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Light bearers to the remnant : denominational history textbook for Seventh-Day Adventist college classes PDF

537 Pages·2000·1.79 MB·English
by  Schwarz
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Preface To The First Edition When Edward Gibbon began his “candid but rational inquiry into the progress and establishment of Christianity”, he posed the question as to how its “remarkable” victory over the prevailing religious systems of the day could be explained. With tongue in cheek, Gibbon made ironic obeisance to the “obvious but satisfactory answer” that this was due “to the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of its great Author” (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1, pp. 507, 508). Then followed over fifty pages devoted to explaining the rise of the Christian church solely in the light of social, intellectual, and political currents of the first centuries after Christ. In spite of his skeptic’s orientation Gibbon had a point. It seems easier for historians to explain the past on the basis of tangible events: the interaction of men, institutions, economic forces, social groups, even the intellectual “climate”, than to discover “behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will” (E. G. White, Education, p. 173). Trained to be critical, to prefer several eyewitnesses and documents produced by impartial, competent observers close to an event, the historian reaches for certainty about the past in terms of things he knows, things that can be seen, heard, and read. He may be confident, as was the ancient prophet Daniel, that the God of heaven “changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Dan. 2:21). He may, with Nebuchadnezzar, be certain that the Most High “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Dan. 4:35). Yet to inject this all-powerful God into his interpretation of past events requires an act of faith in the Unseen and seemingly Intangible which runs counter to his training as a historian. It is frequently more comfortable to follow Gibbonian reason and package an explanation of the past in terms of “the will and prowess of man. ... his power, ambition, or caprice” (White, ibid.). Faced with this dilemma, the Seventh-day Adventist historian must frankly recognize that he is not only a historian, he is also a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. As he approaches the past, and particularly the past of his own church, he does so in this dual role — and finds that it is not always easy to keep the two roles separate. Many things he will find easy to explain in terms of human passions, social forces, and psychological “insight”. Yet he must also be conscious that his theological beliefs color his selection and interpretation of facts. These beliefs provide, in essence, the “glasses” through which he views the past. In the following interpretation of the origins, development, and spread of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a conscious effort has been made to heed Leopold von Ranke’s famous injunction to “tell it as it actually happened”. Yet there has been the constant realization that to do so would require much more information and insight than is available. At the same time the writer has tried to heed the warning of an outstanding European church historian. “Men are so much in love with their own opinions”, wrote Fra Paolo Sarpi, “that they persuade themselves that God favors them as much as they do themselves” (quoted in P. Burke, ed., Sarpi, p. xxxii). While attempting to portray the rise and development of the Seventh-day Adventists as accurately as possible, this account also seeks to avoid a dogmatic interpretation of events as occurring “because God ordained them so”. This should not be taken to mean that there are not many aspects of Seventh-day Adventist history which can be fully understood only in the light of the great controversy which continues to rage between Christ and Satan. To the Seventh-day Adventist historian the existence of that controversy provides the real key to a true understanding of all history, including that of his own church. The student is challenged to keep this continuing conflict constantly in mind and thus to develop his own insights into the divine leadings in our past history. Richard W. Schwarz Preface To the Revised Edition Between the appearance of Light Bearers to the Remnant in 1979 and this revised edition, the Seventh-day Adventist denomination has grown from approximately 3,000,000 to more than 10,000,000 members. This growth has taken place primarily in what we have variously called the third world, the developing world, or its more recent term, the two-thirds world, descriptions that are not precisely equivalents, but approximations of each other. During the years of this growth, four General Conference sessions have occurred and three different men have been elected to the General Conference presidency. Adventists have revolutionized their conceptualization of mission processes and reorganized the representational system of their governance; General Conference leaders have moved into a new world headquarters office building. The church has also passed through some of its most serious challenges to doctrine and authority. At the same time it has coped with social issues that seemed so remote in 1960 as to be unlikely. This revised edition seeks to depict the denomination as a truly global organization by narrating its growth and commenting on the changes that growth has fomented. Because the church has become a world entity it can no longer deal with questions as though they are primarily North American issues. They have become world issues. More than ever before Adventists have become aware that while their church emerged within North America, its growth has produced an international body — a process that has required changes in