Biblical Patterns for Mountain Living

I ? i H^ SS.¦y s; **r I STX \ V .v M-\ s This individualistic interpretation has led to many church splits. In Southern Appalachia in 1957, there were twice as many churches per one thousand people as in the nation as a whole and only 45% of the people living in the region were church members. 6 The practice of church discipline is partially responsible for this. Also, significant is the individual's intense personal religious experience. The individual 's study of the Scriptures determines his own road map to his ultimate destiny. Tedra Harmon, of Fox Fire fame, stated it plainly when he said, "The Bible is my map. It shows me the roads, the paths, the valleys, the mountains, the hollers, the people, the sins and troubles. But most important of all, it shows me the way to the end of the road, and how to live to get there. Without the Bible a man is lost. No preacher, church or anybody else can plot my path—I have to." 7 In dealing with the Bible and Southern Appalachia, most sociologists of religion refer to the people as fundamentalist and sectarians. B. B. Maurer, in his introduction to John D. Photiadis' Religion in Appalachia, stresses, "Lack of understanding is often aided and abetted by popular stereotyping. Generalized use of terms like "sect" and "fundamentalist" are a case in point. They often inhibit understanding, become emotion-laden, distort, and tend to hide the broad diversity which exists within their ranks." 8 To be sure these people are conservative Calvinists. However, to simply label them without looking at the manner in which their Biblical beliefs and practices influence their everyday life is not to wholly examine their actual religious beliefs and practices. For example, Regular, Union, United and Primitive Baptists use homemade wine in the Lord's Supper; and a number of them appreciate a little wine as good for the stomach and drink it at meals in moderation. However, all the followers of traditional Appalachian religion are against excessive drinking. Many Church of God, Methodist, Presbyterian, Missionary and/or Southern Baptist believe in total abstinence. Another example is with many traditional Baptist— especially Regular, who believe that young men should sow their wild oats while young, then get converted when the passions have cooled off. The above are two examples of variations on how the Bible influences mountain peoples' religion and their everyday life. Loyal Jones, the Director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College wrote: "Religion in the mountains, even for the non-church members is a serious business. When you attack it, you attack the very essence of the spirit of 71 mountain people." 9 This basic concept is supported by the various authors in John D. Photiades' Religion In Appalachia. Again and again these authors point to religion as the one institution in Appalachia that has withstood rapid change in the culture . In fact, his Bible and his religion has been the means by which the mountaineer has been able to keep his identity and sense of place amidst the onrush of mainstream America, the mass of communications, federal programs, missionaries, tourism, and coal and other industrial developments.10 In this paper I will examine: 1) how the mountain people have been influenced by the Bible in their attitudes towards churches and church related activities; 2) oldtime Christianity in a modern world; 3) relation to civil law; and 4) the relations between sexes. Churches and Church Related Activities. The traditional church structure in Appalachia is one room with clapboard siding . Perhaps it has been bricked-in, and more recently had a Sunday School room tacked-on. Inside the church the pulpit is central with two or three rows of pews to the side for elders, deacons, the song leader, the saved, the choir or others. Directly in front of the pulpit is a large open area to be used when the congregation is called forward to pray aloud, each their own prayer. Services tend to include a lot of singing (using shaped note song books), group praying; from one to seven sermons, testimonies, and a closing song with a kiss of peace. This very informal...