Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 The Arc of American Religious Historiography with Respect to War: William Warren Sweet's Pivotal Role in Mediating Neo-Orthodox Critique Robert A. Britt-Mills Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE ARC OF AMERICAN RELIGIOUS HISTORIOGRAPHY WITH RESPECT TO WAR: WILLIAM WARREN SWEET’S PIVOTAL ROLE IN MEDIATING NEO-ORTHODOX CRITIQUE By ROBERT A. BRITT-MILLS A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2012 Robert A. Britt-Mills defended this dissertation on April 18, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Amanda Porterfield Professor Directing Dissertation Neil Jumonville University Representative John Corrigan Committee Member John Kelsay Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Trends in American Religious Historiography 6 1.2 Early American Histories 8 1.3 Chapter Contents 9 2. WAR JUSTIFIED BY GOD AND NATURAL EVIDENCE: EARLY AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORIANS DESCRIBE PROTESTANT SUPPORT FOR WAR, 1702-1923 14 2.1 Cotton Mather 15 2.2 Baird, Bacon, Bacon, and Mode 18 2.2.1 Robert Baird 18 2.2.2 Leonard Bacon 27 2.2.3 Leonard Woolsey Bacon 33 2.2.4 Peter George Mode 41 2.3 Conclusion 48 3.