governance and an appreciation for the impact of its cosmopolitan character on faith and practice. These changes give rise to a second underlying theme, that of the nature of the challenges Adventism experienced regarding its doctrine and authority. As the church became larger, much of its activity and many of its programs became more sophisticated. In part this reflected global trends unrelated to religion, but church growth paralleled by increased professionalism was not a mere coincidence in Adventism. The struggles over faith, practice, and authority that affected much of the Adventist world during the last quarter of the twentieth century stemmed not only from questions that remained from an earlier era but also from a well-educated, philosophically-inquisitive generation that wanted to understand the church’s identity in the context of a milieu far removed from the nineteenth century and its aftermath. A third theme also appears in this revision. Changes notwithstanding, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has preserved a remarkable continuity since its origins in the Millerite movement. Adventists still hold as strongly as ever the conviction that their message is firmly established on biblical foundations and that they are fulfilling a divine commission to carry this gospel to a perishing world. Adventism at the end of the twentieth century retains the apocalyptic urgency of 1844 blended with the pastoral sensitivity that a tortured world needs. Many similarities to the first edition remain in this revision, but readers of this book will quickly detect differences. The most obvious change is its format. This revised edition consists of four parts. The first three are both chronological and topical, but the fourth is genuinely topical — a sweeping view of the denomination. This changed format represents several aspects of revision — updating some chapters, adding new chapters, and rearranging some of the material so that it better reflects the denomination at the end of the twentieth century as compared to the mid-1970s. I have made only scant change in chapters 1 through 15 of the first edition. In this revised edition these chapters constitute Part I and the first three chapters of Part II. Beginning with chapter 16 of the first edition, I revised by condensing chapters in order to make room for new material. Chapters 16 through 26 of the first edition have become chapters 16 through 23 in the revised book, with material from chapter 24 reassigned to Part IV The most serious revisions began with chapter 24 of the first edition and continued in chapters 27 through 36. Chapters 29 and onward in the first edition received my close attention because they discussed questions that are still pertinent to the church. In their updated form these chapters make up the bulk of Part III. This section also includes four new chapters: 28, 31, 32, and 34. Approximately half of the material in the revised chapters in Part III is new; the other half is condensed from its original form. Chapters 37 and 38 of the first edition are a final statement which Part IV of the revised book replaces. I formed this last section by combining material from chapters 24, 27, and 28 of the first edition and adding extensively to produce two new chapters, 36 and 37 of the revised edition. One of the more serious difficulties I encountered was that of handling the fast-moving events in the church, especially when describing growth in membership and institutions, and satellite telecasting. Some of the data were outdated even before publication. Also, regarding theological discussions in the church, new books appeared too late for me to comment upon. My revisions taper off with events after 1995, but some references to events, publications, and personalities appear as late as 1999. Many of the sources I consulted for my revisions do not fit the conventional definition of history, but they become historiographically significant because they contributed to the Adventist mindset that, in a sense, was on public trial from the 1970s onward. The literary spectrum of pertinent material to which I referred ranged from issues discussing the perennial arguments between science and Scripture, to theological hair-splitting and the debate about the nature of inspiration, and on to light reading such as stories by missionaries. The Adventist mind fed on all these topics, as well as others, and thus all of Adventist literature became the forum in which the twentieth-century discussions about the centrality of Adventism took place. It is my belief that no one can understand Adventism on the threshold of the twenty-first century without first understanding the Adventist mentality, hence this literature looms in importance. It is worth repeating that the globalization of Adventism on the one hand and its internal conflicts and successes on the other are somehow inextricably mixed, perhaps in ways that we are just beginning to fathom. Many persons merit my thanks because of their assistance in technical and supportive ways. My first word of gratitude is to Humberto Rasi, General Conference Director of Education, who approached me about this project and guided me through it with wise counsel, especially at crucial points. His secretary, Silvia Sicalo, was always willing to add my ever-growing list of requests to her already full schedule. John Fowler, also from the Department of Education of the General Conference, and Russell Holt of Pacific Press, provided valuable comments and suggestions. During a long evening session of the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians in Portland, Oregon, in April 1998, my fellow historians expressed both confidence and encouragement and made numerous helpful suggestions. From among them I should specifically note Ben McArthur, Eric Anderson, Brian Strayer, and Arthur Patrick who were especially generous with ideas. Gary