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3356770.Pdf (3.910Mb) Copyright © 2008 Aaron Menikoff All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. PIETY AND POLITICS: BAPTIST SOCIAL REFORM IN AMERICA, 1770-1860 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Aaron Menikoff October 2008 UMI Number: 3356770 Copyright 2009 by Menikoff, Aaron All rights reserved INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UM^ . I<§> UMI Microform 3356770 Copyright2009by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 APPROVAL SHEET PIETY AND POLITICS: BAPTIST SOCIAL REFORM IN AMERICA, 1770-1860 Aaron Menikoff Read and Approved by: Gregory A. Wills (Supervisor) omas J./Wettle, \JJJt>S> Russell D. Moore Date a a/cy* To Deana, my wife and friend TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 An Evangelical Impulse 4 A Search for Virtue 11 Real Social Reform 13 Thesis and Summary 19 2. SLAVERY, SPIRITUALITY, AND SOCIAL REFORM 21 Colonization and Reform 23 Religious Instruction and Reform 34 Abolition and Reform 47 3. CHURCH, STATE, AND THE SABBATH MAIL DEBATE 70 Defining Civic Responsibility 72 Defending the Sabbath 74 Defending Liberty 83 Debating Reform 91 Defeating the Sabbath 104 4. POVERTY AND A BAPTIST SOCIAL CONSCIENCE 108 Poverty and Benevolence 112 Poverty and Virtue 121 Poverty and Vice 127 iv Page Poverty and Evangelism 131 Chapter 5. TEMPERANCE AND A DIVIDED BAPTIST SOCIAL CONSCIENCE ... 138 Temperance and Religion 141 Temperance and Evangelism 148 Temperance and the Clergy 154 Temperance and Division 158 Temperance and Church Division 166 Temperance and Politics 174 6. PIETY AND SOCIAL REFORM . 181 From Persecution to Prominence 182 Virtue and Nationalism 186 Faith and Pietism 201 Withdrawal and Engagement 212 Spirituality and Party Politics 216 7. POLITICS AND SOCIAL REFORM 222 A Christian Nation 223 A Political Christian 230 Politics and War 240 8. CONCLUSION 255 BIBLIOGRAPHY 261 v PREFACE Piety and politics rarely coexist harmoniously. I observed this in 1994 while working for United States Senator Mark O. Hatfield. The senior senator from Oregon, a Baptist, would often say, "The Lord baptized me, not my voting record." Hatfield knew that some expected him to cast a "Christian" vote because he was an evangelical statesman. He refused. Religious freedom for all demanded the separation of church and state. Hatfield sought to apply Christian principles to the political process but not with the hope of reforming existing social structures. He argued that America's best hope lay in changing people not political institutions. Hatfield spoke and wrote with a whiggish sensibility that struck me at the time as simultaneously anachronistic and compelling. He implored the church to affect society. He urged congregations to fight for social justice. He argued in Conflict and Conscience (1971) that the church should mobilize its members to serve the needy. In Between a Rock and Hard Place (1976) he expanded upon his religious vision for society's well being. He urged congregations to apportion a percentage of their budget to global poverty; he exhorted Christians to adopt graduated tithes whereby those with greater wealth gave a larger percentage of their income to help the hungry; and he suggested Christians recapture the discipline of fasting. Hatfield encouraged Christians to consume less so they could give more—following Christ demanded sacrificial living. Those who have been changed by Christ ought to live noticeably different lives. Hatfield introduced me to the idea that the church ought to have a social conscience. He often spoke of nineteenth-century America, when the gospel changed the landscape. As a young legislative aide, I had little time to explore the senator's historical assertion. vi Years later in the midst of my PhD studies, I came across a little book that shed some light on the social conscience Hatfield so often described. It was Donald Dayton's Discovering an Evangelical Heritage (1976). Dayton argued that the seedbed of modern evangelicalism is found in such nineteenth-century social reformers as Charles Finney, Theodore Weld, Lyman Beecher, and the Tappan brothers. Dayton's study left me with more questions than answers. Most particularly, I wondered about the influence of other Reformed Christians on social and political thought in the nineteenth century, particularly Baptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists who were not infatuated by the holiness movement or tempted by Unitarianism. H. Richard Niebuhr argued that the theology of Calvin is most in line with the transformer of culture perspective. However, his extended nineteenth-century example, F. D. Maurice, while coming from the Reformed tradition in general was hardly orthodox in