(no subject)

[kayre]

I mentioned looking for novels that might illustrate common Protestant life before and during the beginnings of fundamentalism. Some more on what I mean by that:

Before fundamentalism, Protestant Christianity was (vastly simplifying, here) mostly a matter of familiarity with the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, some stories about Jesus, some understanding of communion, church attendance, and being a Good Person generally. While I need to go reread, I think I'll find mostly this view in the Little House novels, for example.

After: Christianity becomes something that requires lots of thought and definition and defense. "Believing the Bible" comes to mean "believing that the Bible is factual, historical and inerrant." Focus on individual behavior and thinking, including the whole "accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior." Years ago I stumbled across the novels of Agnes Sligh Turnbull, which illustrate some of the turmoil as these ideas moved into local churches, and I'm hoping to find more.

A friend brought up Little Women; Alcott in general is an interesting case here. Her novels do show a lot of folk who are mostly Good People with very few actual religious references (friend notices mentions of Pilgrim's Progress); Alcott herself is exposed to Unitarian thought and Biblical criticism very early, before the fundamentalist response to those ideas.

Comments

[gingicat]

It’s funny, the Little House books weren’t even on my list. The diaries were curated into books by Rose Wilder Lane, a fervent disciple of Ayn Rand, so religion may have been edited out.

[amaebi]

About communion: I'm not sure.

It's not a Baptist thing.

And there's a lot of teetotalism among 19th century US Prots from mid-century on, isn't there?

[kayre]

Based on my current knowledge and reading so far (which isn't much):

In the pre-fundamentalist life, knowing how your particular denomination views communion is indeed one of the big points; actual participation depends on what that denominational view is.

I know very little about teetolalism as a religious thing, and will be watching for it and how/if it connects to the fundamentalist movement.

Thanks for pondering along with me!

[amaebi]

I defer to your greater knowledge.

[silkensteel]

A couple other books: "The Witch of Blackbird Pond;" "Caddie Woodlawn" was based on a true life story; I'm not sure if "The Hornet's Nest" (another Early American fiction tale) touches on that subject. If you don't remember "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," it contains references to the theological clashes between Protestants and Quakers.

[amaebi]

You are finding and thinking so many interesting things now-- would you note-take here, for the public benefit?