The Tragedy of Southern Religion.pdf

7/27/2019 The Tragedy of Southern Religion.pdf

1/32

Georgia Historical Society

The Tragedy of Southern ReligionAuthor(s): Ernest KurtzSource: The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Summer, 1982), pp. 217-247Published by: Georgia Historical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40580893 .

Accessed: 15/05/2013 09:14

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Georgia Historical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Georgia

Historical Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 141.213.236.110 on Wed, 15 May 2013 09:14:57 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=georgiahshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40580893?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40580893?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=georgiahs


2/32

TheTragedy f Southern eligionByErnest urtzpopular ndacademic pinion ecognizeheAmericanSouth obeuniquelyeligious.1etofall the nomalieshatcheckerhe ntellectualandscape ftheregion,outhern hitereligion* oses neof themost rofoundhallengesohistoricalunderstanding.2cholars aveoften robed tspuzzles: tstheo-logicalndividualismna landnoted or he ense fcommunity;8itspervasivenessn extentyet tsnarrownessf focus;4he es-tablished-churchualities hat he South'shistoricallyissentingsects eveloped;5he"cultural aptivity"6ronicallynherentnsoutherneligion'sey octrinef the piritualityf he hurch";its oncentrationn"ordering"na culture haracterizedybothhierarchynd violence;7he "civilreligion" unctiont servesin a self-styledrebel" nclave.8The deepest nomalyfsouthern hite eligion,owever,ayin its trange lindness o tragedy-n the failure f its churchesto discern henature nd meaning f thetragic imensionnhuman xperience.9The office hich religion ulfills or asociety," truculentefenderf theSouthhasassured s,"is toinformtsmembersf whatexpectationshey an reasonablycherishn this ife."10outhernife,uniquelyn American is-torical xperience,new heraw materials ftragedy-rom hetribulationsnherentnits"peculiarnstitution,"o thecalamityofdefeatnwar, othe dversitiesngenderedy ts ong ndemicpoverty.11hrough ll these-lavery,efeat, overty,ndmore-the outhern hiteChristianhurches ave remainedingularlyblind othenature ndmeaningftragedyndthus lso to thesignificancefsuffering.12o be aware fthis s to sensenotableanomaly,ornthe ommonnderstandingneessentialunctionofanyreligionspreciselyo renderntelligiblendtoreconciletothe imitationsfhuman xistencespeciallysrevealed ytheexperience f suffering.s Unamunoput it: "The chiefest

sanctityf temples that t is a placetowhichmengo toweepThe restrictionerein f "southern eligion" o southernwhitereligionwillbe commentedndirectlyelow, . 219.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/32

218 Georgia Historical Quarterlyin common."13 he whitechurches f theAmericanSouthhaveneverbeen famed or uchsanctity.*

This insight nd the impulse to explore it derive fromre-searchdirectedat understanding outhernreligionduring the1930s. Because what follows does not pretendto presentthepolished product of exhaustiveresearch,but rather offers nintroductoryroposal oprovoke omment,etmebeginbysimplystating hethreeobservationshat nspired his effortf researchandinterpretation.(1) During the decade of the 1930s,the Americanreligiousmainstreamecameawareofand developeda "theology f crisis"most commonlyknown as "neo-orthodoxy." his theology n-corporated n emphasisup to thatpoint absent fromAmericantheologieswhetherconservative r liberal: a focus on humanfinitude nd itsimplications,nd attentivenesso the limitationsinherentn thehumanexperience.14(2) So profoundand far-reachingecame the awarenessoftragic imitation uringthe 1930sthat t was not confined nlyto religionand theology. Wisdom comes first n images," asWilliamButlerYeatsreminded hortly efore hat era.15 hus itdoesnot urprise ofind hevision ndvarietyfhuman imitationexplorednotonly nphilosophy utespecially nd mostdeeply nliterature.16nd, as mightbe expectedfrom ven a rudimentaryfamiliarity ith Americanhistory,hatvision and thosevarietieswerebest aptured y, xplored n,andreflectedhroughouthernAmericanwriters. he insight ormed,ndeed, henucleus ofwhatwe havebecomeaccustomed o call, without lwaysadverting othe rony f itsname,"the southern enaissance."17(3) In mostof theUnitedStates,duringthe 1930s and after,religious pokesmen eardthe neo-orthodoxmessage nd in vary-ingdegrees eeded ts nsight. he churches nd churchmenftheAmerican outh,however, espite heaffinityne might xpecttofindn them or he "conservative"mphasis n limitation,howedno such advertence.They remainedratherduringthat crucialdecade (and even after t) completelynescientnot only of the



4/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 219significancend implicationsf neo-orthodoxy,ut of its verycontent.Why? *Whatfollowsn the ttemptoanswerhat uestionwillex-plore achofthose ointsngreateretail.Butfirstt snecessarytospecifyreciselyheproblemo be investigatednd to defineclearlyhe ermsf hat roblemnd ts nvestigation.he puzzleinvitinghoughteems vident:whydidnotneo-orthodoxy,hefirst ost-Enlightenmentheology irectlyo confrontragedy,find morehospitable elcomen thechurchesf theAmericanSouth,he egionf heUnited tates enerallyhoughtobemostresistanto Enlightenmentiberalism nd most xperiencednthe ealityf ragedy?our ermshatwillbe used nthis xplora-tioninvite xplanation:outhern eligion,outhern hurches,theology,ndtragedy.Virtuallyll scholars greethat there s such a thing s"southerneligion," omogeneousndperduringver ime.18sonesouthernheologianhrasedhepoint n 1934:"A study fthedenominationalress f the Southand the doctrinal tate-ments fthe various enominationseveals marked ccord nthe undamentalenets hichhey reach.n spite fconsiderableecclesiasticalifferenceshetheologyf the South s the ame nitsbroad ssentialsmong ll religious roups."19o borrow,shaveothers,rom enneth . Bailey: outherneligionnvolvesat least"a preoccupationith ndividual epentance, doggedinsistencen Biblical nerrancy,nda tendencyowardvert x-pressionf ntense eligiousmotions."20t is thisreligion,nditstheology,hat hispaperwill examine.Denominationally,the outhernhurches"re dominatedywhat amuel . Hill,Jr., as termed'theremarkableegemony"ofBaptistsndMethodistsntheSouth.21urfocus,hen,willbeuponthese enominations,lthoughlsotaking ote s appropri-ate of Southern resbyterians-ot least because this groupfurnishedhemost rticulatexpositorsfthetheologicalradi-tionimplicitn southern eligion.22xplicitlyxcludedfromexaminationre RomanCatholics,ews,ndmost piscopalians:



