By William C. Placher, Presented by Lewis Loflin
Reproduced from A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction, © 1983 William C. Placher
Frontier Americans found Unitarian rationalism unappealing. Unlike Puritans or Unitarians, who preached to settled congregations, frontier itinerants had mere moments to convert souls during rare visits. Theological nuance gave way to urgent calls for salvation.
In the 1820s, Yale theologians Nathaniel W. Taylor and Lyman Beecher launched revival campaigns across Connecticut and beyond. Rejecting Jonathan Edwards’ view of predestined revivals, Beecher urged clergy to act: "No longer trust Providence, and expect God will vindicate his cause while we neglect the use of appropriate means." They preached free agency over Calvinist dependence, insisting people could choose salvation.
In upstate New York, Charles Grandison Finney took revivalism further. Scorning theological education, he demanded "exciting, powerful preaching, or the devil will have the people." Finney introduced the "anxious bench" for near-converts and public prayers targeting the unrepentant by name. He declared, "Revival is not a miracle.... It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means."
Finney’s "burned-over district" became a hotbed of religious fervor, birthing cults and movements in a region repeatedly swept by revival fires.
The "burned-over" district spawned unique communities. In 1774, Mother Ann Lee founded the Shakers at New Lebanon, claiming divine incarnation as a woman. Shakers embraced equality, communal living, pacifism, and celibacy. In the 1840s, John Humphrey Noyes’ Oneida community practiced "complex marriage," where all adults were spouses, aiming to end possessive love and control procreation scientifically.
William Miller predicted the world’s end in 1843, based on Daniel’s prophecies. When it didn’t occur, followers reinterpreted it as Christ entering a heavenly sanctuary, joining Ellen White to form the Seventh Day Adventists. They observed Saturday Sabbath and Jewish dietary laws, emphasizing Jesus as high priest.
Joseph Smith’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emerged as the largest movement from this milieu. Claiming visions of the angel Moroni, Smith "translated" golden tablets into the Book of Mormon, narrating Israelites in America and Christ’s post-crucifixion visit. Persecuted for polygamy and politics, Smith was lynched in 1844. His theology—plural gods, eternal matter, and human divinity—diverged sharply from orthodoxy.
"God himself was once as we are now.... If you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form," Smith taught, envisioning humans as potential gods.
Though far from Jefferson’s Deism, Smith’s optimism about human potential echoed rationalist themes. On the frontier, "science" meant amateur archaeology and Hebrew studies, shaping Mormonism’s distinctive theology.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me format and refine this presentation of Placher’s work. The final edits and structure are my own. —Lewis Loflin
The following extracts are presented for educational purposes only. The owner retains all rights.
Section updated, added 4/05/2025