Religion and Violence in Early American Methodism: Taking the Kingdom by Force

NOTES

Notes Introduction The epigraph is from Charles Wesley, “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” in The United Methodist Hymnal, 513. 1. Harriet Crabtree observes the decline of martial imagery within mainline Christianity ’s hymns as part of larger changes in mainline Christian symbolism as a whole. Crabtree, The Christian Life, 87–92. In the final chapter we will have the opportunity to explore the ways that martial imagery is still an important part of American popular religion. 2. For more on the organization of Wesley’s collection, see Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, vol. 7, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, ed. Franz Hilderbrandt and Oliver Beckerlegge, 1–75. In Bicentennial Edition (Nashville : Abingdon Press, 1984–), hereafter abbreviated Works. 3. Works 9:31–46. 4. John Fletcher, “The Kingdom of Heaven Suffereth Violence, and the Violent Take it by Force” reprinted in Jeffrey, A Burning and Shining Light, 352–354. 5. Asbury, The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, vol. I, hereafter abbreviated J&L. For examples of Asbury’s struggles against Satan, see J&L 1:17, 24, 32, 45, 53, 71, 72, 80, 92, 106, 110, 112, 132, 136, 165, 169, 182, 185, 187, 188, 189, 235. 6. Abbott, The Experience and Gospel Labours of the Rev. Benjamin Abbott, 32–33. 7. One might challenge my claim about Schneider’s book as the most significant on the basis of the more recent and exhaustive work of Lester Ruth in Early Methodist Life and Spirituality: A Reader (Nashville: Kingswood Books 2005). Ruth’s book is important . However, the book is primarily an introduction to primary texts rather than a thorough analysis of early Methodist spirituality. As a result, I believe Schneider’s work remains the best critical analysis of early Methodist spirituality. 8. Schneider, The Way of the Cross Leads Home. 9. Ibid., 54–57. 10. On the positive affections generated by Methodist religious experience, see Steele, Heart Religion in the Methodist Tradition and Related Movements; Henry H. Knight III, “The Transformation of the Human Heart: The Place of Conversion in Wesley’s Theology” in Collins and Tyson, Conversion in the Wesleyan Tradition, 43–55. On the social implications of Methodist religious experience, see Catherine Brekus, “Female Evangelism in the Early Methodist Movement,” in Hatch and Wigger, Methodist and the Shaping of American Culture, 135–173; Donald G. Mathews, “Evangelical America—The Methodist Ideology,” in Richey, Rowe, and Schmidt, Perspectives on American Methodism, 29–30; Schmidt, Grace Sufficient, 51, 73–74; Douglas Strong, “A Real Christian Is An Abolitionist” and Estrelda Alexander, “Conversion and Sanctification in Nineteenth-century African American Wesleyan Women,” in Collins and Tyson, Conversion in the Wesleyan Tradition, 69–82, 83–100. Bruce Hindmarsh’s recent analysis of the evangelical conversion narrative is a notable exception to the trend emphasizing the positive emotions created through conversion. While Hindmarsh rightly emphasizes that the rhetorical emphasis in conversion narratives is on joyful release from despair, he not only emphasizes that the process leading to conversion was “agonistic,” but he also helpfully reminds readers that Methodism’s Arminian theology meant that converts could never rest secure in the joy of conversion. Backsliding could also result in later periods of despair that could, in the best cases, result in a new conversion. The Evangelical Conversion Narrative, 130–161, 226–260. 11. Richey, Early American Methodism, 1–20. Cynthia Lyn Lyerly called early Methodists “cultural critics” who boldly challenged race, class, gender, and religious norms. Methodism and the Southern Mind, 8. John Wigger argued similarly in Taking Heaven By Storm. 12. Nathan O. Hatch, “The Democratization of Christianity and the Character of American Politics,” in Noll and Harlow, Religion and American Politics, 101. Hatch finds William Warren Sweet’s work on frontier Methodists and Baptists as exemplary of his argument. 13. Hall, Lived Religion in America; Maffley-Kipp, Schmidt, and Valeri, Practicing Protestants; Schmidt, Holy Fairs; Schmidt, Consumer Rites; Schmidt, Hearing Things; McDannell, Religions of the United States in Practice; Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street; Orsi, Thank You, St. Jude. 14. See especially Girard, Violence and the Sacred; Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. For a general overview of Girard’s work, see Williams, The Girard Reader. 15. Girard sees Christianity, at least in its ideal, as the exception to the rule. Christianity , for Girard, exposes the scapegoat as innocent. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. 16. Works 21:377. 17. Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed., s.v. “violence.” 18. This definition is not only useful for the purposes...