The Kingdom of Matthias and religious revivalism - Sample Historical Analysis Paper

This sample essay was looks at religious cults that sprang up during the Second Great Awakening in the 19th century. It was written for a college course on the American Revolution and the early republic. In particular this example history paper looks at the Kingdom of Matthias, a strange, conservative cult that warned of doomsday. It uses numerous text-based examples to illustrate how religious cults attracted followers while taking part in the "democratization" of religion. It would be an effective reference for a student who wants to write on an unusual historical topic involving religion.

A Kingdom for the lost: Examining Matthias' Kingdom and the Second Great Awakening

At first glance it seems easy to dismiss the Prophet Matthias. The 19th century zealot, with his extravagant outfits, bizarre theology and rambling discourses may strike some as just another religious extremist. But the strange workings of the Prophet and his followers reveal the darker side of the Second Great Awakening: those who were left behind by the economic and social upheavals renounced Finneyite revivalism and middle-class wealth and reinforced Old Testament patriarchy.

The Second Great Awakening, a wave of religious fervor that spread through the north and western United States from the 1820s to the 1840s, occurred as the Industrial Revolution was transforming America. This period marked the "the peak years of the market revolution that took the country from the fringe of the world economy to the brink of commercial greatness" (Johnson and Wilentz, 6). The country had changed since the Revolution. Jacksonian democracy opened up the vote to all white males, while a network of canals and railroads created a national market. Indeed, "commerce was bursting with promises of material riches for anyone with the initiative and the funds to participate" (Johnson and Wilentz, 61). But "with expansion and wealth came dissension and strife. Only a revival of religion, many believed could preserve the nation" (Masur, 66). The revival was led by traveling preachers like Charles Grandison Finney who employed a "democratic style" of preaching; he believed that individuals could interpret the Bible and find salvation themselves. Finney's "preaching was theatrical, conversational, and practical" (Masur, 68), which appealed to middle and upper class Americans. Men - and arguably many more women - were evangelized and soon understood the need to spread the word of God to the rest of America.

Robert Matthews, who would later become the Prophet Matthias, was initially swept up by these religious revivals. Matthews, who had come from a strict Calvinist background, was "filled . . . with fresh inspiration" by Methodist preachers who claimed salvation came to "all who received Jesus in their hearts" (Johnson and Wilentz, 64). He even found brief solace in the words of John Ludlow, a Finneyite preacher who said God represented a "higher Christian love," not the wrathful God Matthews had known as a youth (Johnson and Wilentz, 70). Matthews vowed he "too would be a loving man; in his temperance work, he would lead others to righteousness" (Johnson and Wilentz, 70). The same was true for Elijah Pierson, who would become Matthews' most devout follower. Pierson at first followed a path of "engagement in lay missions and a willingness to be governed by God through prayer" (Johnson and Wilentz, 25). Likewise, Pierson celebrated the newly elevated role of women - his marriage was a "spiritualized union between partners" that "thrived on prayer and feminine influence" (Johnson and Wilentz, 27).

But while Matthews and Pierson initially were swayed by the revivalist spirit, their frail personal and professional lives would lead them to reject Finneyite doctrines. They would join other working class or "plebian" Christians who were passed over by the Industrial Revolution. This broad group of Americans "resented the Finneyites' wealth, their education, their aptitude for organization, and their self-assigned roles as the cultural vanguard of market society and moral reform" (Johnson and Wilentz, 9). Even more so, men like Matthias felt that the revivals were stripping humanity of its proper social norms. They felt a need to defend the "ancient truth" - conservative, Old Testament views of patriarchy for example - "against the perverse claims of arrogant, affluent and self-satisfied enemies of God" (Johnson and Wilentz, 9). Matthias and others like him were "poor men who were rooted socially and emotionally in the yeoman republic of the eighteenth century [and] had been diminished by the revolution" (Johnson and Wilentz, 7). Indeed, Matthias hated expressions of material wealth - his "ban on puddings and pies and the insistence that meat be boiled and never roasted" stemmed from a "hatred of new-fangled, middle-class ways introduced by the market revolution" (Johnson and Wilentz, 109). Ironically, the prophet's rejection of riches did not apply to himself - he preferred to dress in expensive clothing and envisioned ruling his utopia from an immense golden temple. Matthias would never acknowledge such contradictions, but instead adapt the Finneyite doctrines for his own purposes. In Matthias' Kingdom, an individual could not only interpret the Bible but also talk directly to God. Matthias would also wander like other evangelical preachers, but he would not tell of Jesus' love - but warn of the Father's wrath.

Matthias didn't just employ fire and brimstone rhetoric - his Kingdom also incorporated his hatred for women. Matthias explained that he was the Spirit of Truth incarnated, which "was the spirit of male government. God wanted women to have none of it" - indeed, the female spirit was akin to the devil (Johnson and Wilentz, 95). Matthias' Kingdom reinforced not just the Old Testament's view of a wrathful God, but also its conservative, patriarchal system. "Matthias was not just father but the Father, occupied with government and prophecy. He put the men and boys to work on the farm . . . As for women, Matthias kept them in the house" (Johnson and Wilentz, 105). Matthias continually made sure that women were kept in an inferior position. "At Mount Zion, Matthias made supper a nightly sacrament that restored God's own balance of domestic intimacy and patriarchal control" as he lectured for hours about Truth and doled out punishments (Johnson and Wilentz, 111). Supporters like Elijah Pierson - now Elijah the Tishbite - approved of this patriarchal system; Elijah "was happy that Matthias was teaching him to be a real man" (Johnson and Wilentz 100). Such practices were a far cry from the mainstream evangelical movement where some called for an "image of womankind as the chief uplifting force within families and the community at large" (Johnson and Wilentz, 76). Matthias was abhorred by such developments - he preferred the environment of his youth, where family services and other ceremonies "reinforced distinctions within households between men and women" (Johnson and Wilentz, 54). Thus, "At the heart of his cosmology was a strenuous effort to elevate, in sometimes twisted and exaggerated forms, the ideals of manhood he had learned to respect back in Coila" (Johnson and Wilentz, 106). Ironically, Matthias' devotion to patriarchy would cause the Kingdom to take a radical shift. By establishing himself as the Father, Matthias became vulnerable to Ann Folger's charms - as the most powerful man, he was the most attractive target. Thus, the Kingdom became known more for its members' alleged promiscuity than its supposed religious doctrines. Indeed during Matthias' trial, the press salivated over "all the available evidence [that showed] Matthias' followers had participated in 'the voluntary debasement of the family, chiefly females, subjecting themselves by a system of object menial obedience''' (Johnson and Wilentz, 153). Matthias, who claimed he was the pure spirit of Truth, the savior of patriarchy, made a mockery of himself when his Kingdom was undermined by a woman.

Why is America continually fascinated by fringe groups and suicide cults? Johnson and Wilentz believe the answer is tied to the country's population of deeply religious conservatives - these cults speak to "persistent American hurts and rages wrapped in longings for a supposedly bygone holy patriarchy" (Johnson and Wilentz 173) and attract followers from among those who are the most spiritually or economically lost. But perhaps the fascination springs from a psychological aspect too - these cults make a person fear what they could become. People see themselves in Matthias: put in a hopeless situation, they too might become like the Prophet - angry, deranged and ultimately alone.

Works Cited