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Review of The Chance of Salvation: A History of Conversion in America Lincoln A. Mullen wrote a book called The Chance of Salvation: A History of Conversion in America. Mullen’s book is about religious pluralism in America conversion of Christianity and other religions such as Catholic, Judaism and Mormons. Mullen provided a lot of details about conversion to Christianity from other religions and Christianity to other religions as well. Then Mullen also briefly described about conversion of non-white Americans like Cherokees, African Americans and Jewish. Mullen’s main argument is that conversion to religions in America was choice made by people and religion can be changed by people’s will, which also means religion was chosen not destined. …show more content…
Mullen described that Protestants had to go through separation among them. According to Mullen’s statement about Protestants, “From 1826 to the end of the nineteenth century, the Presbyterians in the United States weathered their share of changes. They split into two denominations in 1837, then split again during the Civil War, only to be reunited in the 1870s.” (Mullen) Mullen’s information of Protestants showed that Protestants had to go through rough times in the 1800s. Mullen used this as to show religion can be separated by political view like in the Civil War. It was a turning point for Protestant church, because Protestant followers’ thought on church faced a significant …show more content…
Christian missionaries went to Cherokee territory in order to spread Christianity gospel. Then they managed to make Cherokees to convert to Christianity. Mullen used an example of Cherokees in order to make his point more valid about religious conversion was chosen by people. Mullen explains the process of how Christian missionaries convert Cherokees to Christianity which was also about choice. According to Mullen, “To covenant with the church, these baptismal candidates almost certainly had to answer a series of questions about their beliefs, and they had to be admitted by a vote of the congregation.” (Mullen) This means that the missionaries asked Cherokees to make a choice to believe in
This paper elaborates on the diverse contributions peoples of African descent have made to the pluralistic religious landscape of America and replicates various passages from our textbook. It focuses on the personal narratives of non-religious to religious leaders—exemplifying their influence on the African American religious movement during slavery and the reconstruction of America. Each section represents different historical periods, regional variations, and non-Christian expressions of African-American religion.
In 1845, Ebenezer Carter Tracy published a book titled, Memoir of the Life of Jeremiah Evarts. Within this book is a statement from the Cherokee people from 1830 called, “Appeal of the Cherokee Nation.” In this statement, The Cherokee Indians refuse to move west of the Mississippi River. They made this refusal for two main reasons. The Indians believed that they had a right to remain in the lands of their ancestors and they also insisted that their chances of survival would be very low if they moved west. Their survivability would be impacted by their lack of knowledge of the new lands, and by the Indians that were already living in the western lands, and who would view the Cherokee as enemies.
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.
The 21st century is the age of information and technology and as the human species continues to advance there are growing concerns that the human race is close to its end. Jerry Oltion uses his text Judgment Passed as an allegory for the belief of the Christian salvation and the state of the modern world. In Jerry Oltion’s text planet Earth is depleted, causing humans to send astronauts into space to colonize another planet named Dessica (Oltion). These astronauts are in space for twelve years and when they return to Earth they learn that the end of the world has occurred without them. The astronauts learn through old newspaper articles that Jesus Christ returned to earth and saved everyone. This causes the astronauts to ponder the reason they were not saved like all the people on Earth and the other colonies in space. Throughout Judgment Passed there are metaphors for the Christian belief of what happens after death such as the realm of limbo and then there are the metaphors that are a depiction of today’s world and its possible future such as Jesus Christ representing a hierarchy political figure. Therefore, Judgment Passed is more than a short narrative for entertainment, it is allegory for the Christian belief system and it is a metaphor for the human condition of the modern world.
Eric Williams starts his essay by telling us about the use of Indians as slaves. He mentions that it was attempted to only enslave those Indians that didn't give up their heritage for Christianity. This brings me back to Winthrop Jordan's essay in which we recall the Christians encountering heathenism in Africa which certainly applies here:
In “The Wages of Sin” what Francine Prose talks about is how people weight control, obesity and how others see the obesity. Where she blames on the TV commercial. Also, tells if this ski of behavior a medical issue or psychological. A similar argue was made in “Add Cake, Subtract Self Esteem” by Caroline Knapp where she talks about her personal experience about anorexia and how she has struggled in her life because of that in school, college, and relationships. She also mentioned how starving yourself is painful.
