Salvation On Sand Mountain Analysis

Dennis Covington writes about a unique method of worship—snake handling, in his memoir, Salvation on Sand Mountain. He begins as a journalist, looking in on this foreign way of life; however, as time progresses he increasing starts to feel a part of this lifestyle. As a result loses his journalistic approach, resulting in his memoir, detailing his own spiritual journey. Upon the conclusion of his stay in this world, Covington realizes the significance of this journey, and argues in his memoir that we cannot entirely know ourselves until we step outside of our comfort zone and separate ourselves from our norm.

In the 1800s a Market Revolution began, changing the way in which America operated and in the midst of all that was a Second Great Awakening, causing people to once again, question their religious beliefs and practices. Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz tell the story of Robert Matthews, or the Prophet Matthias and his followers. Matthias had an unconventional childhood, he became an orphan at a young age and was raised by church elders. He worked under one of the elders to learn the carpenter’s craft. He easily found work but had trouble keeping it because he was always preaching at his fellow workers about their sinful ways. Matthias was eager to make good but continually fell into misfortunes, “which led him on a prolonged and erratic religious journey” (49). The Kingdom of Matthias gained and lost members, had changes in beliefs, and was full of ever changing marriages. Although looking back on it now, Matthias’s messages and beliefs seem almost laughable, but at they time his followers found his message, ministry, and lifestyle very compelling.

To Stoddard, the idea of “fostering conversions was more important than discovering a perfect church order, and in that attitude he blazed the way for the most influential practice in American religious history: he was the first American to make periodic revivals a centerpiece of his ministry” . Every decade his congregation would experience an “awakening” in which many people were moved spiritually and often lead to conversion. Some of these revivals even made it past Northampton and into the neighboring communities, directly impacting young Edwards and his family, for Edwards’s father rejected the half-way covenant but endorsed revival. These disagreements divided his family and remained unresolved for decades .

The minister they had once sought for comfort and solace has become a seductive, mysterious stranger with whom nobody can identify. The congregation feels as though Hooper can reach into their souls and see all the inadequacy and sin hidden within. As expressed in the story, "Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of most hardened breast felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought." Because of his vow, the minister is forced into a life of solitude, forever lacking satisfaction and comfort.

The mission school teaches the young man that killing was wrong. He falsely interpreted killing as do not kill anything including animals. In Christianity, nothing is wrong with killing animals. If you do it to fit your needs as in food, clothing, and shelter, you will be following by the rules. The young man claims “At the mission school I learned it was wrong to kill. Nine winters I hunted for the soft heart of Christ, and prayed for the huntsmen who chased the buffalo on the plains (1847).” The boy completely strays away from the culture he is born with, into the new idealism that’s spreading across the country. Instead of hunting for his family, while showing his bravery, he stays home and searches for what the mission schools taught in the 1800’s, salvation from the “savage” Native Americans culture. Yes, the boy is Native American but, the mission school slowly conforms him into the American man. The boy testifies that “With the white man's Bible in my hand, and the white man's tender heart in my breast, I returned to my own people. Wearing a foreigner's dress, I walked, a stranger, into my father's village (1847).” The modifications the boy is going through because of the mission school makes him lose his culture, and try to convert other people from his tribe to change their way of life as he is doing. This certainly leads to his father’s death

Furthermore, Hughes uses the rhetorical device of allusion when he writes about his aunt’s bringing him to the church for a special meeting. When he writes, “Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, ‘to bring the young lambs to the fold’’’ (1), he attempts to correlate his invitation to salvation to a Biblical parable. Along with his reference to the Bible, he conveys the church member’s excitement with vivid imagery. He illustrates the church’s setting as being infuse with “all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell”, and he also describes the preacher’s sermon as a “wonderful rhythmical sermon” (3). Conjointly, Hughes presents imagery of the churchgoers and alludes to a Biblical story in order to demonstrate the magnitude of the religious enthusiasm of the members of the church.

I believe in people (Berstein 19). I believe there is good in every human being because of the choice we have between right and wrong (19). In “The Mountain Disappears”, Leonard Bernstein tells us that it is what we choose to do with that free will is what defines us. Something that we need to believe in is love. Love is a commitment and teaches us how to be passionate about something that makes us a better person. I believe that every single one of us has the ability to change and that when we change, we have great potential (19-20). Everyone has the potential to make a difference in the world. I believe in the attainability of good (21). We all have it, so why don’t we use it?

When discussing the Jesuit values in his article “From the Mountain to the Hilltop”, Fr. Larry Gillick, S.J., states that “there is much darkness in the world, but it is better to light one candle than to curse the dark”. Gillick is discussing the Jesuit value of Forming and Educating Agents for Change. It’s better to be a light for just one person, make the world a better place for just one person, then continuing in the darkness and the chaos. According to this Jesuit value, the world, a school, a town, a life, should be “better” for someone having been there and been educated enough to want to change the culture.

The mother?s detachment and idealism lead her to believe that the church is the safest place for her child. She feels that upon entering the church, the child will be removed from the world around her and the violence that engulfs it. This also points to the mother?s belief that remaining oblivious to the source of the civil unrest will make them disappear. When she tells the child to go to the church, she is in effect showing her feelings that attending church is the important thing to do and that the problems of the world outside will be resolved without any further effort.

Religion is one of the main themes in her works and also in "Greenleaf." In this short story, the Southern writer exposes two of her major preoccupations about religion:

“Salvation” is a wonderful narrative by Langston Hughes explaining his first time attending church. The story is portrayed in both a book and film version. Both versions do their jobs by explaining how Langston felt when he falsely claimed he was saved by Christ. Each version has different strengths and weaknesses, but the book is dull compared to the film. The film gives a better insight into Langston’s life;therefore, the film version is superior to the book.

In the second poem, “Goodbye Christ,” Hughes shows more examples of the church betraying its mission to help and love all man. Hughes wrote:

The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains by Mary Noailles Murfree is a novel based upon the feelings that many people underwent when their lives were susceptible to dislocation. This novel explores the lives and hardships that were created and pushed upon the mountaineer’s lives by the State Authority of Tennessee. This novel has a plethora of characters that are highlighted throughout however one main character, Rick Tyler; show the most “Americanism” to me.

Young illustrates deep conversations between Mack and “Papa” throughout the weekend. Young portrays “Papa’s” words as Truth as written in the Bible from God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16,17). The emotional power of The Shack focuses on the encounter between man

Winthrop outlines three detailed reasons to reform in his sermon that include glorifying God, manifesting in the work of the spirit, and providing Christian fellowship and helping others (Winthrop 1). He provides thorough questions and answers to why and how people should live wholesome Christian lives that include lending money and forgiving (Winthrop 2). He provides not only simple ways to live a charitable life of honoring God, but detailed reasons why. This is effective because it is easy to understand for people and encourages them to want to live this lifestyle. In “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God,” Edwards only talks about God’s wrath, hell, and how all people are “damned from birth” (Edwards 1). These frightening subjects do not promote a Christian lifestyle change, only a rude awakening. Edwards even specifially states that his sermon is intende to be an “awakening for unconverted persons” (Edwards 1). This is less effective than Winthrop’s sermon because it may scare people into the Christian faith, but it gives little detail of living a changed Christian life. Also, Edwards approach is so extreme, it may have an opposite effect on some listeners and scare them out of Christianity due to the harsh way he describes God and his anger. Edwards provides a frightening awakening message that proves less potent than Winthrop’s positive description of becoming a Christian