Antirevivalism in antebellum America : a collection of religious voices / edited by James D. Bratt.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bratt, James D., 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Revivals--United States--History--19th century--Sources.

Revivals.

Methodist Church--United States--Controversial literature.

Methodist Church.

Finney, Charles G., 1792-1875.

Finney, Charles G.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Controversial literature.

Sources.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 278 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2006]

Summary:

One of the most enduring images from the early years of American history is that of a preacher on horseback, slogging through mud and rain to bring folks in the backwoods the message of God and glory. Such religious revivals not only became a defining mark of American religion but also played a central role in the nation's developing identity, independence, and democratic principles.

But revivalism has always generated opposition, too, even in its century of glory. In Antirevivalism in Antebellum America, James D. Bratt offers extensive introductions to primary antirevivalist documents. These works range from the Philadelphia Methodist John F. Watson's protests against camp meetings in 1819 to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Eighty Years and More, written in 1898, in which she recalls her youthful encounter with revival preaching and her rebound into political activism and religious agnosticism. Through the recovered voices of antebellum religious critics, Bratt shows how American culture was already being reshaped a generation before the Civil War and how evangelical religion stood at the center of a "culture war."

If revivals typified the era when Americans launched and defined their new nation, then objections to these revivals embodied the growing discontent at what the nation had become. An important and long overdue collection, this book urges an understanding of antirevival literature both in the context of the era when it emerged as well as in terms of the broader dynamics of American life.

Contents:

Part 1 Presenting the Issues

1 Camp-Meeting Craziness 3

"Methodistic Enthusiasm" (1845) / Observer [George Elley] 4

2 The Arrogance of Revival Theology 15

"Finney's Sermons" and "Finney's Lectures" (1835) / Albert Baldwin Dod 17

Part 2 Critiques from Populist Movements

3 A Methodist against "Extravagance" 31

Methodist Error (1819) / Wesleyan Methodist [John Fanning Watson] 33

4 Attacking Pious Ignorance 41

"Duties of the Church-Tracts, Sunday Schools" (1835) / Stephen Olin 42

"Essay on a Theological Education" (1834) / La Roy Sunderland 46

5 The Terrors of Calvinist Tyranny 53

"Bunker Hill" Contest, A.D. 1826 (1826) / Ephraim Perkins 55

6 The Dangers of Anti-Calvinist Tyranny 67

"Articles of Faith of the Kehukee Association" (1777) 68

"Address to the Particular Baptist Churches of the 'Old School' in the United States" (1832) 69

Part 3 Critiques from Established Traditions

7 Good Taste and Tolerance 81

Letters of an English Traveler (1828) / [Orville Dewey] 82

8 A Plea for Pastoral Prerogative 95

Thoughts on the Religious State of the Country (1836) / Calvin Colton 97

9 The "Swarming Pests" of Methodism 109

The Distress of the German Lutherans in North America (1843) / Fr[iedrich C. D.] Wyneken 111

10 Not the Anxious Bench but the Communion Rail 121

The Anxious Bench (1843) and The Mystical Presence (1846) / John Williamson Nevin 123

11 In Praise of Family Nurture 137

Views of Christian Nurture (1847) / Horace Bushnell 138

Part 4 Reconsiderations, Rehabilitations

12 Revivals in Need of Perfection 153

"Letters on Revivals" (1845-1846) / Charles G. Finney 155

13 From Ecstasy to Scripture 167

The Way of Holiness (1843), The Life and Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Palmer (1881), and Faith and Its Effects (1861) / Phoebe Palmer 168

14 Dignified, Biblical Religion 180

Daniel Alexander Payne on Education and Worship (1859 and 1888) 182

15 From Revival to Romance 192

"The Revival of Religion" (1869) / Harriet Beecher Stowe 193

Part 5 Renegades and New Departures

16 From Revival to New Revelation 205

"History, 1838" / Joseph Smith 207

17 From the New Heart to the End of the Age 215

Life Sketches (1915) / Ellen G. White 216

18 From Revival to Secular Psychology 230

Book of Psychology: Pathetism (1853) / La Roy Sunderland 232

19 From Revival to Women's Rights 240

Eighty Years and More (1898) / Elizabeth Cady Stanton 241

20 From Revival to Rome 252

"Protestant Revivals and Catholic Retreats" (1858) / Orestes Brownson 253.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-272) and index.

ISBN:

0813536928

0813536936

OCLC:

59149312

Publisher Number:

9780813536927

9780813536934