5/32

220 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyin theera underconsideration,hesegroupswerenumericallyminisculend intellectuallyrrelevantn southernife.23 roupsstyledDisciples" r "Christian" ill not be treated irectly:invite hosefamiliarwiththeir heologyo measuret againstthe analysis hatfollows. he so-called fringe ects"will beconsiderednderonlyone heading. he focus n BaptistsndMethodists,arrantedven fonly ecause ftheir umericalndsocialdominance f southernife, eems urtherustifiedecausetheir essential heology ormed lso the theological ore ofvirtuallyll other xpressionsf southern hiteProtestantismduringurperiod.24By"theology"ndderivativelyy"religion,"mean hought,andpracticeeflectinghat hought,bout he elationshipetweenthehumanndthedivine. ecause t srelationalndthework fhumans,very heologyontainsn anthropology-vision ndunderstandingf themeaning fbeinghuman. t is uponthis,uponsoutherneligion'snterpretationf the essential umancondition,hat he nalysiso followwill focus.A chief alueoftheologyo thehistorianf deasconsistsn its revelationf thephilosophyf generally nphilosophicnd even inarticulatepeople.For all people,butespeciallyor"ordinaryeople/'tothink nGodis toponder hemeaningfbeinghuman.25Most historicalxplorationsf theology,nd especially fsouthern eligion,begin-and end-with the cultural.26heculturalpproachs justifiablend evennecessary:eligions asocialphenomenon.et religious eliefand practice re notmerelyulturalrtifacts.hisstudyhereforessumeshat eligionalsohassomekindof"independentariable" tatus,hat t canbe andhasbeena forcen itsownright.WhatpeoplethinkndbelieveboutGodandabout hemselvesndothersnrelationshipto God does make differencen theirives, nd it is validandeven seful ostudyhese deas ntheirwn erms.27Tragedys not he ame s"pathos"- or s"irony." iven hescope ndfocus f his aper,t sworth oting, ithoutelaboringthepoint,hatG.VannWoodward'ssage fthese erms as beenmore reciselyccuratehanwas hat fhisown nspiration,ein-holdNiebuhr.28ther ommentatorsn theSouthhavenotfaredso well.29ecause he erm tragedy"sso often sed ooselynd



6/32

The Tragedyof SouthernReligion 221incorrectlys a synonymor misfortune" r to imply omemoralfault,specifyingxactly"the sense of tragedy"that southernreligion ackedbecomescriticallymportant.Diverse literary, hilosophical, nd historical ources impelto understandinghe sense of tragedy, he tragicvision, (1) asarising rom he effort o render vil intelligible-nd specificallytheevilof humansuffering;nd (2) as consisting ssentiallyndpreciselyn theperception hatto-be-humans to be in a middleposition,to exist in a mixed condition.30 hree modern re-hearsalsof classicreligiousstatements f thisperception f thetragicpredicamentfhumankindmayhelp clarify. hilosophersas diverse sWilliamBarrettnd Lucien Goldmannhavepointedout that in the vision of Blaise Pascal, "man is a paradoxicalbeing";31 e "occupiesa middleposition n the universe .. heis an All in relation o Nothingness, Nothingnessn relationtotheAll."32 n Niebuhrianterms, o introduce he visionof neo-orthodox heology,o be humanis to stand "at the junctureofnature nd spirit" nd therefore o be "the subjectof bothfree-dom and necessity."Because involved in the order of nature,humans are bound; yetas spirittheytranscend atureand arethereforelsofree.33The paradoxthatto-be-humans to be both free and finitecontainsthe core of the tragicvision. The essence of tragedyconsistsn the realization hat to-be-humans to be "both-and"rather han"either-or": othbodyand soul,bothbeast and angel,both essentiallyimited and craving nfinity.34ragedy in theChristian erspectivehus transcends othoptimism nd pessim-ism; t "neverfails osee the Resurrectionmplied n the Fall andtheFall impliedin the Resurrection."35s the same scholaroftragedy mphasized: According o the tragic ttitude, ood andevilnecessarilymply ne another."30The wisdom of the tragic, hen,is the wisdomof limits.87Tragicwisdom ccepts he nevitabilityfconflict- otas extrinsicbut as intrinsic o the human situation,not so much betweenhumansas within ach human individual.38 he tragicvisionisthus"an attitude fattentivenesso thecontingenciesnd suffer-ingsthat tis the otofmanto endure."39t is especially ttentiveto whatJaspers nd Tillich termed he "boundary ituations" f



7/32

222 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyhumanxistence,othe ntailmentsf he limited nd mperfectcreatureliness"hat s thehuman ot.40ecause fessentialimita-tion, realitysdividedgainsttself,ndso istruth. . . Tragedyis realbecause rreconcilableppositions real."41 utthetragicvision nowsndacceptshat hisrreconcilableppositionomesnotfromutside f humannature utfromhevery ssence fthe human ondition.n thevocabularyf Christianheology,this onditionhatunderliesragedys called"original in."42*Of sin,"morehortly,ncontext. ere,with urdefinitionsf"southernreligion,""southernchurches," theology," nd"tragedy"n place, t becomespossiblefurthero specifyhetragedyf outherneligion. ecause outhernhurchesmbodiedan"either-or"heology,outherneligionontributedoblindingitsadherentso theboth-and-nessf the human ituation atherthan nablinghemo understandt andaiding hemnconfront-ing it. Southern eligion,hat s to say, lipped nto theverysnare elineatedyKarlJaspersnhisstudy f thereligiousig-nificanceftragedy:to take relativeruth or bsolutes itselfa tragic erversion,fit bjectfor ragic nowledge.very ruthwe think ompletewillprove tself ntrutht the moment fshipwreck."43"The momentf hipwreck"nwhich his rticle ocuses,orthereasons lreadyndicated nd laterto be explored,was thedecade fthe1930s. et fthe ragedyfsoutherneligion oundfruitionnthefailure fthe outhernhurchesoaccept heneo-orthodoxnsight,hat ailure ad ts wnhistory,nd nvestigatingthathistoryhould larifyoththenature nd the causeofthefailure.he essentialailure, submit, as heological;ndbythe1930s,t had a century-oldistory.Scholars,nd pre-eminentlymongthemJohnBoles,havelocatedthe core and the sourceof the theologyf southernreligion n the EvangelicalRevivalism f the SecondGreatAwakening.44learly ormedy1805, his raditionecame ixedwithinhe outhernhurchesy1830; tremainedheir xclusivetheologyorwellover century.45lthoughtself style rmodeofproclaimingheChristian essageatherhan true heology,



8/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 223Evangelical evivalism everthelessmparted kindoftheology.As so often appensnsomanyreas,n the tyle freligiousx-pressionhatwasEvangelical evivalism,hemedium ecame hemessage. he theologyfEvangelicalRevivalismhatcametodominate outhern eligionwas thus at root a theology fdichotomies.he revivalistpproach mparted n essentiallydualistic ision hat gnored very intof"both-and"n its n-sistence n interpretingll realityn exclusiveerms f"either-or."46Twodichotomiesroved speciallyignificant,n time omingto markthe limits f, as well a& to dominate,ll aspects fsouthern eligion. irstand foremost,he revivalistpproachdivided uman eingsnto the aved" nd "the ost."The mostimportantact boutanyperson,within heEvangelicalworld-view,becamewhetherr nothe or shehad undergone "con-versionxperience"nd thus attained alvation." herecouldbe no middle, o half-way,etween eing aved nd being ost,between aving r not having n experience f conversion.47Similarly,vangelicalheologyichotomizedll other eality,ndmost ignificantlyuman nowledge,nto he wo smutuallyx-clusive ategories,sacred" nd "secular."Although hesetworealmsweregenerallyssumed o harmonize,hey n no wayinter-penetrated:revealedruth" aswhollyther han worldlyknowledge."hissecond ichotomynderlayvangelicalism'sn-sistencen literal cripturalnerrancys wellas themisprizingof ntellectndculture hatbecame o characteristicfevangeli-caladherents.48These twodichotomiesfgoodand evil- hesaved and thelost, he sacred nd the secular- ereof coursenotborn at thetime fthe SecondGreatAwakening.ach had a longhistory,bothwithinndbeyond hristianity.iblicalJews efinedhem-selves s the"ChosenPeople";medieval atholics nsistedhatextra cclesiam,ulla alus;and both raditionss wellas otherscherishsacred ooks" hatmpartrevealed ruth." espite his,or ndeedmoreikely ecause f t,historicallyhe hrustfmono-theisticheologies as been inclusive ather hanexclusive-neffortomitigatehose istinctionsr at leastto caution gainsthumanttemptsoenforcehem.



