the universalist movement in america, 1770-1880 (religion in america)

The Universalist Movement in America 1770–1880 Recent titles in religion in america series Harry S. Stout, General Editor Saints in Exile The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture Cheryl J. Sanders Democratic Religion Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785–1900 Gregory A. Willis The Soul of Development Biblical Christianity and Economic Transformation in Guatemala Amy L. Sherman The Viper on the Hearth Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy Terryl L. Givens Sacred Companies Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organizations Edited by N. J. Demerath III, Peter Dobkin Hall, Terry Schmitt, and Rhys H. Williams Mary Lyon and the Mount Holyoke Missionaries Amanda Porterfield Being There Culture and Formation in Two Theological Schools Jackson W. Carroll, Barbara G. Wheeler, Daniel O. 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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bressler, Ann Lee. The Universalist movement in America, 1770–1880 / Ann Lee Bressler. p. cm. — (Religion in America series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-512986-5 1. Universalist churches—United States—History—18th century. 2. United States—Church history—18th century. 3. Universalism—History—18th century. 4. Universalist churches—United States—History—19th century. 5. United States—Church history—19th century. 6. Universalism—History—19th century. I. Title. II. Religion in America series (Oxford University Press) BX9933.B74 2000 289.l'73—dc21 99-058071 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Molly, Morgan, and Robin Acknowledgments My academic work on the Universalist movement was sparked by study of its pio- neering women, Olympia Brown and Mary Livermore, during my first years as a graduate student. But I will have to admit that my interest has deep roots in a personal concern with soteriological and eschatological issues, a concern already in evidence when I was eleven or twelve, struggling with basic questions in a church confirmation class. It now seems natural that my historical research on Universalist women should have expanded into an examination of a movement that was based on the denial of hell and the assertion of universal salvation. This study first took shape as a dissertation at the University of Virginia under the direction of Joseph Kett, who appreciated that American historians had largely bypassed the Universalists, and who also wisely prompted me to broaden the scope of the work. Robert Cross and Ira Brown kindly reviewed manuscript drafts. Joseph Conforti commented on several chapters. Ernest Cassara shared many discussions with me about the Universalists. Russell Snapp has listened patiently and percep- tively as I have tried to articulate my historical understanding. All these scholars have been more helpful to me than they realize. Alan Seaburg, curator of manuscripts at the Andover-Harvard Divinity School Library, guided me through the extensive collection of Universalist documents kept there. I have also made frequent use of the resources of the Pattee Library at my alma mater, Penn State. I am grateful to Leland Park, director of the E. H. Little Library at Davidson College, one of the best small-college libraries in the country, viii Acknowledgments for many courtesies, large and small. His staff has been ever supportive; in particular, Joe Gutekanst went out of his way to locate obscure materials for me. My parents always fully shared my interests in history and religion; they were a constant source of encouragement and support. My mother, Marion Bressler, a distinguished teacher of Advanced Placement American history, has been an in- spiring model of the excitement that historical study can bring. My late father, Leo Bressler, a former professor of English at Penn State, gladly entertained my early musings on American religion and lent his skillful writer’s hand to help me polish awkward prose. My editors at Oxford University Press have been patient and instruc- tive as I have navigated the publication process. My husband Robin Barnes has long shared my enthusiasm about the Univer- salists and has been my invaluable partner in this work. Beyond our countless in- formal and lively discussions, he has consistently devoted his time and talents to help me clarify concepts and edit drafts. Over the years he has come to know Hosea Ballou and Thomas Whittemore as well as I do. I cannot adequately express my gratitude to him. Our children, Molly and Morgan, have grown up with this book. Almost every summer they have endured trips to historic Universalist sites and New England graveyards. The names and teachings of nineteenth-century Universalists must be lodged somewhere deep in their minds. As I complete this work, that is not an unhappy thought. Davidson, North Carolina A. L. B. January 2001 Contents Introduction 3 ONE Calvinism Improved 9 TWO The Challenge of Communal Piety 31 THREE Controversy and Identity 54 FOUR Universal Redemption and Social Reform 77 FIVE Universalism and Spiritual Science 97 SIX Winning the Battle, Losing the War 126 Conclusion 147 Notes 151 Index 197 [...]