In the book The Kingdom Of Matthias by Paul E. Sean and Sean Wilentz there are a lot of themes that play out throughout the text like the rise of religious groups during the second great awakening and another one is that Matthias had fanatical followers. One main theme that I would like to focus on in this lecture is the rise of different religious groups and how they are different from one another. Mainly comparing the Finneyites and Christianity.
The Kingdom of Matthias gives us the story of Matthias the Prophet. A religious con that lived in New York in the 1800’s. Matthias made an empire of followers that eventually caused a scandal that spread all around america. Elijah Pierson was Matthias’s main followers, he was a merchant in New York.
Matthias was seen as a very powerful man to the people who were members of his Kingdom. He felt it was his job to bind up the broken hearted and gather the faithful people. His job was to bring “the Holy Word of the one true Lord, the Word of God and the Father” (87). His mission was the establish the reign of Truth and redeem the world from devils, prophesying women, and beaten men. Elijah Pierson
What were the key social and cultural factors that enabled the Gospel to spread so quickly through the Roman Empire? Using primary and secondary sources, discuss with particular reference to Paul’s writings and the Book of Acts.
As a religious/philosophical system, Christianity is one of the most prominent on Earth today. From 30A.D. to 1000A.D., Christianity had undergone some of its most vigorous changes while maintaining its core qualities through the Apostolic/Ante-Nicene Period, the First Seven Ecumenical Councils, and the Middle Ages.
Identify basic beliefs and practices of the various the forms of historical Christianity. Do identify with these? Explain why or why not. Cite references where
The Kingdom of Matthias, written by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, examines the story of the self proclaimed prophet Matthias, formerly known as Robert Matthews. They tell the story of how Matthias built his kingdom based on his religious beliefs related to the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a religious movement that took place during the early nineteenth century. During this time period women played the role as the caregivers who stayed at home with the children while their husbands were out working. However, it wasn’t until the Second Great Awakening that women began to play a more dominant role in society, especially in the church. Matthias was one of the main people who was directly impacted by the effects of the Second Great Awakening and the power it gave to women. Throughout Matthias’ life he had numerous troubles with women and this continued to show throughout the reign of his kingdom. Johnson and Wilentz saw that the empowerment of women in the Second Great Awakening was a factor in the demise of Matthias’ demise Kingdom. Matthias refuses the ideas of the Second Great Awakening by making sure that women in his kingdom are subordinate and condemns those who are not. [inserts thesis statement]
Hagner, D., Hengel, M. & Barrett, C. (1999). Conflicts and challenges in early Christianity. Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International.
The Kingdom of Matthias by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz is a story of the rise and fall of a religious cult established by Robert Matthews (Matthias). Within his kingdom, Matthias and his followers, abided by Matthias, believes of the subjugation of women by men. Even though at the time the cult was in existence the United States was experiencing two great movements that urged the forward progression of women, the Market Revolution and the Second Great Awakening. Two women in particular are mentioned in Johnson and Wilentz’ book that were really suppressed by Matthias and his subjects. One was Isabella van Wagenen, the slave that worked in Mount Zion and even Matthias’ own daughter Isabella Matthews Laisdell. The Kingdom of Matthias
The book, The Kingdom of Matthias by, Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, gives us a look into what life was like in the United States during the first half of the 1800’s. This book contains stories of Elijah Pierson and Robert Matthews and how they eventually came to meet. Both thought they were prophets and could speak directly to God. Pierson later referred to himself as the Prophet Elijah of Tishbe and Matthews later took the name Matthias the Prophet. The book begins with Elijah Pierson’s story and then moves into Robert Matthews story.
Matthias based his pseudo religion on principles and standards he was raised with, much of his “teachings” reflect family values that he learned growing up, he saw the changes in people’s lives in the city, and fought to keep it traditional and conservative. He wanted everything to be done the way he was taught and the world to know the truth as he saw it, and live the way he was directed, essentially he wanted tradition to overshadow innovation. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Matthias’ plans were deemed to fail, but they did have their mere moment of victory, the kingdom followed these new rules set by Matthias, consenting open marriages, utilizing the vulnerability of people, naked bathing, but his greater cause and message was he wanted his followers to see was that his kingdom was essentially based on the concepts of prosperity, optimism, tolerance, and freedom. This, one may believe, is the true reason his religion prospered, not because it was something new and different, but because it was a path back home, a reconnection of their roots and where they came from and the
Matthias might have been insane but he represented America's diversity. Matthias and his cult demonstrated what the freedom of religion clause in our political system. Matthias did not like enjoy the world around and he wanted to set up and individual world of his own in which people he could be the leader.
The Great Schism of 1054 The Great Schism of 1054 was the separation of what is now the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Western Roman Catholic Churches. In the book, The Orthodox Church, Timothy Ware explains several reasons that influence the separation of these two churches. Ware explains how the Great Schism happened gradually over time, where Catholicism would slowly branch away from the Eastern Side.
He states that the church first begins with Jesus and his disciples. After Jesus’s time, there was much diversity in the way people understood the mystery of Christ. Cweiekowski then goes on to say how the church has gone through three major transitions. “The first period, was that of Jewish Christianity. The second was the period of Hellenism and of European culture and civilization.
By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not
The early church was hated by the society and government of the Roman Empire for various reasons, such as the refusal of Christians to sacrifice to the gods. The Empire went through many phases of demanding that the Christians sacrifice which meant denying their faith or be killed. The earliest attacks claimed the lives of many of the apostles.This text is the story, from around 160 AD, of the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor (modern Izmir in Turkey) devoted to Roman worship. The account is in the form of a letter from eye-witnesses to other churches in the area. It is the earliest chronicle of a martyrdom outside the New Testament.Polycarp was an old man, at least 86, and probably the last surviving person to have known an apostle, having been a disciple of St. John. This was one reason he was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader. One interesting feature of the letter is that the writer is very conscious of how Polycarp’s death followed the pattern of Christ’s. As you read it, look for parallels between this story and the Easter story in the gospels. We are writing to you, brothers, with an account of the martyrs, especially the blessed Polycarp, whose death brought to the persecution to a close. Almost all the events that led up to it reveal it to be another martyrdom in the divine pattern that we see in the Gospel. For he waited for his betrayal, just like the Lord did, so that we might follow him, in looking out
In order to understand the ramifications of Matthias's formation of his kingdom, the social,financial, ethnic, and sexual conditions of the times must be realized as the catalysts that cause the cults to form. A whole series of evangelic congregations appeared in the early decades of the nineteenth century in order to serve the poor, the emotionally needy, those barred from the new prosperousness, hopefulness, forbearance, personal freedom and sensible thought of the business classes. Combining good narrative skills,excellent characterization, and historic detail, Johnson and Wilentz recreate the engaging tale of a hypocritical prophet and his erroneous followers in New York during the eighteen twenties