9/32

224 Georgia Historical QuarterlyReformation rotestantism,ndeed,maybe understood s arejectionof late medievalCatholicism's laimsto determine b-solutely hedistinctions etween aved and lost,between ecularand sacred. Within the Reformed radition ut of which grewAmerican heology, ohnCalvin established heme nd tonewithhis insistence pon theabsolutesovereigntyfGod. Because thisvision accented he transcendenttherness f God, it taught heunitynnot-God-nessfmen.Yet awe is difficulto sustain.Thus,theologians n the Reformed traditionbeginningwith Calvinhimself ver time shifted ttention o the nature of the unityembodied n communities fmen,exploring he implications fhumanbeingsas "believingsinners"who were united by boththeirbelief nd their in,bytheir ecognition othof God and oftheirown alienationfromGod.49This dual emphasis lso proveddifficulto preserve. irst nseventeenth-centuryngland and then in eighteenth-centuryAmerica, t broke asunder.50 y the time of the Second GreatAwakening arlyin the nineteenth entury,God had lost Hisotherness-lbeit diverselyfor "liberals" who discovered Hisimmanence n nature and especially n themselves,nd forthe"orthodox"whoevangelicallyroclaimed hat hey lone possesseda "special" relationshipwith Him.51Maintainingthe unityofknowledge, iberalsdistinguishedmongmen: the "intelligent"sharedtheirvision,the "benighted"did not. Yet in an age ofself-consciousnlightenment,ucha distinctionwas not absolute.Charitable liberals indeed reposed their greatesthope in theserenefaith hat ll menwouldeventuallynd inevitablyometothink sdidthey.52The orthodox lowly,ndthe "New School"moredramatically,established heirown deeperand trulyunbridgeabledistinction,counterposingspiritual xperience" o merecreated ntelligencein a waythatdichotomized othknowledge nd men."Believers"sharedtheir xperience nd consequentunderstanding;sinners"did not.53n theevangelicalvision thatcame to be enshrinednsouthern heology,s Donald Mathewshasdelineated:The terriblensistencen universalinandguiltdidnotdictatea common atefor ll men,butcast n boldrelief hedistinctionbetweenhosewhocould notescapetheirustcondemnationnd



10/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 225thosewho could. The resultwas a radicalcleavage etweenEvangelicalsndworldlings.personwaseitheraved r not;thereould e nomiddle roupr ingeringevotionooldwaysorfriends.54Such"believers/'ecause hey hared n experience,ormeda type f"community,"nd a communityarmore ntense hananybased n mere hared nowledge.et because hat xperiencewasessentiallyrivate nd subjective,t inculcatedlso an in-dividualisticriority. nd because thatexperiencewas funda-mentallyriumphant,hecommunityowhicht opened endedto exclude ny ense fbeingfoundedn orwitnessingo sharedweakness.Throughouthe raunder tudy,outhernheology,venmorethanAmericanheologyn general,gnored cclesiology.55hesouthernhurcheshus voided nyexplorationfthemeaningof"church" r ofreligiousommunityhatwouldattend o allthat tsmembersad ncommon. etan implicitcclesiologyiddevelop.Admittings the basisfor ommunitynly xperiencesof triumphed to interpretingll experiencesf communitymemberss triumphs. theologyhat ichotomizednto either-or"thus reated communityf believers ho,despite hetoricalprofessionso thecontrary,e-emphasizednd even deniedanysense fcontinuinglawedness.uch theologyadneither lacenor basisfor sense fcommunityoundedn sharedweakness,

fornunderstandingf church"scomprisingelieving,oping,andperhapsven ovinginners.66Theology as always nderstoodin as theultimate umanlimitation,henecessaryeflectionf essential umanfinitude.Thusthecore nd characterfanytheologyan be foundn itsconceptf"sin."Classically,nChristianheology,sin"referredboth oa type faction oromission)nd to a state fbeing. nclassic heology,in as state fbeingheldpriority:ne didnotbecome sinnery ommittingins, utrather ommittedinsbe-causeone was a sinner.07n one level, outhernheologyre-served hisunderstanding.he "lost"whohadnotexperiencedChristwere"sinners." ut on a deeper evel,by definitionaldichotomy,he saved"whohadexperiencedndaccepted hristcouldnotbe"sinners."heymightbackslide,"r even commit



11/32

226 Georgia Historical Quarterlysins"; but as Christianstheycould not be sinners.AcceptingChrist, eing aved,meant chieving triumphver in- a triumphthat xcluded ontinuingdentifications "sinner."58Sin as stateofbeing- "original in"- in classictheologymeantmore. t bespokenotonly eparationnd alienationfromGod,butthe perduringessentialflawedness f the human condition.59MedievalCatholictheologypokeofthe omespeccati;Luther, fthemanurepile that emained nderthe nowy lanket f Christ'sjustification; alvin and his followersonsistentlynd vigorouslyemphasized he need to maintainconstantwarinessof the self-centeredness hat ever tendedto trespass n the prerogativesfdivinity. heologiansover the centuries ebatedwhether t wasmore accurate to describehumannature as "depraved"or "de-prived,"but theabidingdepthofhumannot-God-ness as rarelydenied.That even "saved"humanswereflawed emained n post-as in pre-Reformationheology he tragiccore of the Christianvision.60For complex reasonshaving to do with the declension ofCalvinist nsight n EnglishPuritanism,with the Arminianismthatcrept ntoAmericanCalvinism fter he death ofJonathanEdwards, nd especiallywith theimpactofWesleyanMethodismon a frontierociety, hetheology f EvangelicalRevivalismdidnotlose that ore vision- t never ttained t.61 y thetimeof theSecond GreatAwakening, he Reformed emphasisupon God'ssovereign ower"had become narrowed o a reminder o menof"theirpassive ole ntheplanof alvation."62utsuchpassivityidnot cohere well withthe revivalistictyle.Althoughconversionremained, t least rhetorically,a graciousact of God," the in-herent ualismofEvangelicalRevivalist heologymoved t moreand moreto viewsinexclusivelys "a voluntaryransgressionfaknown aw ofGod"- a definitionhatrestrictedhe entire onceptof sin to a deliberate ct ofthehuman will.63Readily,then,EvangelicalRevivalist heologyuccumbednotonlyto WesleyanArminianism ut also to an understandingfreality hatplacedmanrather hanGod at thecenterof theuni-verse. f sin is purely voluntary, heologicalemphasis"falls onman'sresponse o God."64Thus, as thesame scholarhas pointedout,southern eligion's statedobjectives, hosentechniques, nd



