Breaking from the previous history of the West, the Constitution of the United States established religious freedom as the law of the land… & introduced a new wave of revivalism… What is most significant about both religious freedom & revivals is the kind of social structures they transformed… Denominationalism seems so natural today we may forget what a radically new form of social organization it was in the early 19th Century… While its soul is often an intensely personal experience, religion is almost never a sheerly internal affair. An individuals spiritual experience yields a new sense of selfhood. That new spiritual identity reveals new ways of being involved with other people, new relations with those recognized as spiritual kin and with society at large… Since these mixed feelings of isolation & togetherness cause both the formation & destruction of religious groups, the tensions they generate are vital forces in religious life… Associations are formed with people whose spiritual experiences are similar to ones own. Missionary activities are undertaken to spread the word, and so to bring others into the fold… Together with religious freedom went the profound influence of the frontier in establishing basic social and cultural conditions… a line between civilization & wilderness, the frontier was always moving west… the tremendous energies of exploration & settlement reverberated to the more established East… churches of British colonies were not ideally suited to organize the religious experience of pioneers & westward settlers… … collective movements often develop under conditions of social strain. the demands of fighting a war for Independence temporary resolved the fears, anxieties, & stress of large-scale social change… when political peace came and there was no longer an external enemy to blame for all the problems and uncertainties, social strains reemerged… to find order, a developing nation needed cultural cohesion - a sense of common identity, with shared values, beliefs, & purposes… Methodist & Baptist circuit riders spread the good news of personal salvation through the isolated settlements of the frontier… from a few converts, it expanded into a widespread organization of people in small groups all over America… Their commitment to personal salvation and moral responsibility gave the movement clear goals, separating its members from the unsaved and offering criteria for Christian behavior… Along with rapid numerical growth came a new concept of the church. as an organic part of a traditional community, the churchs previous role had emphasized maintaining spiritual & moral order. the circuit-riders, though, were organizing groups of people with changed lives, people who were intent on changing the lives & character of entire communities. this new, purposive idea of the church was the heart of a social movement… since the movement relied largely on people to manage their own religious affairs it had a democratizing influence… By multiplying similar church groups throughout the nation, the movement helped people far apart geographically to share common values, ideas, & commitments. together with increasing economic interaction and growing national political involvement, the denominational movement helped create a cohesive American culture, as opposed to a grouping of distinct provinces… Because their membership was based on freely given consent, rather than political coercion, American religious groups became voluntary associations, independent of the State. (excerpts from pgs. 51-59) A CULTURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION IN AMERICA ~ James G Moseley 1981
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:20:10 +0000
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