[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

sophical beliefs. 55
Despite the pioneering role of Judith Sargent Murray, the Universalist movement
in its early decades had been largely a male phenomenon.  When the distinguishing
truths of the Universalist Church were first proclaimed in modern times . . .
woman so long repressed was almost a stranger in our religious gatherings. Men
came at once in throngs, but women were  like angels visits, few and far between, 
observed E. R. Hanson in her detailed work on Universalist women.56 The heavy
emphasis on theological argument, the generally itinerant nature of the ministry,
and strong public disapproval all seem to have contributed to this condition. It is
true that, as early as 1810, Maria Cook was preaching from Universalist pulpits to
generally approving audiences in Pennsylvania and New York. But she was never
formally recognized or  fellowshiped as a preacher, and the novelty of her actions
was what drew most notice.57 Public religious life in general was mainly a male
preserve until the great upheavals of the Second Great Awakening brought what
Carroll Smith-Rosenberg has called a  rush of women into the public religious
sphere. 58
We have little or no evidence to suggest that, when women first began crowding
to hear sermons and join churches in the 1820s and 1830s, they were drawn to
Universalism in disproportionate numbers. Throughout the first decades of the cen-
tury, the popular impression of Universalism as a disreputable sect undoubtedly
continued to limit women s participation. Former Baptist Mary A. Livermore re-
called that, as late as 1845, when she married a Universalist clergyman,  Friends
forsook me, acquaintances ostracized me, I was disapproved by the church and for
a time my father was inconsolable. 59 Yet it is noteworthy that Universalists were
early and increasingly inclined to declare that their denomination was the logical
home for the advocates of women s full development.60 There can be little doubt
that the long-standing self-perception of the movement as representing  spiritual
democracy played a role here. As E. R. Hanson wrote later in the century:
When Universalism came to [women] with its God of love and justice, its spiritual
democracy, its free and natural reading of the New Testament, without the in-
terposition of an orthodox interpretation, they began to feel that somehow women
had a place in Christianity that they had not seen before.61
Certainly, as the number and visibility of women in the denomination increased,
so did the idea that the Universalist faith was particularly suited to female needs
and progress.
90 The Universalist Movement in America, 1770 1880
Perhaps the clearest evidence that many Universalist leaders, and especially Uni-
versalist women, came to believe that the progress of women and the cause of
Universalism went hand-in-hand may be found in the pages of the Ladies Reposi-
tory, a monthly and, later, a quarterly periodical. Started in 1832 by a group of
Universalist clergymen, it claimed the largest circulation and longest history of any
Universalist periodical. When minister Henry Bacon became its editor in 1836, he
proclaimed his overall policy with an addition to the heading:  Devoted to the
Defense and Illustration of Universalism and the Rights of Women. During his
twenty-year tenure, he consistently advocated a broad extension of women s rights.62
The reforming zeal exhibited in this journal was a clear outgrowth of Universalism s
changing theological perspective. Humanistic convictions about the need for all
souls to realize their potential underlay the journal s consistent advocacy of the
extension of female liberties. Numerous articles by ministers as well as laypersons
underscored the duty to cultivate one s talents and to beware of scriptural interpre-
tations that would  fetter aspiration.
As publications such as Bacon s sought to make clear the denomination s open-
ness, message of divine forgiveness, and biblical stress on spiritual equality, change
came quickly. The 1840s found women entering the denomination in remarkable
numbers; a large percentage of Universalist growth in the middle decades of the
century must have been fueled by the influx of women. This development was
associated with the broadening opportunities for church work. There were two
women among the original officers of the General Reform Association at its found- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • alwayshope.keep.pl

    •