12/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 227priorityankingsll demonstratepreoccupationithbringingabout man'sdecisions o embrace nd to live out theChristianway/'65he southernhurches'mphasisn doingwasessentiallylinkedwith heir omplacencyboutbeing- .complacencyhatresultedrom heirnculcationf theologyhat adbeen hapedto meet theneeds fpeoplewhowanted religionosavethem,rather han one whichreaffirmedhe ambiguity f humanexistence."66uchcomplacency,hich nevitablylowed romtheologyhat estrictedtsunderstandingf sin to thenarrowlyvoluntary,owerfullyeinforcedhe endencyodichotomizento"either-or."The centralityccorded conversion"nd "salvation" ythesouthernhurchesurthernderscoredhis ignificancef outhernreligion's nderstandingf sin.Conversionndsalvationametobe boththeentire rocessnd the entirepurpose f southernreligionsshaped ythe mplicitheologyfEvangelical evival-ism.67hus, briefxaminationfthose onceptservesoclarifythesouthernhurches' efusal f tragedy,heir ntolerancefparadox nd ambiguity.Conversion" escribed heprocess ywhich human eing, lienated rom od,found hat lienationabolished yhisorher acceptancef Christ s Savior" ndthusattainedvindication rom in and the new state of beingthat s "salvation."n theEvangelical evivalistnderstanding,conversion-ike he alvationhat tbrought- as ndividual,ub-jective,udden, otal,ndcertain.hesequalitiesmeritonsidera-tion.Althoughhe xperiencef onversionould akeplace mongothers,s at a Revival, nd although hatexperiencenabledmembershipn the ommunityf"the onverted,"onversionasfundamentallybipolarealityhat ccurredetweenthemorallyrequiringGod over againstthe morallydefectivendividualsoul."68 ot onlywas it theindividualwho was changed,ndchangeds individual,t was alsothe ndividualwhodeterminedanddeclared hathe had been"changed." he qualities f in-dividualismnd subjectivity arkedespecially he SeparateBaptist ontributiono evangelical heology:hey eflectedhekeyBaptist-Pietistrinciplefthecompetencef the ndividualin mattersfreligionnd thatprinciple'soncomitantejection



13/32

228 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyof"anynotiqn hatChristianife nvolvedittlemore hanob-servingheoutward ormalitiesfreligion."69 conversionhatwas ndividualndsubjectivelyeterminedouldneverbecomea mere utward ormality;or,ofcourse, ouldconversionhusunderstoodverbe ambiguous.The suddennessnd totalityfEvangelical evivalismi on-versionxperienceurtherighlightedtstheology'sntolerancepfambiguity.Withinevangelicalheology,onversion as anorgasmicxperience-otbecause fthetrappingsfrevivalism,but becauseof theinstantaneousature f the release hat tbrought.70he suddennessf conversionenderedustificationself-containedct thathadno organic elationo anythinglse.71The centrallaimmplicitnsuch onversion,nd ndeed xplicitin Evangelicalism'sborn-again"anguage,was that hebelieverunderwentrofoundnd total hangen a single, efinite,atableexperience:eforet,hewasonekind fbeing "lost");fromhatmomentn,he became "saved"person iving qualitativelyi'new" ife.72Because o total, onversionnd the salvation hatresultedfrom t were certain. he vocabularyf thiscertaintyaried:"assurance"ignaled sually Baptist ackground;entireancti-fication,"Methodistnderstanding.73et, niformly,llsouthernEvangelicals aximizedhe mportancefcertainty-ndnot eastby "shiftingtsbase from he realm of divineactivityo therealmof immediate sychic xperience."74he doctrine f as-surance ecame the touchstonef Southern vangelicalism."75The compellingower f southerneligionprangargely romthis octrinendthe ense fcertaintytbegot- rom,hat s,theutterunambiguityf its proud promise f personal, ltimate,eternal,otal ictory.76n time, his onfidentense fabsolutelycertainssuranceverflowedo the outhernhurcheshemselves.Bytheopening ecades f thetwentiethentury,hesouthernchurches admoved rom "self-consciousnessnd immodesty"perhapsulturallynderstandablen the era ofsectionalonflictto evermoregrandiose assessmentsf [their wn] superiorpurity... with he mplicationr eventheassertionhat heirbrand of eligion] as thehopeoftheworld."77Such laimsncreasinglyxcludedny ense f hared eakness,



14/32

The Tragedyof Southern Religion 229anyawareness fcontinuing lawedness,n churchmembers. heyalso brought o culmination outhernreligion's ong history fblindnessto the possibility f organicsin, to the inherent m-perfection f all human institutions,o the tragicrealitythatevenmoral men tendedto create mmoral ocieties.78*

During the 1930s,all claims to certaintywere shaken.Anancientsense,muffledince the Enlightenment,oundrebirth:thehaunting ealization hat omekindofessential lawednessaycoiled at thecore of all humanachievementwhether ndividualorinstitutional.79he national conomic hipwreckf theDepres-sion decadebrought o Americans eelingunderthe aftermathfOctober 1929 glimpses f thehuman finitude hatAugust 1914hadrevealed otheEuropeanmind-"the sensethat urvival lonewas an achievementn a world not necessarily esignedforthetriumph f thehumanspirit/'80n and after he 1930s,the un-deniable realityof all kinds of human limitation ncreasinglydawned on a people until thenmired n complacency, isclosingthe specioustreacheryf human self-confidence,he dangersofthehumanself-centerednesshat urked n evennoble endeavors.In specificallyeligiousresponse, hatDepressiondecade saw therise in Americaofa new-old heologicalvisionvariously ermed"thetheologyfcrisis," realistic heology,"r- ifnotmost ptly,certainlymost astingly- neo-orthodoxy."81Applying heirnewlyfound "realism"to theirassessment fhumannature, generation f neo-orthodoxhinkers egantheirtheologizing yconceding the moralambiguity f most humanpredicaments,"ven accepting degreeof "relativism .. as adeterrentomoralpride."82 s had Reformationhinkersn verydifferentircumstances, eo-orthodox heologiansrediscoveredthe awesometranscendence f God and itscorollary f theutterfolly fhuman claims to embrace nyabsolute.The "finitude fall thingshumanmustnot be ignored,"theyproclaimed;"thetragic ense oflifemustbe apprehended."83Especiallytwo keyneo-orthodox hemesreflected he tragicinsight: heperduring eality fsin in all humanendeavors, ndthenecessityf acceptingparadoxand ambiguity s constitutive



15/32

230 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyof the human ondition. oththemesignaledneo-orthodoxy'sresponseo theevents fthe 1930s, o a decadethatwitnessedthechasteningf all liberalismsnd eventhephilosophicale-discoveryf human imitation.84eo-orthodoxyresented the-ologyuited o thedawningense f imits. reciselys a theologyrootednhistory, oreover,heneo-orthodoxision lsooffered,as an alternativeo the hubris fmodernityhat t diagnosedsunderlyinghe decade'sdebacles, he ancientwisdom mbodiedin the ragicnsight.85Althoughome tatementsfthisvisionwere xaggeratedythe ense feconomic ndpolitical isaster hatmarkedheera,the nsight'sundamentalisdom ametoappear vermorepro-found oan ever ncreasingumber fAmericanss the eventsofthethirtiesnd forties nfolded.MostAmericans,venmanynot religious,"eard ndrecognizednthe ediscoveryfhumanfinitudevermore atentruthbout he tarkealityftheirwnexistentialituations.86arish hurchesnly arelyedtheway nproclaimingheneo-orthodoxnderstanding,utthedenomina-tional pokesmenfmost on-southernhurchesoonmade vail-able its insight, resentinglimpses f its content n popularperiodicalsvenas theydebated ts significancen theologicaljournals.87In theAmericanouth,he esponse asdifferent.hreefacetsof the southernesponseo thecrisis f the 1930s nd to theinsightepresentedyneo-orthodoxyerit ttention.outhernintellectualsnderstoodhe ignificancefthe risisndreflected,albeit istortedly,hewisdomf he nsight;outhernritersene-tratedhe ontextf he risis orefine,odevelop,ndtopromul-gatethedepths f the insight; ut the southernhurches e^mained ompletelynawarefthenature fthe risisndutterlyignorantfthereligiousignificancefthe nsight.Menckenesqueynicsmay cent xymoronnthe ermsouth-ern ntellectuals/'ut ntheperiod nder onsiderationheFugi-tives-Agrariansertainlyeserveuchdesignation.88ndofthatgroup,t east womerit riefmentionere.AllenTate nhis Re-marksnthe outhern eligion"n 'll TakeMyStand ndJohnCroweRansomnGodWithouthunderouchednmanyhemesthat buttedneo-orthodoxoncerns. ate was interestedn "a



