Piety and tolerance : Pennsylvania German religion, 1700-1850
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Piety and tolerance : Pennsylvania German religion, 1700-1850
(Pietist and Wesleyan studies, no. 6)
Scarecrow Press, 1994
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Based on the author's dissertation (doctoral), titled Democracy's pulpit--Johns Hopkins University, 1990
Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-188) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book examines the influence of religion, particularly Pietism, among Pennsylvania Germans during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In Pennsylvania, a pluralistic population-from hermits who opposed all church structure to traditionalists seeking to recreate Europe's ecclesiology-coexisted despite disagreements. With such diversity differences were almost inevitable, but all fellowships, even those who disdained the mainstream, enjoyed tolerance, and Pennsylvania came to resemble a quilt or rainbow rather than a melting pot, much like the patchwork pattern in modern America. Much of Pennsylvania's tolerance stemmed from Pietism, or the doctrine of the new birth, which permeated popular thought, inspiring believers as disparate as Mennonites and Amish, multi-ethnic Lutheran congregations, and campmeeting enthusiasts. Pietists taught that God democratically offered salvation to every man and woman who chose to accept it, thereby eroding religious intolerance. Pennsylvania Germans, therefore, created a religious landscape characterized by division yet with a level of tolerance that promoted understanding between denominations. Many Pennsylvania Christians lived together and often cooperated with one another despite their differences.
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