Experimental Theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and Their Readers

297 Pages·2009·1.652 MB·English

by  Patricia A Ward

Experimental Theology in America

Experimental Theology in America
Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and Their Readers
Patricia A. Ward
BAylor UnivErsiTy PrEss
© 2009 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas 76798
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission in writing of Baylor University Press.
Cover design by Amy stirnkorb
Cover background © Emre yildiz/istockphoto
Frontispiece: Flyleaf plate of Madame Guyon’s The Different Effects of
Sacred and Profane Love, translated by Gerhard Tersteegen into German
as Holy Godly Love and Unholy Natural Love, reprinted in lancaster,
Pennsylvania in 1828. The plate is produced with the permission of rare
Books and Manuscripts, special Collections library, Pennsylvania state
University libraries.
Ward, Patricia A., 1940-
Experimental theology in America : Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and their
readers / Patricia A. Ward.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-60258-197-5 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Quietism--United states--History. 2. Pietism--United states--History.
3. United states--Church history. 4. Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de
la Motte, 1648-1717. 5. Fénelon, François de salignac de la Mothe-,
1651-1715. i. Title.
Bv5099.W37 2009
277.3’07--dc22
2009010373
Printed in the United states of America on acid-free paper with a
minimum of 30% pcw recycled content.
For
H. Blair Ward (1907–1987)
and
Timothy l. smith (1924–1997)

Contents
o
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
1 American Popular Piety and Continental spirituality
The Ecumenical Contexts of Nineteenth-Century Holiness
Camp Meetings 1
2 The reputation of Madame Guyon
Personalities, Politics, and Religious Controversy
under Louis XIV 11
3 The Dénouement of the Quietist Drama and Early
intermediaries to Protestant Circles 41
4 Madame Guyon and the Pietist Mind-set
The Transmission of Quietism to German-Speaking Pennsylvania 59
5 The Praxis of Piety
Quaker and Methodist Mediation of the Works of Fénelon
and Madame Guyon 83
6 Persons of Eminent Piety and Writers of spiritual Wisdom
Fénelon, Madame Guyon, and Their American
Readership, 1800–1840 107
7 From Experimental religion to Experimental Holiness
Contexts of Thomas Upham’s Reinterpretation of
Madame Guyon, 1840–1860 129
vii
viii Contents
8 The Turn to Devotional literature
Readers of Fénelon, from Boardman, Stowe, and Bushnell
to Twentieth-Century Evangelicals 169
9 The legacy of Madame Guyon from 1850 to 2000
From Romantic Sentimentalism to the Charismatic Movement 189
Epilogue 207
notes 213
Bibliography 255
index 273
Preface
o
in the eighteenth century, western Protestantism was characterized by an
overarching consciousness and set of values, a “protestant frame of mind.”
The increase in literacy and the circulation of ideas through letters, per-
sonal contacts, the press, and translations contributed to this frame of
mind and to a desire for religious unity that would extend beyond existing
confessional boundaries.1 As part of this evangelical fervor, there was a sig-
nificant demand for devotional literature, drawn from both English and
continental Catholic and Protestant traditions. W. r. Ward has cited the
immense popularity of Thomas à Kempis (The Imitation of Christ), Miguel
Molinos (The Spiritual Guide), François de sales (Introduction to the Devout
Life), lewis Bayly (The Practice of Piety), and Johann Arndt (True Christian-
ity). Two of these figures, Kempis and de sales, were Catholics; Molinos
was a Catholic Quietist who was condemned and imprisoned; Bayly was a
Puritan; and Arndt was a lutheran.
The crossing over of ecclesiastical boundaries between Catholicism
and Protestantism in this particular reading list is of significance. For
example, Puritanism, the most closely studied religious influence on early
America, has been described as a devotional movement that drew in part
on Augustine and on mystics like Teresa of Avila. The Imitation of Christ,
with its emphasis on inner spirituality and the renunciation of self, was
of special appeal to those embarked on the way toward holiness. Puri-
tans made use, as well, of the manuals of ignatius loyola and de sales,
adapting the techniques of Catholic spirituality, such as meditation and
ix