16/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 231fittingeligion"hat cknowledgedfundamentalvil";89 e per-ceived he irrationality"f beliefn"omnipotentuman ation-ality"90nd calledfor "religion f the whole"thatwouldbe"realisticconcerning]hetraditionalxperiencef evil which sthe ommonot oftherace."91 ansom mbarkedn a confused,quasi-mysticalearch or he nscrutablyranscendentod of omeorientalCalvin, amentingronicallyver "modern" eligion:"Whenyouhavemasteredhe ecrets fyourGod,youwillnotneedhimany onger s a God, butyou maykeephimfora,servant."92othcertainlyeflectedspects f the neo-orthodoxanimus.Therewas f oursemore oboth ate andRansom-nalmostaberrantuality o their eligiousnsight erhaps estputintoperspectiveytheirater ersonalourneysntoRomanCatholic-ism ndUnitarianism.93et tmay ethat nthat eryccentricitylaythekey otheirffinityith heneo-orthodoxnsight. ustavKrgerhad in 1926introducedthe German risis heology"toAmericanss "a newpietism orwhich hegreat nemyis]theEnlightenment."94reciselysSoutherners,heAgrariansookthe ame nti-Enlightenmenttand.95he pointhere, hen,s notdirect eo-orthodoxnfluencen Tate andRansom, utthepo-tentialffinityf deas etweenouthernhinkersndneo-orthodoxthought.fTate andRansom eflectedrutch,s itunreasonabletobesurprisedhatheirhurchlyounterpartsemainedototallydevoid f Niebuhrian esonances?Especiallyhen nerealizes hat f llreflectionsf hewisdomof limits hroughouthe wholeofAmericanulture, outhernwritersmost trikinglyaptured he tragic nsight epresentedtheologicallyyneo-orthodoxy,omewondereemsustified. oretellinglyhan nyAmericanrtistxcept erhaps ugeneO'Neill,William aulkner nd Robert ennWarren xpressedhesenseoftragedymplicitn theneo-orthodoxision,ndthey chievedthis reciselyyappropriatingor hatpurpose hehistoricalx-perience f the southern eople.96 hey understood,s didNiebuhr, thatthose bestqualified o interprettheimplicitdarknessn thechildren f ight']might erywellbe thosewhohadsuffered ost t the hands fhistory."97t thecoreof theSoutherniteraryenaissanceaythe xplorationftragicmean-



17/32

32 Georgia Historical Quarterlying. tswriters resented hetragedies f the southern xperienceas a paradigm or hetragicmeaningof human ife tself,uggest-ing,forexample,as had NathanielHawthorne, that thereareother bases for fellowsympathynd democraticprocess thanman's inevitablegoodness, hat a commonwealth f mutual re-spect nd common onstructiveffortan be builtupon an aware-ness ofour inevitable vilrather hanupon therealization fourperfectibleelves."98Interpretationsf the SouthernLiteraryRenaissance as wellas of its individual writers f course abound." Mentionof thephenomenon s not intendedto stakesome new claim upon itssignificance,ut rather o suggest themethatmayuniteearlierexegeses.Much of the powerof the literature f the SouthernRenaissancearose from ts writers' ensitivityo the substanceand thenatureand themeaningof tragedy,nd thatsensitivitywas at least implicitly eligious n the sensehintedby FlanneryO'Connor:

Whenever'm askedwhy outhern ritersarticularlyave apenchant orwritingboutfreaks, say t is becausewe are stillable torecognizene.To be able to recognize freak, ouhaveto have some onceptionfthewholeman, nd in the Souththegeneral onceptionfmanis still, n themain,theological. . .While he outh shardly hrist-centered,t smost ertainlyhrist-haunted.The Southerner.. is verymuchafraid hathe mayhavebeenformedn the mage ndlikeness fGod.100O'Connor's own theology,lmostneedlessto pointout,was notthat fthe southernhurches rof southern eligion s delineatedin thispaper.The southern hurches hemselves,uring nd evenafter he1930s, etained he blindness o tragedymposedby the theologyof EvangelicalRevivalism.The intellectuals nd writersbrieflymentionedabove were alienated fromsouthernreligion as itexisted,and there is no evidence that even the most literatesouthern hurchgoers nderstoodthe importof theirvision.101On the moreordinaryevelon whichtheresearch hatthisstudyreportshas focused, ne searches n vain the periodicalsof thesouthern enominationsndotherwritingsf outhernhurchmen



18/32

The Tragedy - outhernReligion 233for nyhint f advertenceo,much essrecognitionf,thesig-nificanceftheneo-orthodoxnsightor heir wnreligiousitu-ation.102s late as 1958, heEncyclopediafSouthern aptistsblithelyoncluded ts brief reatmentf "Neo-Orthodoxhe-ology"with the observation:The majorityf Baptists,ittleaffectedy iberalism,ave hus aidscant ttentiononeo-ortho-doxy."103n the 1930s hemselves,hefew attentionshatdidappearwere o neo-orthodoxhinkersatherhan o neo-orthodoxthought,ndtheyervemainlyo validate heparentheticalnter-jection n Sydney hlstrom'svaluation fReinholdNiebuhr'simpact:What idmost o mpressandtoconfuse!) isaudiencewashisdialectical anner f hinking,is nsistencentakingheconceptfparadoxeriouslynd thus peakingonstantlyntermsof both-and'nd yes-and-no.'104Incapableofunderstandingboth-and,"otallynsnared ythe implisticichotomiesf"either-or,"outherneligionn the1930swasunabletocomprehendither hetheologicalision fneo-orthodoxyr thesenseoftragedyntertwinedith t. Anyperusal f thedenominationalournals f thesouthernhurchesduringhat ecadewill onfirmhat ariouscholarsavepointedout n diverse ontexts: isreligiouseaders contentocelebratethemoral ictoriesfformerenerations/'heordinaryaveragechurchmemberdid]notfeelfree o talkwithhisministerboutproblemshat involved]reed ndconflict."105

*The decadeofthe thirties as,for he southernhurches,debacle.Despite xpectationsnd evenoccasional limmers,oreligiousevival oursed hroughhe Southduring heyears ftheGreatDepression.106trikingly,s RobertColeshas noted,James geementionedothingf thereligiousife fthepeoplehesosympatheticallytudied.107n the1930sfever, hepoignantpower fchurchmanamesMcBrideDabbs'spained ndictmentof outherneligionecamell toevident:t hadproduced eitherpoets or aints.108What outherneligion id producen theDepression earswas flood-tidefrecruitsor heprimitivisticringe-sects.hilethemain-lineouthernhurchesmetthe crisis fthedecadeby