his theology. Thus the question remained how those who were more conservative in their theological outlook understood their relationship with society. Presbyterian historians provided some help. In The Spirituality of the Church (1961) Ernest Trice Thompson, who helped unite the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), argued that Southern Presbyterians adopted the spirituality of the church as their particular doctrine effectively to justify slavery, which they relegated to the political sphere. Thompson urged the church to reject what he considered to be a doctrine that stultified social action. Darryl G. Hart, in Rediscovering Mother Kirk (2003), defended the spirituality doctrine. He argued its genesis preceded the slavery debate and could be found in the Presbyterian Church's Westminster Standards. Hart insisted the spirituality doctrine is consistent with Calvinism itself and, by way of parallel, he suggested a certain amount of incongruity between the kingdom of Christ and the world in Reformed thinking. If Hart is correct, Reformed theology separates the sacred from the secular and early social reformers such as Maurice and Finney were misguided to the extent that they exhorted the church to lead the way in cultural transformation and social reform. vii When I began my study of social reform in the nineteenth century, I expected to find Baptists generally committed to a spiritual church and unconcerned with society. I thought my research would uncover a Baptist spirituality of the church that led to this denomination's own reticence toward social engagement. Instead, I discovered that Baptists in the North and the South were social reformers. They believed in a spiritual church—Baptist ecclesiology demanded it. But they also believed in social reform. Baptist social reform however was not merely and, in fact, not primarily the renovation of social structures. First and foremost, a spiritual church created pious individuals and these individuals changed society like leaven working through a loaf of bread. Individual Christian citizens raised the moral and social conscience of the nation. For many Baptists this was social reform. Second, Baptists engaged in more direct avenues of social reformation. This included the political lobbying of congress and the establishment of welfare committees within a local church. Such examples may not be widespread but they were prominent and, albeit to my surprise, proved to be an important part of this narrative. Baptists however did not agree how to reform society, and these disagreements over the role of a spiritual church is another important aspect of the story that follows. Baptists rarely communicated in terms of transforming the culture but they did advocate the international spread of the gospel and virtue—two activities that found a home in Baptist social reform. This work tells the story of Baptist social reform in the American North and South. My source material includes Baptist association minutes from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York as well as Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. I cite Baptist periodicals including, but not limited to, Boston's Christian Watchman, Richmond''s Religious Herald, Washington's Columbian Star, and Savannah's Analytical Repository. When quoting from original texts, I have removed italics and block capitalization. viii A dissertation is a cooperative venture, and I am very thankful for the many individuals who have made this final product possible and who encouraged me along the way. The staff of the James P. Boyce Centennial Library at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary provided crucial assistance. They are much appreciated. Jason Fowler, the archivist, did more than provide access to material. His expertise facilitated my research. Bruce Keisling, the seminary librarian, is most importantly my long-time friend. Conversations with him beginning in Washington and throughout my time in Louisville have sustained me more than he knows. Two churches have supported me throughout my seminary years. Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C, has been a constant source of financial support and encouragement. Its pastor, Mark Dever, is a historian and a dear friend who encouraged me to think more carefully about the spirituality of the church. In Louisville, Kentucky, Third Avenue Baptist Church has been home. Time spent with fellow elders Kurt Heath, Jeremy Yong, Brad Thayer, Brad Wheeler, Bruce Keisling, Keith Goad, and Greg Gilbert has been a privilege and respite in the midst of academic work. I am especially grateful to Keith Goad and Greg Gilbert for their reflections on my manuscript.
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