Religion in the US

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ReligioninThreeEarlyColonies.ppt
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Colonial Period, 1607-1776

  • The Colonial Period is the era from the earliest European immigration to the Atlantic seaboard to the war of independence from British rule.
  • From the beginning of this period, there was religious diversity. This diversity was first and foremost the result of religious diversity in England. We examine three important early colonies that reflect three major religious traditions, all of which have English roots: Anglicanism in Virginia, Puritanism in Massachusetts Bay, and the Quakers (or Friends) in Pennsylvania.

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Virginia, founded 1607

Named after

Queen Elizabeth, the

“Virgin Queen”

1533-1603

Virginia, 1607

  • The colony was established with mixed imperial, economic, and religious motives. Colonists and their supporters wanted to add to the wealth and power of the nation, but also spread their religion.
  • The religious goal was to establish the Anglican church in the new world.

Anglican Church

  • The Anglican Church is the Church of England, which broke from Rome in the 16th century.
  • It was and is famous for promoting a “Middle Way” between Roman Catholicism and other versions of Protestantism.
  • To understand how it is a middle way, we need to articulate some main differences between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.

Some Main Differences: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

Roman Catholicism

  • Emphasizes faithful participation in sacraments. The church mediates grace through sacraments.
  • Tends toward more elaborate liturgy, with focus on eucharist.

Protestantism

  • Emphasizes the individual encounter with God as means of receiving grace.
  • Tends toward simplified liturgy, with focus on preaching

Some Main Differences: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

Roman Catholicism

  • Stresses apostolic authority of church leaders, which means the church and its leadership are understood as set up by God to lead the faithful.
  • The Bible and church traditions cohere and both are understood as authoritative for believers.

Protestantism

  • Stresses Priesthood of all believers, which means an unmediated individual relationship with God is emphasized.
  • The Bible is the only authority for believers and church traditions should be judged by it.

Some Main Differences: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

Roman Catholicism

Follows church calendar, with set prayers, readings, special seasons, holidays, and traditions emphasized.

The Pope in Rome is supreme head of the church.

Protestantism

Tends to minimize the significance of church calendar, with many groups not following it at all, as it is perceived as a threat to the direct individual relationship with God.

Most forms of Protestantism in the 17th century recognized state churches. Today in the US, they have national organizations.

Some Main Differences: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

Roman Catholicism

7 Sacraments, which are concrete ways by which the church mediates grace to the faithful (baptism, eucharist, penance, confirmation, marriage, holy orders, last rites)

Celibate Clergy

Monastic Tradition: monks and nuns live a life withdrawn from ordinary family life and devoted to God)

Devotion expressed to Mary/Saints

Protestantism

  • 2 Sacraments, often called “ordinances” (baptism and eucharist). Only these two are deemed scriptural. Protestants disagree about how to interpret them. About half of Protestants practice only adult baptism.

Married clergy

No monastic tradition. It is interpreted as the attempt at saving oneself rather than receiving grace from God.

No devotion to Mary/Saints

The Anglican Middle Way

  • Like Roman Catholicism:
  • Affirmed Apostolic Authority of Priests
  • Had an Elaborate liturgy, focus on Eucharist
  • Recognized significance of church calendar and many special holidays and traditions
  • Like Protestantism:
  • State church
  • No monastic tradition
  • Minimized devotion to Mary/saints

Key distinctive of the Anglican Tradition: Book of Common Prayer

Anglican Middle Way

  • The “Book of Common Prayer” is the liturgical book of the Anglican church. It designates bible readings, gives prayers, and the liturgy for all services.

Virginia

In Virginia, the goal was to transplant the Anglican church to the colony. Many problems were encountered. Early, there were sparse resources. Later in the colonial period, there was the problem of diversity. Despite this, throughout the colonial period, the Anglican church was the established church of Virginia (and a number of other southern colonies).

Establishment means the government directly supports and regulates a particular religion and religion accedes to and supports the government. In VA, to work for the state, one had to be a member of the Anglican church. To be a minister, one was supposed to provide proof to the magistrate of being an ordained Anglican clergy. The government funded ministers and the building and maintenance of church buildings with tax money. This is an example of establishment.

Virginia

Below is the bill from 1642 affirming church establishment in VA. (Taken from “A Documentary History of Religion in America” vol. 1, ed., Gaustad (Eerdmanns, 1993), 97)

That for the preservation of purity and unity of doctrine and discipline in the church, and the right administration of the sacraments, no ministers be admitted to officiate in this country but such as shall produce to the governor a testimonial that he hath receiv’d his ordination from some bishop in England, and shall then subscribe to be conformable to the orders and constitutions of the church of England and the laws there eatablish’d, upon which the Governor is hereby requested to induct the said minister into any parish, that shall make presentation of him; And if any other person pretending himself a minister, shall contrary to this act presume to teach or preach publickly or privately, the Governor and council are hereby desir’d and impowered to suspend and silence the person so offending, and upon his obstinate persistence, to compell him to depart the country with the first convenience as it hath been formerly provided by the 77th act made at James City the 2d March, 1642.

Episcopal Church

  • After the American Revolution, Virginia passed a law of “disestablishment” of religion. The state was no longer to support or regulate religion or the church be dependent on the state. We examine this law later, as it is an important step to national disestablishment.
  • Also after the revolution, the Anglican church in the US became independent of the state church in England, even while it maintained many of the beliefs and practices of Anglicanism, including following a revised version of “The Book of Common Prayer.”
  • The newly independent church called itself the Protestant Episcopal church, which was shortened over time to the Episcopal church.
  • The Episcopal church is discussed further in this section of the course in a later PowerPoint and by Hemeyer.