19/32

234 Georgia Historical Quarterlywithdrawingurthernto their nsistence n "the spiritualityfthechurch,"more and more of theirown members s well as oftheunchurchedought olace for heir disappointed r sick ouls"in a "pre-millenarianism. . that awno hope for ociety xceptin a cataclysm/'109any became what Francis Butler Simkinstermed, not entirely without sympathy, Holy Rollers."110Primitivism,which had fromthe beginningof the twentiethcenturyfferedtself s a fear-riddenesponse o thecomplexitiesof urban ifeand industrialization,as more and more turned othroughouthethirties s an escapefrom hecomplexities f lifeitself.111art of the attractivenessf the fringe-sectserhaps ayin the fact thattheyoffered virtual reductio ad absurdumofsouthernreligion.Explicitly"orgiastic" n their "absolute in-differenceoward hepresentworld,"theirmembers loried n aministryalmostwholly neducated" nd at times urned iterallyto seeking"justification y snake-handling": ach trait flowedlogicallyfromdichotomous heology.112he sectsoffered nam-biguously he ultimate"either-or" o well describedby WilburCashinhisdelineation fThe Mind oftheSouth-thesatisfactionof belongingto

The One True Church monga host of Byzantine retendersgiven ver otheworshipf dols;poor,humble, espised ow, utdestinedn the end to emerge o dazzlingglorywhilethe oldhaughtynes are cast into outerdarkness, resumablyo burnin thepit as thefaithfulookpleasantlyn from riels n theskies.113Cash's indictments perhaps overlyharsh;at least part of aparallelevaluationbySimkins eemsfairer s well as more to thepoint: "Superficiallyhe dissimilarityetweenthe Holy Rollersand upper-class hurchmenwas the difference etween intenseemotionalismnd manneredrestraint. evertheless,othgroupswere fundamentally outherners."114oth groups were most

fundamentallyouthern, would reviseSimkins's ontinuation,because bothsharedthesame southern heology,hesameeither-or visionofreality hatexcludedanysense of tragedynd there-fore recluded oming otermswithwhatbythe1930shadbecomethewhole of outhernxperience.



20/32

The Tragedyof Southern Religion 235*The factorshat haped outherneligionweremultiplendcomplex. oth ultural ndtheologicalevelopmentsignificantlyinfluencedhe ransformationf he mplicitdeologyfEvangeli-cal Revivalism nto the perduringheology f the southernchurches.mongulturaltimuli,he xperiencesfthefrontier,ofslavery,nd ofdefeat roved f lasting onsequence. heo-logically,hedeclension fCalvinism,eparateBaptist ietism,and Methodist rminianismnterwoves salient haping res-sure.Deeper xplorationfthesenfluencesndtheirnteractionliesbeyondhe cope f this aper.Darewe,nevertheless,azardconclusionsn such an introductoryketch f what s doubtlesstooembracive theme? ecausethis s an introductoryketch,sentforth o provoke omment, think Yes." Two tentativepoints eemwarranted:nehistoriographie,heother ultural.Historiographically,t is clear that outherneligion an beappreciatedully nly f, s has not beendoneherein,ccountstaken f he eligiouseliefsndpracticesfbothwhite ndblackSoutherners.outhernwhitereligion aken n isolationfromblackexperiences toostunted,oo obviouslyne-dimensional:tostudytexclusivelyecessarilyesultsn a warped ision.Re-cently, onaldMathews as shown hepower fthe arger er-spectivenhis arefulxplorationfReligionntheOldSouth.115Weneedmore tudieshat ttempto be as sensitivelymbracive

as the ffortfProfessor athews. utwealsoneedmore. herewas, n thepost-bellumouth, nother ppressed roupover-lapping ut lsodistinctrom heformerlaves.Anewgenerationofscholars asbegunto explore heuniqueness fwomen ndof women'sxperience. suspecthat nydeeperpenetrationfthe nomaliesf outherneligionmust mbrace otonly here-ligious xperiencefBlacks, utthereligiousctualitiesfwo-men, othwhite ndblack,na culturehat or ll its downrightgyneolatry"as beentoo exclusivelytudied s masculine. e-ligious ealities averarely eenconfinedo churches,owevermuch hurches aydominate culture'seligiousxpressions.fa newerhistoricalensitivityan illumine hose ealitiesn thelives f outhern omen,urknowledgefsoutherneligion illbesignificantlyxpandednddeepened.116



21/32

236 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyCulturally,nemessageries ut from he tudy fsouthernreligions fromny tudy fvirtuallynyaspect fthe South:especiallynAmericanife ndculture,rowthndrichnessomefrom iversity-rom pluralismhat ccepts ifferences.117urexplorationf southern heologyffirms ill's point in hisexaminationf Southern hurchesn Crisis: no singlefeatureof the southern eligiouspicture s morerevealing han theabsence fpluralismnddiversity/'118Throughouthispaper, haverepetitivelysed the term"either-orision" nd have arefullyschewedtsreadyolloquialequivalent,to see in terms fblack ndwhite."The southernfearofdifference,heSouth's bsolute mbrace f "either-or,"werecertainly ot unrelated o the region's xperiencewithslavery:hedichotomizingorld-viewominated othreligiousandracial hinking.119culture riven o define one-sixteenthblood" s "black"wasnot dept tmakinghaded istinctions.hehistorian,fcourse,must readwarilyn an area so intertwinedwith hepsychological,specially hen acedwith hetemptationtoassign riority.et as historian,he tudent freligiousdeasknows hat n-group/out-groupichotomizingas a far ongerhistoryhanAmericanlavery;nd he knows urtherhat ndhow,over ongcenturies,eligiousnd theologicalxpressionshave erved oth o reinforcendtomitigatehat endency.120The meaning f "difference"-ts perceptionnd thatper-ception'sranscendence-anprovide heuristictandardor hescholar f religions. he utterfailure f southern eligion oachieveny ranscendencenthis rea, he ulturalolipsismhatinsistedo successfullyn definingll differences "bad" and"whollyther,"husbecomes primaryatum ndperhaps heprimary atumforany student f the American outh.Todisentanglehismind-setrom othblack laveryndAmericanexceptionalisms perhapsn impossibleask;but if therebe akey othis eculiarlyominantouthernrait n a nation suallyat least ware fthepluralisticossibility,he tudy fsouthernreligionnd tstheology ayhold thatkey.121Recently, eorgeB. Tindalloptativelyfferedhat ouldbean epigraphummarizingoth theproblem nd thehope ofhuman swellas of southernife: "Ifwe canrememberhat ll



22/32

The Tragedy fSouthernReligion 237humans re finite nd different,ut alike in having imita-tions. . ,"122he tragedyf southerneligion ay n itsfailureto teach- r evento know- hatfundamentaleligious ruth.*

