Faith in the Great Physician Curtis, Heather D. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Curtis, Heather D. Faith in the Great Physician: Suffering and Divine Healing in American Culture, 1860–1900. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.3480. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3480 [ Access provided at 27 Sep 2021 08:39 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Faith in the Great Physician lived religions Series Editors David D. Hall and Robert A. Orsi Faith in the Great Physician Suffering and Divine Healing in American Culture, 1860‒1900 heather d. curtis The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2007 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Curtis, Heather D. Faith in the Great Physician : suffering and divine healing in American culture, 1860‒1900 / Heather D. Curtis. p. cm. — (Lived Religions) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-8018-8686-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8018-8686-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Spiritual healing—United States—History—19th century. I. Title. bt732.5.c88 2007 234′.131097309034—dc22 2007010558 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. For Clark, Jonathan, and David This page intentionally left blank contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 A Thorn in the Flesh: Pain, Illness, and Religion in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America 26 2 Resisting Resignation: The Rise of Religious Healing in the Late Nineteenth Century 51 3 Acting Faith: The Devotional Ethics and Gendered Dynamics of Divine Healing 81 4 The Use of Means: Divine Healing as Devotional Practice 109 5 Houses of Healing: Sacred Space, Social Geography, and Gender in Divine Healing 139 6 The Lord for the Body, the Gospel for the Nations: Divine Healing and Social Reform 167 Conclusion 192 Notes 211 Bibliography 241 Index 261 This page intentionally left blank list of illustrations Jennie Smith (c. 1876) 5 Jennie Smith (c. 1880) 6 Jennie Smith (c. 1920) 7 Mary Rankin (c. 1858) 29 Susan Warner’s The Wide, Wide World 44 Adoniram Judson Gordon 55 Albert Benjamin Simpson 56 Charles Cullis 61 Carrie Judd (c. 1881) 83 Maria Woodworth 131 Cartoon drawing of a Woodworth tent meeting 132 Elizabeth Sisson 133 Berachah Home, New York 145 Faith Rest Home, Buffalo, New York 146 Gospel Tabernacle, New York 177 Delia, Before and After 180 Emma Whittemore in Door of Hope uniform and in “Slum Garb” 181 1891 Graduating Class of the New York Missionary Training Institute 190 This page intentionally left blank acknowledgments This scripture verse from the New Testament letter to the Hebrews was a favor- ite among the people whose story I endeavor to narrate in the pages that follow: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1, King James Version) They were individuals who believed that unlikely, even ostensibly impossible feats could be accomplished through faith in the power of God. They were equally convinced that the example, encouragement, and fellowship of others would help to motivate, support, and sustain them in their ongoing efforts to act out their con- victions, especially when the inevitable trials that ensued threatened to hinder their progress or bring them to a halt altogether. Although writing a book cannot be compared to the kinds of remarkable proj- ects undertaken by many of the women and men who participated in the divine healing movement of the late nineteenth century, the process has been something like running a race—one that I never would have finished (or even started) with- out my own “cloud of witnesses” to inspire and assist me along the way. From the beginning, David Hall has offered unflagging encouragement, wisdom, and friend- ship. His insights regarding the study of religion as lived practice will, I hope, be evident throughout this work. What will be less apparent to the reader, but always foremost in my mind, is his gracious and generous manner as he helped me pursue my scholarly aims while remaining true to the commitments and priorities I hold most dear. Ann Braude has also provided steadfast support and judicious advice. Her expertise in women’s history and gender studies has enriched my own thinking in ways that I hope will be apparent here as well. Sarah Coakley’s constant affirma- tion, combined with incisive comments at critical junctures, have challenged me to consider how this study might address issues of broader theological and pastoral xii Acknowledgments concern. Robert Orsi graciously agreed to participate in this project when it was already well underway. His own work on pain, illness, and healing helped to inspire the study in the first place, and his thoughtful criticisms have proved invaluable at several key moments