Massachusetts

Bay

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John Winthrop, 1588-1649, Governor or Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Massachusetts Bay Colony - 1620

The Mass Bay colony was established by “Puritans” who had more explicitly religious motives than the settlers of VA.

Puritans were an English group that dissented from the Church of England. They were called “Puritans” because, in their view, they wanted to purify the church of England. England was internally divided between Puritans and Anglicans especially strongly in the first half of the 17th century.

The Puritans who came to the new world wanted to be a model to England of a pure church and pure society.

Puritan Disputes with Anglicans

  • Puritans wanted more Protestantism! To them, this is what it meant to purify the church:

Simplified Worship

No Book of Common Prayer

No church calendar

Simple reading and expounding of scripture

Stricter theology

Stricter morality

Read the following brief articles about Puritan beliefs and Puritan life:

http://www.ushistory.org/us/3c.asp

http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp

Puritan Establishment

  • Most Puritans in the new world were “Congregationalists.” They believed the authority of the church should lie in individual congregations.
  • The Puritans of Mass Bay had considerable religious autonomy in the new world.
  • Like the Anglicans of VA, they did not promote freedom of religion but set up a strict Puritan religious establishment (the state supports religion and religion supports the state).
  • Like those in VA, they faced over time the problem of increasing diversity of religious belief.

Puritan History

  • While it is a long story, the church of Congregationalist Puritans eventually became disestablished some decades after the revolution. It continued to exist and even spread beyond New England. In the mid-20th century, it united with other groups to form what is today the United Church of Christ.
  • The United Church of Christ is discussed in a later PowerPoint and covered by Hemeyer.

Important point:

VA and Mass Bay have different forms of Christianity (Anglican and Puritan/Congregationalist), but each affirms “establishment” of religion.

Understanding Establishment

  • The State directly supports and regulates Religion.

Typical means of support and regulation:

Tax money funds ministers, church buildings, religious education.

Religious tests for public office.

State power regulates belief/practice.

Possibilities: determine who can be a minister, enforce liturgy, doctrine, even (at times) church attendance

Understanding Establishment

  • Religion directly supports and accedes to the State.

Typical means of support and acquiescence:

  • Religious leaders agree to the regulation of religion by the State, including the state enforcing who can be a minister.
  • Religious leaders take oaths of allegiance to state or political figures (the Monarch).
  • Prayer for state leaders is part of liturgy.
  • Coronation of state leaders is done by religious figures.

Understanding Establishment

  • Why Establishment? Typical reasons are:

“Right belief” is regarded as more important than individual choice. To ensure right belief, the state must enforce religion and not allow individual choice.

Religion is a unifying force in culture and having a single religion increases cultural unity.

The church is guaranteed survival or flourishing with state support. It does not need to depend on people voluntarily giving either time or money to survive.

Religion is thought to make people pious and moral. If the state does not support and enforce true religion, many thought people would become impious and immoral. God would not bless a state of impious and immoral people, so for the state to survive, establishment was required.

Pennsylvania

  • Pennsylvania was a second generation colony, founded in 1682 by the Quaker, William Penn

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William Penn First Quaker Meeting House

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The Quakers/Friends

  • The Quakers were begun by the Englishman, George Fox (1624-1691)
  • Fox disagreed with all other religious groups in England in his time (Anglicans and Puritans)
  • He emphasized there was an “inner light” or divine spark within everyone.
  • Because they had a divine spark, Fox denied people were totally depraved or totally sinful.
  • For Fox, true religion was opening to the inner light. He denied all other outward forms of religion, including no ministers, no liturgy, no sermons, no sacraments, no creeds, and not even any church buildings, just houses in which to meet.
  • Worship involved sitting in silence until someone was moved by the spirit to speak

The Quakers/Friends

  • Fox said members should live simple, honest, moral lives. They should not take oaths (following literally the Gospel of Matthew 5:33-37).
  • Fox said members should never be violent but be pacifist (again, following Matthew 5:38-42, where Jesus says not to resist an evildoer but turn the other cheek).
  • Fox preferred the term “Friends” for followers of his ideas. This came from John 15:15, where Jesus said “I do not call you servants any longer… but I have called you friends…”

Penn’s Colony

  • Fox was a zealous missionary.
  • Because there was no religious freedom in England during his the time, he and his followers often suffered persecution at the hands of the state. They were pacifists and would not fight back. They also were bound to tell the truth, so they would not lie about what they were doing and what they believed.
  • William Penn hatched the idea of starting a colony in the new world where Quakers would be free from persecution.
  • Penn bought the land from Native Americans rather than simply taking it or declaring it his.
  • He opened the colony to “all persons confessing God as creator…” With this, he essentially “disestablished” religion.
  • Word spread and quickly his colony filled with diverse religious groups: Presbyterians, Baptists, Mennonites, Amish, Lutherans, German Reformed, and more.

Penn’s Colony

  • Penn’s colony was a smashing success
  • He showed that one could separate civil/political life and religious commitment (something also done earlier in Rhode Island) and still be successful
  • Read the brief summary of Penn and the Quakers’ influence at this site:

http://www.ushistory.org/us/4b.asp

Quaker History

  • The Quakers were numerically significant in the colonial period.
  • As the nation was formed, and as it expanded and grew, their numbers dwindled.
  • Vibrant Quaker groups still exist, with perhaps 100,000 Quakers in the US today. Many Quakers still worship by sitting in silence. They are devoted to peace-making.
  • You can learn about them and the major groups of Quakers at the following website:
  • http://www.quaker.org/