Religion

(Note: while this chapter attempts to categorize the vast array of religions taking hold in early America, both theologians and church members may properly wish to differ on interpretations.)

After Martin Luther leads the Protestant Reformation, five major churches are left in Europe around 1600: Catholic, Lutheran, Anabaptist, Church of England and various Calvinist sects. The latter two take hold immediately in the colonies: the Church of England under the banner of Anglicans and the Reformed Calvinists as Puritans or Congregationalists.

Eight of the original 13 colonies officially affiliate with the two churches in their charters, with the Puritan Congregationalists dominant in New England and the Church of England Anglicans in the south.

11.0 Religious Affiliation Identified in Colonial Charter

But, as with its government, democracy becomes the watchword for religion in America.

The earliest colonial additions – Dutch Reformed, Presbyterians and Baptists – all tend to evolve from Calvinism and its belief in predestination, the notion that God alone determines the Elect who will be granted eternal salvation.

Challenges to predestination, however, begin to appear around 1591, led by one Jacobus Arminius, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. Arminius asserts that, by grace, revival and adherence to Christ’s teachings, a merciful God opens the gates to salvation for all men.

Starting around 1650, a host of new religious denominations spring up in America, many rejecting Calvin’s predestination of the Elect in favor of Arminius’ belief that all can be saved.

Among the early arrivals, mostly residing in Pennsylvania, are the Quakers who preach reliance on one’s “inner light” for salvation. They are joined by communities of Mennonites, Shakers and Amish who tend to distance themselves from evils associated with all things “modern.” Judaism, in both its Orthodox and Secular versions, appears in scattered synagogues, albeit with small numbers of practitioners. Small bands of Catholics are present, but viewed as the enemy by the dominant population of Protestants.

Around 1725 the so-called First Great Awakening impacts the American religious landscape. Led by the fiery sermons of Jonathan Edwards, the Calvinist principle of predestination is reinforced among the New England Congregationalists. Push back, however, comes from John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield who found the Methodist Church arguing that all men can be saved by being “born again” and by their own acts of faith.

The Unitarian Church takes hold in Boston in 1773 with minister William Ellery Channing rejecting the Trinity in favor of one God alone and favoring a loving (not Calvinist) deity who embraces all who embrace compassion for their fellow beings.

A revolutionary Second Great Awakening sweeps across America from 1825 to 1840. It is led by Reverend Charles Finney and the “New School Presbyterians” who usher in the era of Evangelical revival meeting and spontaneous conversions to Christianity.

Within the Black community, the African Methodist Episcopalian (AME) Church is founded by Minister Richard Allen in Philadelphia. It plays a pivotal role in preparing its members to make their way in a hostile and prejudiced environment.

Other made-in-America churches follow on. In upstate New York, one Joseph Smith sets in motion the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that migrates through violent opposition to find its New Jerusalem site under Brigham Young in Utah.

Some Unitarians morph into Transcendentalists who find God’s promise in the simplicity and beauty of Nature. The diverse Adventist sects anticipate the imminent Second Coming of Christ and celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, akin to the Jewish Shabbat. In 1845 a schism over slavery ends with the creation of the Southern Baptist Church.

11.1 Some of the Earlier Religious Sects in America

According to the 1850 Census, there were eighteen principal religious denominations in America as of 1850.

Professor Mark Knoll, a leading historian on religions in America, estimates that in 1860 the Methodist Episcopalians with 20,000 churches were well ahead of the second place Baptists and the Presbyterians.

Number Of Churches In America