Two decades go, n hismeditationn the CivilWar cen-tennial, obert ennWarren pinedthatpreciselyecause heConfederateshemselvesfferedhe lessonthathumandignityandgrandeurrepossible,ven mid humanweaknessndvice,themost nhappilyronic ffectf theCivilWarupontheSouthwas"theGreatAlibi/'The defeat avewhite outhernershechance oexcuse ll their ailingsy saying,n effect,hat heirfathers adlostthewarand they adnothad a chance ince.123Morerecently,hephilosopher,lasdairMaclntyre,as notedone ofthe haracteristicsf"heroic ocieties" o be "a conceptionof thehuman onditions fragilend vulnerable odestinyndtodeath, uch that be virtuouss notto avoidvulnerabilityanddeath, utrathero accord hem heir ue."124Not o much defeat,"utdenialhas haped he outh- enialof he ealityf tsown ragedy.he tragedyf outherneligionis that tcontributedo thisdenialbecause f thedichotomizingtendencynherentnitstheology.hat tragedyevealedtselfnseveralways.Post-CivilWar southern eligion, s CharlesR.Wilsonhaspointed ut,preciselys religion shouldhavepaidmore ttentiono humanweakness nd vice,to the moral m-biguities nd uncertaintiesf life, to the possibility hat[southern]ociety,ndeed, nysociety,might ot be virtue n-carnate."126he historyfthe 1930smakes learhow the tend-encyto interpretll realityn terms f "either-or"nderlaysoutherneligion'sltimate enial- tsfailure o understandinas opposedto "sins."127ecauseof its EvangelicalRevivalistheritage,outherneligion emained lindeven n thatdecadetothetragic nderstandinghat trengthomes romweakness-that llhuman ealityomprisesn nevitable ixturefgood ndevil, f trengthndweakness,imply ecause t is finite,umanreality.The South's eepest ainhasbeen notguiltovertransgres-sipn, ut hame ver allinghortfan ideal-fallinghort ftwo



23/32

238 GeorgiaHistoricalQuarterlyideals,nfact,heAmericannd theChristian.ffectiveeligionreconcilesotherealityfshame venmore han t relieveshepangs fguilt.128utnoreligionanbe effectivef tfostershedenialofreality. wo recent ommentatorsavesuggestedhatthe outh's eepest istoricalroblemsthevillainy otofSimonLegree, ut ofAdolf ichmann.129fthat eemsmeanly arsh,talso invites hetragic erspective.n thewords fLucien Gold-mann:"If theexpressionrighteousinner' s thedefinition,ntheologicalerms,f tragicman,"thento fail to comprehendtragedy,odenytsreality,s to become theexact pposite: heinnocentmonster."130n that ealizationnd its mplicationsiethe ragedynd the ronyndeven hepathosf outherneligion.The South, f ourse, asnot acked or iagnosticians.s onehistorianut t n a recent aper: ThecentralhemefSouthernhistoriographyuringmost f thepast everal ecadeshas beenthe search or central hemen Southern istory."131e thenrehearsedome f heverdicts-uch s the Lazy"South, he Ro-mantic" outh- nd concluded: We can find hetrueSouth nits iterature;o, n itshistory;erhapsn itsmythology.Let usbeginwith heweather/To whichwe wouldperhapsddtoday:"orwith heCelticheritage."132Without ishingoaddtothat istbyclaimingoo much orsoutherneligion, findta strikingnd a most ellingommenton whatthispaperhas termedts "tragedy"hat of all thevirtues-nd the vices- ver attributedo the South, herehasneverppearednany nterpretationfwhich know hepredica-tion f humility."

NotesiCarlN. Degler, lace Over Time (BatonRouge,1977), 3; SamuelS. Hill,Jr.,"The South'sTwo Cultures,"n Hill et al., Religion nd the Solid South (Nash-ville,1972),24-25;JohnSheltonReed, The EnduringSouth (Lexington, 972),57-81;GeorgeBrownTindall,The Ethnic outhernersBatonRouge, 1976), 6-77;JamesMcBride abbs,HauntedbyGod (Richmond,972), 77;Flannery 'Connor,"SomeAspects f theGrotesquen Southern iction," n Mysterynd Manners

(NewYork,1969), 4-45;WalkerPercy, The Failureand theHope," in Will D.Campbell ndJames . Holloway,ds.,The Failure nd theHope (GrandRapids,1972), 5.2Onanomalies,f.ClydeL. Manschreck,Religion n the South:Problem ndPromise,"n FrancisB. Simkins,d., The South n PerspectiveFarmville, 959),85; C. Hugh Holman,"The Southerner s AmericanWriter,"n Charles GrierSellers,Jr., d., The Southerner s American Chapel Hill, 1960),180; on the



24/32

The Tragedyof Southern Religion 239relatedpointof theSouth's fearof abstractions,"f.JamesMcBrideDabbs,TheSouthern eritage NewYork, 958), 67ff.;RichardH. King,A Southern enais-sance (NewYork, 980), -6.3john B. Boles, The GreatRevival,1787-1805: he Originsof the SouthernEvangelicalMind (Lexington, 972),125-142,00; Samuel S. Hill, Jr.,The Southand theNorth n American eligion (Athens, 980), 3; F. GarvinDavenport, r.,The Myth fSouthern istory Nashville, 970),59. That this "individualism"stheological,f.T. ScottMiyakawa, rotestantsnd Pioneers Chicago,1964),229-233. Interestingn thispointis the debate betweenDavid Bertelson, he LazySouth (NewYork,1967)and Dabbs,HauntedBy God, 15,31. Cf.also GeorgeE.Mowry, nother ook at the Twentieth-Centuryouth (BatonRouge, 1973),82;Lewis P. Simpson, The SouthernRecovery f Memory nd History," ewaneeReview 2 (1974), 5.Percy,The Failure ndtheHope,"15;cf.EdwinMcNeillPoteat,Jr., Religionin theSouth,"n W. T. Couch, d.,Culture n theSouth (ChapelHill, 1935), 50-251; fornumerical ata,cf.FrancisButler imkins, History f theSouth (NewYork, 965, rded.),411ff., nd Reed,The Enduring outh, 7-81.sSamuel . Hill,Jr., outhern hurchesn Crisis NewYork,1966), v, 18, 152ff., 01; Donald G. Mathews, eligion n the Old South (Chicago,1977),xvii,81ff.; f.Hill,"Introduction,"n Hill etal.,Religion nd the SolidSouth, 2.JohnLee Eighmy, hurches n CulturalCaptivityKnoxville, 972); ListonPope, Millhands and Preachers New Haven, 1942), 17-18;cf. Hill, SouthernChurches,4-54, 72.7CharlesReagan Wilson,Baptized in Blood (Athens,1980), 102; Dabbs,HauntedbyGod,184ff.;Mathews, eligion n theOld South, 2; Poteat, Religionin theSouth," 54; Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,02; Davenport,Myth, 1; W. J.Cash, The Mind of the South (New York,1941),44; FrankE. Vandiver, TheSoutherners Extremist,"n FrankE. Vandiver, d., The Idea of the South(Chicago,1964), 3-55;Tindall,EthnicSoutherners,4-55;Manschreck,Religionin theSouth,"85; JohnHope Franklin, he MilitantSouth (Cambridge, 956);Rollin G. Osterweis, omanticismnd Nationalism n the Old South (Gloucester,1964), 7.Wilson, aptized n Blood,13, 154,167;Mathews, eligion n the Old South,82; Hill, "South's Two Cultures," 3; Tindall, Ethnic Southerners,4; Pope,Millhands nd Preachers, 4; RollinG. Osterweis, he Mythof the Lost Cause(Hamden, 963),118;GeorgeM. Marsden, undamentalismnd American ulture(NewYork, 980), 52, 79.For the "tragedy" heme, f. Sellers, Introduction,"n Sellers,ed., TheSoutherners American,i ff.; ellers, The Travail of Slavery,"n eodem, 0-71;Dabbs,Haunted,150, 178;Wilson,Baptized, 6; SamuelS. Hill, Jr., Toward aCharter or a Southern heology,"n Hill et al, Solid South,184; Davenport,Myth, 92;King,Southern enaissance, 69-174.loTohn roweRansom,God Without hunder Hamden,1965, rig. 1930),102.nThe theme, fcourse,s C. VannWoodward's:f.especiallyThe SearchforSoutherndentity"nd "The Ironyof SouthernHistory," othreprintedn TheBurden fSouthern istoryNewYork, 960), -25 nd 167-191;f.also Davenport,Myth, .12C/.Eighmy,CulturalCaptivity,4-25;Wilson,Baptized,7, 58; Rufus B.Spain,AtEase in Zion (Nashville, 967), 9."Miguel de Unamuno,TragicSenseof Life,tr.J. E. Crawford litchof DelSentimientoragico ela Vida (NewYork, 954, rig.1921), 7, f. lso 37,135.Forthe udgmentn thenext entence,f.Dabbs,Haunted,204ff.,nd Hill, SouthernChurches,71.ne/. Sydney . Ahlstrom,Introduction,"nAhlstrom,d.,TheologynAmerica