The Americans settled all over the United States and in the 1820s began showing interest in the West because of trade with Asia. Certain leaders were sent out on missions' to "help" better the lives of the Indians and Mexicans. When the white settlers first came to West they viewed the Indians and Mexicans as savages. They did not think of them as human because their lifestyle was unsuitable, or rather different then their own. The only way that they could tolerate them was to try and change their way of living. They attempted to convert them into the Christian religion, to change the way they ate, what they ate, how they ate it, the way they dressed, teach them English, etc. "The object of the missions is to convert as many of the wild Indians as possible, and to train them up within the walls of the establishment in the exercise of a good life, and of some trade, so that they may be able to provide for themselves and become useful members of civilized society."1
Giles, Thomas S. "How did Native Americans Respond to Christianity?" Christian History, 1992, Volume 11, Issue 3, p20.
This mass enterprise is reviewed through five traditions in the early nineteenth century: the Christian movement, the Methodists, the Baptists, the black churches, and the Mormons. Hatch explains that these major American movements were led by young men who shared “an ethic of unrelenting toil, a passion for expansion, a hostility to orthodox belief and style, a zeal for religious reconstruction, and a systematic plan to realize their ideals” (4). These leaders changed the scope of American Christianity by orientating toward democratic or populist ideals. Their movements offered both individual potential and collective aspiration, which were ideas ready to be grasped by the young and booming population. These early leaders had a vision of a faith that disregarded social standing, and taught all to think, interpret, and organize their faith for themselves. It was a faith of “religious populism, reflecting the passions of ordinary people and the charisma of democratic movement-builders” (5).
To begin with, the Native Americans were becoming more civilized. The Cherokees began to act and dress more like the white Americans. This can be seen in the following quote, “ First I tell you about the Cherokees. I think they improve. I hope they will soon become civilized and enlightened.” (Sally M. Reece, letter to Reverend Campbell). This quote demonstrated that the Cherokees, a group of Indians, are becoming more civilized. These Native Americans are making effort to keep and live in their land, and it wouldn’t make sense to send them away from these missionaries that are helping them. If they are to relocate, then the Cherokees would lose all this. They would revert back to their old traditions if they were to be surrounded by other Native Americans and if they were excluded from American civilization. While it is true that some Native Americans were becoming more civilized, not every group was. Of the big group of five Native Americans, only the Cherokee were showing an actual effort. However, if the other Indians see the Cherokee prospering and keeping their land, then they will follow in example. Without a doubt, the Native Americans shou...
At the end of the 18th century, the prospects for American Christianity were not hopeful and the memories of the First Great Awakening faded. The chaos of the Revolutionary War era had greatly affected religious life. The start of the new century brought religious activity unique to all of world history. This period, now known as the Second Great Awakening brought with it the emergence of Mormonism. There was an optimistic sense of a new beginning for religion. Society was transforming quickly, with religion emerging as a force that helped shape the wider social problems.
Boudinot draws parallels between Cherokee and Christian religion as part of his argument that Cherokees and white Americans are not as far removed from one another as the audience may have believed. He compares the Cherokee “Supreme Being” to the Christian God, and calls this Being “the God of the white, the red, and the black man.” His knowledge of these two religions comes from the aforementioned evangelical Christian conversion that Boudinot underwent at Cornwall, which lends itself as a bridge between the two cultures. He quotes the Bible frequently, and uses the translation of the New Testament into the new Cherokee writing system that he helped develop as evidence for the Cherokee’s willingness to participate in and cooperate with white society. According to Jonathan Filler, Boudinot’s conversion to Christianity and education by the missionaries led to his desire to find “spiritual salvation” for the Cherokees. The use of religion to persuade and reach common ground with his audience, given that the speech was delivered in a church, works well in Boudinot’s
In this way the religion practiced by the Native Americans was taken as contradictions to Christianity. The natives were informed that Christianity was designed to be an eternal rule of significance and a means from which they could use to return to God from their religions that had deviated (Eliot par. 3). Through sermons given by Whitfield, the minds of the natives were engaged in religion and making religion the subject of most of their discussions. They embraced all the opportunities to hear what was been taught on Christianity. The Christian revivals were attended by the young and old alike (Edwards par.
The Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology). God provides us with everything we need; we see this in Genesis where he provided Adam with everything he needed. Jesus became a man by reincarnation; a verse to support this is John 1:14 “
Is it possible to understand the gospel message, serve as an officer in a church, be sure of your salvation, and yet still not get into heaven when you die? Matthew, one of the original twelve disciples, answered this question clearly. Yes, on “that day”, many will stand before God and hear Him say, “I know you not; depart from me.” (Matthew 7:23 KJV)