Osthaus compares the South to the two-faced Roman god Janus and notes that the view will be different “whether one opts for ‘an attractive’ or ‘an unattractive countenance” (750). While Osthaus is not speaking of Southern religion, it is nonetheless applicable to it. This common motif in Southern literature is also apparent in Grisham’s A Painted House. Southern religion has two modes of existence.
One can witness the more attractive face of Southern religion in several areas. Religion was an important part of the lives of the Chandlers and of Black Oak, Arkansas. The center of the Chandler devotion was the Black Oak Baptist Church, and nothing was more important besides the family and the farm than church. “There was more to Sunday church
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Guilt and sin are dominant themes in the mind of young Luke Chandler. He notes, “As Baptist, we were never short on sins to haunt us” (Grisham 60). “Most things were sinful in rural Arkansas, especially if you were a Baptist” (Grisham 83) according to Luke. This pervasiveness of sin created a guilt complex that nagged the youngest Chandler. When he lies to officer Stick Powers, Luke was certain that he was “skirting around the edges of the fiery depths” even while he was fabricating a justification for his sinful actions (Grisham 100). After watching Tally Spruill bathing in the river, Luke felt uncertainty as to how sinful his act had been, although he could not recall any direct Scriptural prohibition (Grisham 128). Even at times when it was questionable as to whether he had done anything wrong, Luke would feel “guilty of something” (Grisham …show more content…
In typical Southern fashion, he was referred to as “Brother Akers” (Grisham 87). His sermons were angry tirades against sins, real or imagined that the people of his flock may or may not have been guilty of committing (Grisham 87). He prayed “long and windy” prayers and gave the congregation “verbal beatings” each Sunday (Grisham 84, 92). When the pastor preached about more pleasant subjects like love and charity, he gave Luke the impression that he did so without much conviction (Grisham 136).
The pastor’s carnival appearance, though well intentioned, was a public attack on sin outside the walls of the church (Grisham
During the early 1900s, the south was full of religious fervor. Most small communities were based around two or three church families. Cold Sassy Tree, which is a recounting of Will’s memories, contains many references to religion and God. Rucker Blakeslee,...
What The South Intends. THE CHRISTIAN RECORDERS August 12, 1865, Print. James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer.
Jonathan Edwards creates a more effective argument for the intended audience in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” than “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” written by Patrick Henry, by utilizing various techniques. Patrick Henry makes a strong argument however in the end, Edwards’ sermon grows to be more effective. Edwards creates the argument by strengthening the writing through tone, structure, fallacies and knowledge of the congregation that became his audience. Henry’s piece uses methods of oratory persuasion but the actual topic of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has an advantage from the start by appealing to fear, a fallacy of logic. Even with the strong basis “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry, Edwards’ “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” proves the more effective piece in the end.
This event changed the role of American religion during the early nineteenth century. Non-traditional religions such as Mormonism resulted from this religious revival movement as well. The religious revivals that emphasized individual choice of humans over predestination of God continuously shook New England Calvinism. The “cult of Matthias” was unlike any other religious groups during the time period.
Imagine a historian, author of an award-winning dissertation and several books. He is an experienced lecturer and respected scholar; he is at the forefront of his field. His research methodology sets the bar for other academicians. He is so highly esteemed, in fact, that an article he has prepared is to be presented to and discussed by the United States’ oldest and largest society of professional historians. These are precisely the circumstances in which Ulrich B. Phillips wrote his 1928 essay, “The Central Theme of Southern History.” In this treatise he set forth a thesis which on its face is not revolutionary: that the cause behind which the South stood unified was not slavery, as such, but white supremacy. Over the course of fourteen elegantly written pages, Phillips advances his thesis with evidence from a variety of primary sources gleaned from his years of research. All of his reasoning and experience add weight to his distillation of Southern history into this one fairly simple idea, an idea so deceptively simple that it invites further study.
Ida B. Wells was born into slavery, and lived in Holly Springs Mississippi. She was later freed, and learned from her parents what it meant to be a political activist. By 1891, Wells was the owner of the newspaper, Free Speech, and was reporting on the horrors that were occurring in the south. Wells, along with other people of the African American activist community were particularly horrified about the lynching’s that were occurring in the south. As a response to the lynching that was occurring, and other violent acts that the African American community was dealing with Wells wrote three pamphlets: Southern Horrors, The Red Record, and Mob Brutality. Muckraking and investigative journalism can be seen throughout these pamphlets, as well as Wells intent to persuade the African American community, and certain members of the white community to take a stand against the crime of lynching. Wells’ writings are an effective historical text, because she serves as a voice to an underrepresented African American community.
Aamodt, Terrie D., Righteous Armies, Holy Causes: Apocalyptic Imagery and the Civil War. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2002.
Tate, Allen. “A Southern Mode of the Imagination.” In Essays of Four Decades. Chicago: Swallow Press, 1968; (Third Edition) Wilmington, De: ISI Press, 1999.
Throughout Tony Horwitz’s novel Confederates in the Attic an overarching theme of Southern Pride occurs. Tony gets first-hand experiences of what southern heritage means through a cross-country road trip visiting historic sights and meeting locals. Tony meets people from every walk of life and is open to their stories and historical information. He meets people who have been oppressed and the oppressors themselves. Many people show their pride through commemorating the past, in the south this often means commemorating the Civil War. Pride is coupled with the ways men and women choose to honor the Civil War, and the rift it has caused within racial tensions.
Dochuk, Darren. From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
There exists a long held belief that the United States of America was founded on the principles and doctrinal views of Protestantism. Modern age Christians have scoured historical documents in an effort to provide evidence for a Judeo-Christian foundation in the nation’s republican framework. Likewise, their opponents have written lengthy dissertations and argued over various media outlets that Christian conclusions are unfounded. Yet despite their endless debate, religion, especially Christianity, has and continues to play a fundamental element of America’s cultural, societal, and political makeup. The Second Great Awakening, the religious revivalist movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, ignited not only a religious revolution that transformed the American landscape, but it also developed and cemented the individualistic ideologies that have driven American thought in subsequent generations.
Slaves were required by their masters to attend church. The slaves soon realized that many of the biblical stories they learned about in church paralleled their own...
Luke consistently compares the ones who get it with the ones who do not get it, revealing the foolish religious scholars, as in chapter 7, “All t...
The Gospel of Luke centralizes the components of Jesus’ divinity, humanity, and ministry which contribute to the perception of Jesus portrayed by the narrator of Luke. Jesus’ divinity is demonstrated through his healings and miracles throughout the Gospel. His humanity is represented through the infancy narrative and also at the beginning of his Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, Jesus’ public ministry serves as the most effective and important element of his life because of the essential teachings that he speaks of that give inside evidence to the formation of the modern day church.
Some major themes that are present in Luke are the presence of the Holy Spirit, the use of prayer, Jesus’ concern for women, his belief that Christianity should be the universal belief and a lawful religion, and that Jerusalem should always remain of the utmost importance (Harris, 2014). First, he believes that Jesus’ career and growth of Christianity are the work of the Holy Spirit, which is a direct expression of God’s will (Harris, 2014 p. 204). Next, the use of prayer is discussed in reference to Jesus and the disciples and how important it is to Christianity. It is unmistakable Luke’s thought as to the role that women play and that they are indispensable to God’s plan (Harris, 2014). Last, the concern for women is linked to the vulnerability