Land, chair of the History Department at Andrews University and Richard Osborn, Vice President for Education of the North American Division, deserve special thanks for their careful attention to my manuscript and their incisive critiques. Many conversations were the source of impressions and ideas that eventually found themselves in the revision. Cherie Smith, at the time a member of the pastoral staff of the Collegedale Church, rendered valuable counsel regarding women’s ministries. David Mansfield, a friend and neighbor, acquired a packet of papers for me from the Trans- European Division that provided information about Adventist relationships to labor unions in Britain; and Sarah Holmes, a student in denominational history at Andrews University offered me ideas about Adventist lifestyle. Bruce Norman, former faculty member at the Adventist Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines, shared relevant information with me about Adventism in Asia. From Norman Gulley, whose roots are in England and who directed the first graduate program in theology in the Philippines, I gleaned insights about the British Union’s biracial reorganization as well as information about Adventist education in the Far East. Carl Currie, career missionary to China and a one-time member of the East Asia Association, provided candid descriptions about Adventist work in China. A. C. McClure, president of the North American Division, gave me a first-hand account of the evolution of that division from its “special relationship” with the General Conference to its contemporary status. Joel Tompkins, a former union president, discussed with me issues of church administration. I had virtually free access to the resources of the McKee Library in Collegedale, Tennessee, where Peggy Bennett, the head librarian, and Shirley Bennett of the periodical section, went out of their way to make information acquisition easy for me. In the Heritage Room at the James White Library, Andrews University, James Ford and Carlota Brown provided all the assistance that I needed for successful searches. Richard Coffen and Gail Hanson of the Review and Herald Publishing Association generously accommodated my requests for illustrative material, as did Tim Poirier in the White Estate. Bert Haloviak and John Wycliffe in the General Conference Archives were tireless in their support of my search for pictures and other materials. Tanya Holland of the Adventist Review provided invaluable service by preparing the illustrative materials for publication. My own experience has also contributed to this revision. Some of my conversations about denominational matters occurred during trips before I undertook this project. I talked to several members of the Kulakov family and other church workers during visits to Russia, and to Robert Wong, Eugene Hsu, Robert Folkenberg, Jr., and Daniel Peek, an ESL teacher at the University of Beijing, during a trip to China. Conversations with fellow Adventists and visits to Adventist centers during earlier journeys to Europe and Latin America gave me a context of understanding for denominational affairs in those regions, and notes that I made as a participant in the General Conference sessions of 1990 and 1995 were useful to me. Although the help I received enabled me to produce extensive revisions, I cannot overlook the towering influence that the original author, Richard Schwarz, still exerts in this new edition. When rewriting and condensing chapters in the first edition I developed a new appreciation of his capacity to synthesize and to sequence his material effectively. It was with more than a little trepidation that I broke into his chapters. Throughout my revisions I attempted to retain his pertinent thoughts and, as space would permit, his phraseology. Although the title of the book has changed, and despite my work, he remains the principal author of this book. Floyd Greenleaf PART ONE ORIGINS AND FORMATIVE YEARS, 1839-1888 These were the years of origin and formation, 1839 to 1888. They began with a sense of buoyancy and excitement and hope, followed quickly with bitter disappointment after the pent-up emotions of Adventists dissipated following October 22, 1844. Their belief that Jesus would come on a specific date that they mistakenly identified from their biblical studies forced them back to the Bible to find their error. Forty-four years later they struggled over their understanding — and misunderstanding — of the relation of law and obedience on the one hand and forgiveness and grace on the other, wrapped up in the phrase, righteousness by faith. It was the first major doctrinal battle for Adventists after they had developed their body of teachings. During the years immediately following the Great Disappointment, Adventists studied their way to a set of doctrines that included, among others, conditional immortality, the seventh- day Sabbath, the presence of the Spirit of Prophecy in the church, a broader understanding of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, and a belief in the priestly ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. In 1860 Adventists chose a name that incorporated their two defining beliefs, and over the next three years formally organized congregations, conferences, and the General Conference. In the years that followed they established institutions to support their mission. Schools, healthcare establishments, and publishing enterprises became institutional benchmarks of Adventism. They also began to sense their responsibility to the world and formed a mission board to oversee sending workers to other countries. Until after the American Civil War, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was primarily a church of the northern part of the United States. Adventists began in the northeastern states and spread westward, settling in Battle Creek, Michigan, as their headquarters. They survived the Civil War by setting precedents for the relationship of their church with the state. After that conflict Adventists ventured southward, somewhat cautiously. For them it was almost a mission to a foreign land. During these formative years both Joseph Bates and James White, two of the founders of the church, died. The remaining voice from among the founders was Ellen White, who continued to guide the fledgling denomination. In the 1880s she spent time in Europe, helping to establish Adventism abroad. Ministers, eager to perpetuate the church’s beliefs, preached boldly, if not virulently at times, on prophecy, Sabbath observance, and the soon return of Jesus. Two younger men, just as vehemently, preached new ideas about the relation of the law to obedience and forgiveness and grace. For some it was a shock to think that in their emphasis on biblically based doctrines they had neglected the most basic of all, faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. A confrontation developed, and at Minneapolis in 1888 the church thrashed it out, leaving wounds that festered a long time. The church was not the same afterwards. It was no longer an innocent body. Doctrinally, it passed through acute soul-searching. For Adventists, it was a time of new beginnings for self- understanding. CHAPTER 1 The World in Which Adventism Began Seventh-day Adventists believe that their roots in history go back a long way. Back, not only to the Millerite movement of the 1830s and 40s, but farther: to Wesley and the eighteenth century Evangelical revivalists, to the great Protestant Reformers and to such earlier dissenting groups as the Lollards and Waldenses. Back to the primitive Celtic Church of Ireland and Scotland, the persecuted church of the first three centuries after Christ, back to Christ and the apostles themselves. Yet it is obvious that modern Adventism developed in the great advent awakening which took place in the early years of the nineteenth century. Events in Europe As that century began, much of the Western world was preoccupied with the activities of Napoleon Bonaparte. This Corsican adventurer, who had recently been propelled to the leadership of Europe’s dominant state, busied himself in remaking the map of Europe. Even that could not satisfy his restless quest for power. He determined to carve out a position of influence in areas as widely separated as the ancient Near East and the Western Hemisphere. After a decade and a half of almost incessant warfare Bonaparte was at last confined to a tiny South Atlantic islet, and Europe tried to rebuild an orderly society, free from the excesses for which the French Revolution was held responsible. Drawing inspiration from the writings of Edmund Burke and under the astute leadership of Austria’s Prince Metternich, European statesmen set out to encourage institutions that would bring stability to the ordered society they desired. Among these was the Roman Catholic Church, whose influence and prestige gradually increased from the nadir of the preceding revolutionary decades. Yet many eyes had seen the indignities heaped upon the priests of Rome; indignities which reached their height when Colonel General Louis Berthier established the Roman Republic in 1798 and took Pope Pius VI off to die in exile in France. A new interest was sparked in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, particularly the 1260-day period, which many interpreters now believed had come to an end with the dramatic events of 1798. This rebirth of prophetic interest would soon move on to closer consideration of the longest time period in biblical prophecy — the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14. Religious Diversity Meanwhile, Protestantism was also experiencing a renaissance, particularly in Great Britain and the United States, where the work of the Wesley’s was coming to fruition in the rapid growth of Methodism. In America frontier camp meetings took on an interdenominational hue, and soon sedate Congregationalists and Presbyterians were feeling the call to a more personal and emotional religious experience. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were rich in religious diversity. New sects proliferated. Rejecting established churches and dogma, proclaiming their return to Bible- oriented primitive Christianity, some of these groups developed into religious communes with beliefs and practices later shared by Seventh-day Adventists. Drawn from the uneducated, lower socioeconomic groups of Europe, such communities were held together principally by a strong leader, their confidence in divine intervention in the current affairs of men, and their belief in the imminence of the second advent of Jesus. They sought a pure religious life in rural frontier communities away from the evils of “the world”. America had long been a promised land for religious dissidents. Although the Pilgrim Fathers are best known, certainly one of the most intriguing is the German Community of the Woman in the Wilderness, which was established near modern Philadelphia in 1694. It was also in Pennsylvania, among the German Dunkers (Baptists), that Conrad Beissel became convinced of the continued sacredness of the seventh-day Sabbath. Rejected in his community, Beissel withdrew to form the Ephrata Cloister, whose members, in addition to observing the Sabbath, denied the doctrine of eternal punishment, opposed all war and violence, and followed a two- meal-per-day vegetarian diet. Other transplanted German communalistic societies having deep religious motivations were the Rappites, the Separatists of Zoar, and the Amana Society. In the year of America’s Declaration of Independence a homegrown prophetess appeared in the person of Jemima Wilkinson. Following a thirty-six-hour trance Miss Wilkinson was convinced that Christ’s Spirit now occupied her body, and would for a thousand years. Calling herself the “Universal Friend”, she eventually established a community of her followers near Seneca Lake in New York’s frontier Genesee County. Although a believer in the seventh-day Sabbath, Jemima was willing to accept Sunday as a holiday and day of rest in order to meet local prejudice. Her insistence on celibacy was a major factor in the swift demise of the group after her death in 1819. A more lasting religious community was created by “Mother” Ann Lee Stanley, who had arrived in America from England in 1774 with eight followers. Officially called the Millennial Church, Mother Ann’s converts were popularly labeled “the Shakers”. Stressing celibacy and equality of the sexes (Mother Ann was believed to be an incarnation of the female nature of God), the Shakers were also given to spiritualistic communications, especially during the period of their greatest growth, 1837-1844. From Maine to Kentucky they established successful communal colonies known for their industry and temperate living as well as their strange religious dances. It was left, however, for John Humphrey Noyes to develop a creed which emphasized the development of perfect individuals in a perfect community. Converted during a Charles G. Finney revival meeting, Noyes studied for the ministry but was denied ordination because of his belief that at conversion a person became free of sin. He developed a truly communistic society at Putney, Vermont, but in 1848 was forced to move his group to Oneida, New York. His idea of “complex marriage”, which taught that every woman in the group must be married to every man, brought Noyes’s followers into great disfavor. Later, under community pressure, the Oneida group abandoned this concept. Latter-day Saints Although all of these religious communities believed that they had been divinely led to a rediscovery of ancient Christian truths and practices, none developed a successful proselytizing program. It was a different story with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized in 1830. In the process its founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., did more to focus attention, and suspicion, on the idea of a modern prophet receiving direct revelations than any of his contemporaries. Smith, the son of itinerant parents who finally located in western New York, possessed little formal education, but he had an active imagination and considerable skill in influencing others. At the age of fourteen Joseph claimed to have received his first visions, in which he was instructed that none of the existing religious denominations was correct in its theology and practices. Several years later an angel named Moroni supposedly directed him to a neighboring hill. Here, in a stone box, Smith claimed to have found inscribed golden plates, together with a breastplate and the Urim and Thummim, two crystals set like spectacles in a silver bow. By 1830 Smith had produced the Book of Mormon, a purported translation of the golden plates. According to Smith, God had called him to preach a restoration of original Christianity in order to prepare the world for the soon return of Jesus, who would establish His kingdom on an earth restored to its original state. Among the doctrines the new Saints taught were baptism by immersion, tithing, and temperance. They held that a recent divine revelation authorized the keeping of the first day of the week rather than the seventh as the Sabbath. Smith failed to develop much of a following in his home district, but his fortunes increased following a series of moves to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Converts came in the wake of frontier revivals, and an active missionary program was begun both at home and in Great Britain. Within several years Smith built a virtual state within a state around Nauvoo, Illinois. Then in 1844 disaffection within his church over the practice of plural marriage by the prophet and other church leaders, combined with the fears of non-Mormon leaders, led to Joseph Smith’s destruction. State officials were alienated by Smith’s announcement of his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. Upon order from Governor Thomas Ford, Smith and his brother Hyram were charged with treason and detained in the Carthage, Illinois, jail. On June 27 the brothers were killed during the storming of the jail by a mob. Subsequently Brigham Young led the Mormon faithful westward to establish a new Zion in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Spiritualism Just as the emotionalism of revivals helped plow the ground in which the seeds of Mormonism sprouted, so the philosophical teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which experienced a considerable vogue in America in the early nineteenth century, helped prepare the way for spiritualism. In Swedenborg’s view the Second Advent foreseen by John in the Revelation occurred through God’s disclosure to him of the true spiritual meaning of the Bible. He maintained that he experienced visions in which he conversed with famous men of the past ages. In 1844 an eighteen-year-old New York cobbler, Andrew Jackson Davis, had a trance in a country graveyard during which he believed he met and received messages from the ancient Greek physician, Galen, and from Swedenborg. It was Davis who popularized clairvoyance and the spiritualistic trance; in effect he was America’s first popular medium. Scholars generally credit him with supplying the vocabulary and suggesting the theology of modern spiritualism. Four years later the mysterious rappings interpreted by the Fox sisters at Hydesville, New York, gave wide publicity in America to communication with spirits. Spiritualism did not develop a strong separate denominational organization. Instead its believers retained their connection with established churches, particularly of the Universalist- Unitarian variety. The number of mediums increased. For the year 1859 one scholar has identified seventy-one in New York, fifty-five in Massachusetts, and twenty-seven in Ohio. Some 350,000 New Yorkers were estimated at this time to be believers in communion with the dead. Conventional Protestantism was displaying increasing vigor at the same time that it was becoming more fractionalized. In Great Britain, which emerged from the Napoleonic Wars as a dominant world power, the Wesleyan revival continued to stir thousands to a new interest in humanitarian crusades and missionary endeavor. The Great Awakening of the 1740s and a century later the Finney revivals provided a similar stimulus in the United States. This new energy led to a greatly expanded interest in carrying the gospel to the non-Christian world. The Missionary Movement Many date the beginning of the modern Protestant missionary movement to William Carey’s arrival in India in 1793. Two years later the London Missionary Society was established, followed the next year by the establishment of a similar organization in New York. During the next few years Robert Morrison went to China, Henry Martyn to the Muslim Near East, Adoniram Judson to India and Burma, and Robert Moffat to South Africa. Enthusiastic support for this mission endeavor came from the mushrooming Bible societies, which sprang up in Europe, America, and Asia — sixty-three from 1804 to 1840. The British and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Society was particularly active in sponsoring translation of the Scriptures into new languages. The entire Bible or parts thereof were translated into 112 languages and dialects between 1800 and 1844. This was more translation than had been made in the preceding eighteen centuries. The Sunday School Movement The churches recognized that much needed to be done in their own neighborhoods as well as in foreign lands. Thousands of children and youth were growing up in homes where the name of Christ was used only in profanity. To reach this group Robert Raikes inaugurated the Sunday School Movement in England in the late eighteenth century. Similar schools were launched in New York and Boston in 1816. Soon the Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union was shepherding 723 schools scattered among the major Protestant denominations in nearly twenty states. In 1826 the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed Churches cooperated to establish the American Home Missionary Society, which for the next quarter century actively promoted Christian schools and churches in the frontier states and territories. Economic Conditions Economic conditions in Great Britain and the United States contributed greatly to the churches’ ability to finance missionary endeavors at home and abroad. The advent of improved technology in the textile industry and the development of the steam engine propelled Britain into the first industrial revolution. Fortunes were developed in manufacturing and in trade with a growing overseas empire. Much of this new merchant wealth was given to support overseas missionaries, perhaps in the hope that a desire to purchase the products enjoyed by Christians would follow the adoption of their religion. Others whose consciences were troubled at affluence acquired through “nasty” ventures like the slave trade quieted them by donating money to have Bibles translated into Hindustani. As factories mushroomed, so did the population in urban areas. This concentration of population made it easier to contact larger numbers in a short time. Still, the Industrial Revolution proved a mixed blessing for the Christian churches. The increase in the variety and amounts of material goods tended to stimulate the acquisitive nature of the wealthy and to arouse the envy of the poor. Factory hands and miners, weary from a twelve- to sixteen-hour working day, were generally lethargic toward spiritual things. Disillusioned over their chances for upward mobility in English society, thousands longed to emigrate to America, Australia, or South Africa. William Carey (1761-1834), whose missionary career in India began in 1793, was an important part of the Protestant missionary movement prior to the Millerite era. Reform Movements In both Britain and the United States religious groups were soon involved in the campaign to improve numerous aspects of society. America’s most famous revivalist, Charles Grandison Finney, “preached not only salvation but reform”. Many who were converted under his preaching became active in antislavery and temperance societies. Perhaps no reform movement exhibited more clearly the interweaving of religious and secular motivations than the crusade to promote temperance. Hundreds of clergymen labeled intemperance and the liquor traffic as sinful. William Miller exhorted his followers, “For your soul’s sake drink not another draught, lest he [Christ] come and find you drunken”. Other temperance advocates were stimulated by more earthly interests. If increasing numbers of citizens were to be given the vote, it was essential that they be able to cast their ballots with minds unmuddled by liquor. Numerous causes designed to improve the lot of disadvantaged groups attracted the reform- minded. Thomas Gallaudet and Samuel Gridley Howe campaigned for education and understanding of the deaf and the blind. Louis Dwight of Boston sought to arouse church members to the “miseries of prisons”. Surely there was much in the common methods of handling criminals that needed reforming. Confinement in the stocks, whipping, and branding came to seem inhuman — fit treatment only for slaves! Surely counseling, education, and religious services were more potent than corporal punishment for encouraging reformation. Educational Reform It was during these years that the free public school system took shape in the United States. Beginning in 1823, when Samuel Hall called for better training for elementary teachers, the

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