community A further revelation of God s will has been made Expectation of the imminent return of Jesus Examples Oneida Community; Shakers; New Harmony Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) The Millerites (Seventh-Day Adventists) Note: All religious innovators in the early national period benefit greatly from their status as religious outsiders because they epitomize religious freedom and offer an alternative to the status quo.

11 The Oneida Community Source: Pictured here about 1850, John Humphrey Noyes ( ) was the leader of the Oneida Community Biography of Noyes His theological orientation and characteristic teachings Bible Communism Complex marriage Mutual criticism Stirpiculture His leadership of the and conflicts The demise of the Community

12 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Biography of Smith His Testimony and the beginnings of the Latter- Day Saints Published the Book of Mormon (1830) Vision: to restore the true church and the lost priesthood The Mormon Trail and the settlement of Utah Joseph Smith ( ) was killed while held in jail in Carthage, Illinois Source:

13 The Millerites (Seventh- Day Adventists) Source: William Miller ( ) was the chief exponent of 19 th -c. premillennialism Brief biography of Miller Key text: Daniel 8:13-14 Development of Millerism into a national movement The Great Disappointment (October 22, 1844) Doctrinal consolidation The leadership of Ellen G. White ( )

14 Religious Innovation and Gender Images of the divine that are bisexual, impersonal or anthropomorphic; Reinterpretation or denial of the Fall; Denial of the need for traditional ordained clergy; View of sexuality that does not stress childbearing and child-rearing as the primary sphere of women s activity. Following Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Outside the Mainstream: Women s Religion and Women Religious Leaders, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 48 (1980):

15 United Society of Believers in Christ s Second Coming Origin of the Shakers Leadership of Ann Lee ( ) Early persecution and growth Era of Manifestations ( ) Theological worldview of the Shakers Life in Shaker communities Source: The celibate Shakers insisted on the full and complete equality of the genders in their communities.

16 The Shaker Faith in Mother Ann The image and likeness of the Eternal Mother was formed in her, as the firstborn Daughter, as really as the image and likeness of the Eternal Father was formed in the Lord Jesus, the firstborn Son. Thus was she constituted as the second heir in the covenant promise, and was placed in a correspondent connection with Jesus Christ, as the second pillar of the Church of God in the new creation. A Summary View of the Millennial Church (1848)