in its progression. Colleagues in the North American Religions Colloquium at Harvard Univer- sity, both past and present, have offered valuable recommendations throughout the project’s development. I am especially grateful to Emma Anderson, David Bains, Candy Gunther Brown, the late Virginia Brereton, David Hempton, the late Wil- liam Hutchison, Mark Massa, Alexis McCrossen, James Reed, Jon Roberts, and Chris White for commenting on various chapter drafts or providing wise counsel on broader conceptual issues. Adrian Weimer read the entire manuscript, offering both instructive critique and steady encouragement for which I am deeply appre- ciative. Others who have furnished helpful suggestions and guidance include Peggy Bendroth, Bret Carroll, John Corrigan, Carolyn DeSwarte Gifford, Marie Griffith, Mark Noll, Charles Rosenberg, Ann Taves, and Laurel Ulrich. Early on in my research, I had the good fortune to encounter a group of scholars who share an interest in divine healing and who value the constructive possibili- ties of open academic exchange. Chris Armstrong, Jonathan Baer, Pamela Klassen, Bruce Mullin, James Opp, Amanda Porterfield, and Grant Wacker have all served as lively and enthusiastic conversation partners. Grant’s encouragement as well as his thoughtful and incisive comments on the manuscript have been invaluable. I am grateful for his friendship. I owe special thanks to Bruce Mullin for supplying several rare primary sources. I am also deeply indebted to Jon Baer, who shared not only the fruits of his own research, but also his time and his home. He and his wife Carolyn are models of warm and generous hospitality. Participants in the History of American Christian Practice Project, directed by Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Leigh Schmidt, and Mark Valeri, and funded by the Lilly Endowment, also helped bring clarity to my thinking through spirited exchanges about the meanings and workings of healing as a devotional discipline. Catherine Brekus, Anthea Butler, Kathryn Lofton, Michael McNally, Rick Ostrander, Sally Promey, Roberto Lint Sagarena, Tisa Wenger, and David Yoo, along with the three project directors, taught me the joys and challenges of collaborative scholarly en- terprise. It was a privilege to work with them. I also benefited from the percep- tive observations of senior advisors Dorothy Bass, Richard Fox, and Charles Ham- brick-Stowe; practical theologians Kathleen Cahalan, Rob Langworthy, and Craig Townsend; and participants in the HACPP final conference at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, especially Christopher Coble and David Hackett. The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University also provided Acknowledgments xiii a forum for insightful discussions of the relationships between religious practices and experiences of illness, pain, and healing. Through the Religion, Health and Healing Initiative, directed by Susan Sered, I profited from opportunities to present my work at the Religious Healing in Urban America conference and other gather- ings. In addition, I obtained research support in the form of a Religion, Health and Healing Initiative Summer Research Grant and Center for the Study of World Reli- gions Dissertation Fellowship. The Harvard Divinity School also provided funding for this project through a Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. I am particularly grateful for the generous financial assistance I received from a Woodrow Wilson Founda- tion Charlotte W. Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship, a Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity Fellowship, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Har- vard University funded by the John Templeton Foundation. For support of another kind, I am indebted to the archivists and librarians at numerous institutions. Without the aid of Michelle Gauthier, Gloria Korsman, and other members of the Andover Harvard Theological Library staff, Cambridge, Massachusetts, this project could not have been written. I benefited from the ex- pertise of archivist Ginny Hunt, first at the Congregational Library, Boston, where I was also assisted by Hal Worthley and Jessica Steytler, and later at the Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard University. At the Christian and Missionary Alliance Archives, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Patty McGarvey, Jenn Whiteman, Joseph Wenninger, and Brian Wiggins offered enthusiastic and assiduous research sup- port; as did Meredith Kline and Freeman Barton at Goddard Library, Gordon-Con- well Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts; and John Beauregard and Kevin Belmonte at the Jenks Library and Learning Research Center, Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts.