Head and Heart
Throughout American history, the interplay between religious fervor and rational Enlightenment thought has deeply influenced societal development. From the Puritans' vision of a "city upon a hill" to the disestablishment principles of the Founding Fathers, America has witnessed a dynamic tension between spiritual zeal and intellectual progress. This narrative continues to evolve, reflecting broader shifts in cultural and political landscapes.
The Puritan Legacy and Early Dissent
The Puritans established a foundational narrative for America as a "city upon a hill," a place where the Gospel could be preached and lived. Escaping perceived religious tolerance in England, they intended to create a community grounded in strict religious adherence. Despite their extremism, the Puritans' intellectual contributions were significant, as evidenced by their founding of Harvard College and their enduring emphasis on individualism. However, their intolerance for religious dissent was evident in events like the 1660 execution of Mary Dyer, a Quaker who defied Puritan orthodoxy.
Within Puritanism, there were notable dissenters. Samuel Sewall, a judge in the Salem witch trials, later expressed remorse for his actions and authored The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial in 1700, one of the earliest American critiques of slavery. Roger Williams, another dissenter, questioned the public role of religion, advocating for a separation that would later influence American constitutional principles.
The Enlightenment Influence
The Enlightenment brought new ways of thinking to America, challenging traditional religious doctrines. John Locke's writings, particularly The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the Scriptures, inspired the growth of Unitarianism, a Christian denomination that accepted the Bible while denying the divinity of Jesus. Quakers like John Woolman and Anthony Benezet used both Christian and humanist arguments to oppose slavery, demonstrating the Enlightenment's impact on social justice.
Deism emerged as a favored religious stance during this period, positing a "watchmaker" God who, after creating the universe, remained uninvolved in its daily operations. This belief system attracted many of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson even authored a Deist Bible, excising components he found incompatible with reason and viewing Jesus as a profound teacher rather than a divine figure.
Disestablishment and the Founding Fathers
The Enlightenment's influence on the Founding Fathers was instrumental in the disestablishment of religion, a radical outcome of the American Revolution. Locke's moderate views on religious tolerance, as outlined in Epistola de Tolerantia, laid groundwork that Jefferson and Madison would radicalize, striving for a clear separation of church and state in the Constitution. Jefferson's "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" and Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments" exemplify this dedication to religious neutrality.
Romanticism and Religious Revivals
The nineteenth century saw Romanticism's influence on both Enlightened and Evangelical aspects of American Christianity. Debates between Unitarian and Trinitarian factions led William Ellery Channing to formalize Unitarianism as a distinct sect. Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson, influenced by Romantic intuition and inspiration, began to reject more traditional aspects of Christianity, including miracles and the Trinity, favoring a nature mysticism informed by Hinduism.
Concurrently, the Romantic emphasis on emotion sparked the Second Great Awakening, revitalizing religious enthusiasm, particularly among Methodists. Leaders like Francis Asbury championed this revival, encouraging African Americans to establish their own churches and laying groundwork for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Slavery, Civil War, and Social Movements
As America grappled with slavery, religious divisions mirrored those of the nation. Post-Civil War, the revivalist spirit persisted through leaders like Dwight L. Moody, who capitalized on support from industrialists to build an evangelical empire. The end-times doctrine evolved during this era, with figures like Reuben Torrey and John Nelson Darby introducing dispensational premillenarianism,...
(This entire section contains 956 words.)
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emphasizing the Rapture and Tribulation as central eschatological events.
While fundamentalism largely avoided public engagement, other Protestant groups, such as Episcopalians and Congregationalists, pursued the Social Gospel, advocating for justice and mercy based on biblical standards. Despite being considered radical at its inception, the Social Gospel's efforts to ameliorate poverty were later critiqued for their complicity with American imperialism.
The Twentieth Century: Challenges and Shifts
The early twentieth century was marked by significant setbacks for Evangelicalism. Prohibition, a victory rooted in evangelical fervor, led to increased lawlessness. Simultaneously, the rise of scientific theories like evolution threatened fundamentalist doctrines, manifesting in the infamous Scopes trial that publicly scrutinized biblical literalism.
World War II's aftermath fostered a view of America as a tolerant Judeo-Christian society, yet this tolerance was unevenly applied. The Civil Rights Movement, spearheaded by figures like Martin Luther King Jr., utilized Evangelical rhetoric to challenge segregation and prompted broader social reforms, including women's rights and gay rights—developments that many Evangelicals opposed as contrary to biblical teachings.
The Evangelical Political Counterrevolution
Feeling marginalized by the Rights Revolution, Evangelicals began organizing politically, focusing particularly on educational content and public policy. Pressure groups sought to eliminate teachings on evolution and relativism in schools. Leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson mobilized Evangelicals through organizations such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, asserting their influence in political spheres.
The dawn of the twenty-first century saw Evangelicals rallying behind George W. Bush, whose administration sought to weave Evangelical values into national policy. Initiatives included channeling federal funds to religious groups and backing constitutional amendments to define marriage traditionally. Yet, as Garry Wills suggests, such efforts risk repeating the overreach seen in the 1920s.
In Head and Heart: American Christianities, Garry Wills revisits themes from his earlier work, Under God: Religion and American Politics, highlighting the ongoing interplay between Enlightenment reasoning and Evangelical zeal from America's founding to the modern era. Wills, a Christian, emphasizes how the Founding Fathers laid groundwork for a novel separation of church and state, challenging the notion of America as a singularly Christian nation and advocating for a balanced synthesis of intellect and faith in public life.
Bibliography
- Booklist 104, no. 1 (September 1, 2007): 4.
- Kirkus Reviews 75, no. 15 (August 1, 2007): 781.
- Library Journal 132, no. 15 (September 15, 2007): 66.
- The New Republic 237, no. 7 (October 8, 2007): 57-60.
- The New York Times Book Review 157 (December 9, 2007): 10.