... rather remained at home until their parents could help them obtain their own farms.88 In these circumstances, the teaching of universal salvation, which included a strong conception of the brotherhood of all people under divine guidance, certainly played a role in helping to maintain a sense of godly community From this perspective, it is not surprising that Universalist teachings showed strength in. .. of in uencing human affections and turning naturally self-centered human beings to the love of God and the greater creation Hosea Ballou, the preeminent theologian of the growing movement in the era around 1800, described the belief in universal salvation as changing the heart in a way that was practically supernatural: although the doctrine was a rational belief, it had transcendent power over the. .. forth the traditional view of vicarious atonement, the satisfaction of the law, but maintained that the intention was universal, not limited, salvation Mankind was united not only in the fall but in redemption as well.60 17 18 The Universalist Movement in America, 1770–1880 For eighteenth-century Universalists, human beings were helpless creatures in need of divine grace: Murray, Winchester, and Huntingdon... adapt Calvinism to the demands of a new era The early preachers of the movement came to take great delight in the role of traditional Calvinism’s rationalistic gadfly, poking it in vulnerable areas and forcing it to face its own paradoxes Joseph Young was among the early Universalists who attacked the increasingly exposed flanks of the prevailing theology Calvinists were hypocritical, he charged, in their... the century Universalists themselves began to argue that their view sustained the popular notion of the moral government of God Meanwhile, the sense of a superintending God gradually dimmed in Protestant culture, and social reform efforts intensified Like other Victorians, Universalists increasingly extolled moral seriousness and the cultivation of the self.32 7 8 The Universalist Movement in America,. .. by insisting that only the selfish heart, not the understanding, needed renovation They argued that sinners possessed the natural ability to repent Opponents of the Awakening had maintained that, first, the understanding needed to be illuminated through various “means of grace”; the slow renovation of the heart would then follow New Divinity believers rejected this gradualist view, saying that nothing... the two men were acquainted and that they spoke to 3 4 The Universalist Movement in America, 1770–1880 one another about the many common themes of their writings But this was not the case Indeed, when Ballou moved to Boston, he was extended no ministerial courtesies or fellowship; it was reported that Channing, by then an eminent figure, treated him as though he were a leper.3 Channing’s most sympathetic... In boldly affirming the doctrine of universal salvation, Universalists exposed and challenged the Protestant drift away from traditional Calvinist orthodoxy Universalists sharply criticized the moralistic character of the dominant religious beliefs in the first decades of the nineteenth century and the theological contradictions underlying revivalism.31 But, as I will show, by the second quarter of the. .. terror of an inscrutable deity By the second half of the eighteenth century, the destiny of the soul appeared far more open-ended and conditional, hinging on individual human as well as divine action Preachers of a Rational Election The emerging Universalist movement, with its insistent eschatological and communal emphasis, challenged the growing sense of the freedom and distinctiveness of souls The notion... was gradual, beginning in South Carolina with his reading of the Everlasting Gospel by Georg-Klein Nicolai of Friessdorf Published in America in 1753 under the pseudonym of Paul Siegvolck, this work was particularly important in the spread of Universalist ideas in the mid-Atlantic regions.42 After Winchester moved to Philadelphia to become minister of the Baptist church of that city, his Universalist . Enlightenment.” 23 They held at more than arm’s length the sort of intense concern with human sinfulness and the fate of souls that flared during the Great Awakening. 6 The Universalist Movement in America,. self-centered hu- man beings to the love of God and the greater creation. Hosea Ballou, the pre- eminent theologian of the growing movement in the era around 1800, described the belief in universal salvation. Particularly in the nineteenth century, social barriers certainly stood in the way of contact and cooperation between Unitarians and Universalists. But the linking of the two groups has clouded examination