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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page analysis of Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz's book 'The Kingdom of Matthias,' which relates the story of a bizarre religious cult leader of the nineteenth century. The book shows how this story relates to the era as a whole and also to the present. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_00madmat.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
also tend to think of previous centuries as "simpler times" when life wasnt so rushed and full of pressure. In their book "The Kingdom of Matthias" historians Paul E.
Johnson and Sean Wilentz, not only relate a fascinating tale of sex, scandal and religious fanaticism in the nineteenth century. They also argue convincing that?rather then being unique?a certain
degree of misogyny and reactionary nostalgia appear to be part of the psychological structure of the American male?and apparently has been for quite some time. In other words, Johnson and
Wilentz relate the tale of Robert Matthews, aka Matthias, Prophet of the God of the Jews, as a scenario that represents the trends of the early nineteenth century written in
an exaggerated form, but, nonetheless, indicative of that time and also revealing for the present. First of all, Robert Matthews, who was a carpenter from upstate New York, lived during
a time in our nations history known as the "Second Awakening," which referred to the evangelical fever that gripped a great deal of the country. New religious cults were springing
up all over New England, but the one that is most often associated with this period was spearheaded by a charismatic leader named Charles Grandison Finney.
Many women, including Matthews wife, were greatly influenced by this sect because Finney portrayed women in a more favorable light, offering them more freedom and encouraging
their active participation in religion. Matthews was humiliated when he was refused membership in Presbyterian church in Albany in 1829 because of his reputation for not working and beating his
wife. Instead the church devoted attention to his wife, Margaret, and their children. Matthews appears to have been deeply threatened by the freedom offered women by this religious movement.
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