Religious customs and beliefs helped shape different cultures and societies throughout human history. While some people turned to notorious substances such as, various drugs and alcohol, many turned to religion when experiencing hardships within their lives. Even though people tend to group religion with morality often times, worshippers find their morality and actions questioned by outsiders. The book, The Kingdom of Matthias, by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz conjures a riveting tale of the happenings revolving around a religious cult in 1830’s America. During this time, the way of life started to shift from rural farm life to an industrialized urban setting and a religious revival occurred. From the book’s perspective, the revival transpired based on the change from rural to urban lifestyles, the changing family dynamic, and the search for morality for the people involved in the story.
The book centers around the ideals of the protagonist, Robert Matthews and his followers. Elijah Pierson remained a devoted disciple until his death. …show more content…
For example the Finneyites thoughts, “history was made by morally accountable human beings” (8). All of the religions of that time sought for perfection. In the Female Missionary Society exhorted that, “The poor did not need handouts. They needed preaching, moral instruction, and the spiritual support of godly friends” (22). Pierson accredited his business achievements to ,” the moral code he had learned on his father’s farm” (19). Constant conflicting moral codes came into play with each new religion. Pierson and Matthews both bounced around several different religions before the Kingdom of Matthias. With each conversion, their spirits were rallied and raised up, until they found some flaw within the sermons and customs. Because of the migration from rural to urban, differnet people from various backgrounds converged together, leading to different interpretations on
The book centers around the ideals of the protagonist, Robert Matthews and his followers. Elijah Pierson remained a devoted disciple until his death. …show more content…
For example the Finneyites thoughts, “history was made by morally accountable human beings” (8). All of the religions of that time sought for perfection. In the Female Missionary Society exhorted that, “The poor did not need handouts. They needed preaching, moral instruction, and the spiritual support of godly friends” (22). Pierson accredited his business achievements to ,” the moral code he had learned on his father’s farm” (19). Constant conflicting moral codes came into play with each new religion. Pierson and Matthews both bounced around several different religions before the Kingdom of Matthias. With each conversion, their spirits were rallied and raised up, until they found some flaw within the sermons and customs. Because of the migration from rural to urban, differnet people from various backgrounds converged together, leading to different interpretations on