Taking Heaven By Storm Chapter Summary

Author John H. Wigger wrote Taking Heaven by Storm in an effort to fill the literary gap where American Methodism and its effects were concerned. In writing this book, his purpose was to show that the growth of Methodism in America was a vital factor in the development of American culture and society. He attempted to prove this through his establishment of sub-arguments concerning the transition from other denominations to Methodism, the itinerancy, the social aspect Methodism brought to the people, Methodism’s influence on African Americans and women, and its overall transformation. Generally speaking, Taking Heaven by Storm proved effective in providing history and insight into American Methodism and its effects where there previously had

been little material on the subject.
The first trend of Methodism that Wigger addresses is the appeal of Methodism as compared to the other denominations present at the time. To provide evidence for this, Wigger describes the struggles of the time and how Methodism relieved those struggles. For example, the aspect of freedom that Methodism provided appealed to the people more than other denominations since America was still riding on the ideas of freedom and liberty born of the American Revolution. Wigger also paints the picture of a scattered and unreachable people who were finally able to be reached by Methodist factors like the itinerancy and local preachers. He then speaks further of the itinerancy as an argument for his point, which also ties into his social argument. Because of the itinerancy, he says, people in far off and scattered regions were able to hear the message of Methodism, so the culture created by Methodism reached even the most remote and barely settled regions. This leads Wigger to his sub-argument about the social aspect of Methodism. Through class meetings, love feasts, and other activities, Methodists’ lives were completely filled with religion and the gospel. Wigger finds a cultural and societal shift in how the people are enraptured by attending every Methodist function possible. This became their society and culture. He also makes a sub-argument for how the African-Americans were converted to Methodism, whereas previous denominations were unable to reach and convert them. This supports his argument well as this is indeed a significant change in American culture and society. Methodism even caused a shift in perspective on slavery, which was a giant step forward for American society and culture. This point reinforced Wigger’s main argument well. Wigger then made a sub-argument for women and their roles in the Methodist movement. Methodism at first opened up to women having more of a role in church meetings where quite usually these roles and opportunities were “unavailable in the more respectable denominations”. Wigger states that women were at the core of the Methodist movement, for it gave them such a wide range of opportunities and an expansion of their normal daily lives. After observing and analyzing all of these points, Wigger pulls back to examine the overall transformation of American Methodism. He notes how suited for the expansion of America that Methodism was and how as the people began to become more comfortable as American expansion slowed, so too did the expansion of Methodism slow.
In looking at each sub-argument, they clearly tie into Wigger’s main thesis well enough to make a clear map of his views on American Methodism and its impact on American.

His evidence for the sub-argument on the initial transition into Methodism from other denominations is well done in that he explains why the people would have switched to Methodism and what about the denomination was more appealing to the people. The evidence for the itinerancy was compellingly effective because he explained the far reaching hands of Methodism that would have stretched far enough for the scattered and unreachable people to be covered. His argument for the social aspect of Methodism was covered by his facts and statistics of attendance for Methodist functions and how Methodism became the people’s entire lives. His evidence for the sub-argument on African-American Methodism was particularly compelling as it made clear how Methodism had captivated the African-American population and turned many people against slavery, which was a huge culture shift. The support for the sub-argument for women’s roles in the movement was fair enough in showing that they held the movement together through their hospitality for itinerants and their fervor and willingness for the gospel. Overall, the support and evidence was

convincing.
The structure of the book was fluid for the most part.

Several facts and stories were repeated almost word for word in different parts of the book, which can either help the reader to tie it all together or confuse the reader. Since Wigger seemed to tie each theme into every part of the book, regardless of what theme he was directly addressing, it made the ideas flow together quite easily. However, the beginning of the book seemed to be just facts without a clear purpose, but this is quickly resolved in the first few pages. Overall, each idea was well placed and the structure was

fluid.
John H. Wigger’s book Taking Heaven by Storm served its intended purpose well. Wigger states in the preface that his intention was to fill in the gap he found in the records of Methodist history. He realized there was no study of Methodism’s effect on the development of American culture and society, and he sought to remedy that. He did not fail. The book was well written and insightful, and therefore a positive contribution to the study of history. He had stable sub-arguments to support his main thesis and strong evidence such as letters, statistics, and journals. His structure helped to easily guide the reader through Methodism’s important contributions to American culture and society. As a whole, Taking Heaven by Storm is well written and effectively contributes to the study of American culture and American Methodism.