25/32

240 Georgia Historical Quarterly(Indianapolis, 967), 9 ff.; lso notes# 81-87, elow.isQuotedbyDabbs,Haunted,146; cf.also on thepointC. Vann Woodward,"The HistoricalDimension,"n Woodward, urden,27; WilliamR. Hutchison,The Modernistmpulse n American rotestantismCambridge,976), 51.iGThemostdirect hilosophical xpressions to be found n existentialism:f.WilliamBarrett,rrationalMan (New York,1958); Karl W. Deutsch,"Intro-duction,"n KarlJaspers, ragedys NotEnough, r.HaraldA. T. Reiche,HarryT. Moore, nd KarlW. Deutsch Boston, 952).17C/. . VannWoodward,WhytheSouthern enaissance?" irginiaQuarterlyReview 1 (1975), 22-239;lso note# 99,below.The ironys thattheRenaissancemarked denialoflimitations;hisone,their ediscovery.18C/.,.g.,Hill, "Introduction,"olidSouth, 0; Samuel S. Hill,Jr.,The Southand The North in AmericanReligion (Athens,1980),50 ff.;Hill, SouthernChurches,5-31;Boles,GreatRevival, 25-128, 93-194;Wilson,Baptized, -3,7.isPoteat,Religionn theSouth," 61;cf.HunterDickinson arish,The CircuitRiderDismountsRichmond, 938), 3.20Kenneth . Bailey,SouthernWhiteProtestantismn the Twentieth entury(NewYork, 964), 4.21H11,outhernhurches,1-39; f.Boles,GreatRevival, ii.22ErnestriceThompson, resbyteriansn theSouth,vol.3 (Richmond,973),215-216, 58-359;Pope, Millhandsand Preachers, 25; for the sociology f thesouthern enominationsn the1930s, f.Poteat, Religion n theSouth," 58-259.23C/. oteat, tsupra;Osterweis,omanticismndNationalism,91.24On numerical,"f.Hill, South ndNorth, 10;also Simkins, istory,11; on"social," f.Farish,CircuitRider,91; Cash,Mind,58; Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,43.25|C/. ydney . Ahlstrom,Theology n America:A HistoricalSurvey,"nJamesWard Smith nd A. LelandJamison,ds., The Shapingof AmericanRe-ligion (Princeton,961),234; Ahlstrom,Introduction,"2; HenryF. May,"TheRecoveryfAmerican eligiousHistory," mericanHistoricalReview70 (1964),79; HenryF. May,The Enlightenmentn America New York,1976),xiv; KarlJaspers, ragedys Not Enough, 3-25;WalkerPercy,Notesfora Novel AbouttheEndoftheWorld,"n Campbell nd Holloway, ds.,Failureand Hope, 224.26C/.Mathews, eligion n theOld South, vii;Hill, South nd North, , 70-72.Examples bound, ven nwriterss sensitives Hill: cf.Southern hurches,1,59,181; also Osterweis, omanticismnd Nationalism, 88-191;Bailey, SouthernWhiteProtestantism,61-162; ope, Millhands nd Preachers, 6; and perhapsthemost ubtle nd influentialxample,RichardHofstadter,nti-Intellectualismin Americanife (NewYork, 966), 5-142.27H11,outh ndNorth, .28C/.Woodward s citedabove,note #11; ReinholdNiebuhr,The IronyofAmerican istoryNewYork, 952), ii-viii, 57,167;cf.Degler, lace OverTime,129-130. f the worksthat analyzetragedy,hispoint is clear especiallyfromJaspers, ragedy,9,97; LucienGoldmann,ukacs and Heidegger, r. WilliamQ.Boelhower London, 977), 5; and HenryAlonzoMyers, ragedy:A Viewof Life(Ithaca, 965, rig. 956), 45-146.29Sellers,Introduction,"i,and "The Travail ofSlavery,"0; Dabbs,Haunted,55, 122; Wilson,Baptized,15, 36; King,SouthernRenaissance, 74; SidneyE.Mead,"American istorys a TragicDrama,"Journal fReligion52 (1972), 51;EmoryM. Thomas,The Confederate ation: 1861-1865 New York,1979),23;Mathews, eligion n theOld^ outh,x-xi, lthoughhe seemsmore exact on 247.30C/. speciallyMyers,Tragedy, 0, 154 ff.;Jaspers, ragedy, 8-99;LucienGoldmann, heHiddenGodttr.Philip Thody (London,1964), 8,66ff. am alsoconsciousfdrawing rom: . R. Henn,The Harvest f Tragedy London,1966);



26/32

The Tragedyof SouthernReligion 241Geoffreyereton, rinciples f Tragedy Coral Gables,1969);WalterKaufmann,Tragedy nd Philosophy Princeton, 968);William R. Brashear,The Gorgon'sHead (Athens, 977); nd AlasdairMaclntyre*fterVirtue NotreDame, 1981).siGoldmann,iddenGod.283, f.296, 05.32Barrett,rrationalMan,117.33Niebuhr'soncepts clearestnhis Giffordectures,ublished s The NatureandDestinyfMan,2 vols. NewYork, 941-1943),f.especially ol. , 182.Cf.alsoH. Sheltonmith, hanging onceptionsfOriginal in (NewYork, 955), 10.34Myers,ragedy,, 101-102,56-157; aspers, ragedy,5-56; f.the use ofthisbyErnestBecker, he Denial ofDeath (NewYork,1973), 5. For a study f an-other1930's henomenonhatcaptured his nsight,f.ErnestKurtz,Not-God:AHistory fAlcoholicsAnonymousCenterCity, 1979).sMyers,ragedy,2;on "Christian"ragedy,f. lso NathanA. Scott, r., Fore-word,"n Scott, d., The TragicVision nd the Christian aith (NewYork,1957),ix-xvii; nd EdmondLaB. Cherbonnier,Biblical Faith and the dea ofTragedy,"ineodem, 3-55.36Myers,ragedy, 4; on thepractical ignificancef this, f*WilliamBarrett,The Illusion fTechnique Garden ity, 978), 1.37Goldmann,idden God, 69, 81; Goldmann, ukacs and Heidegger, 7-49;Niebuhr,rony, 70;Jaspers, ragedy,7; Unamuno, ragicSense, 40.38This s a central heme n Myers, ragedy; f.also Maclntyre, fterVirtue,147rl53.39Scott,Foreword," (italics cott's).ioibid.;cf.Jaspers, ragedy,4-75.Jaspers,Tragedy, 4-95, f.57; also Barrett,llusion of Technique,149 ff.;Maclntvre. fter irtue,33-134.42Mary rancesThelen,Man as Sinner n ContemporarymericanRealisticTheologyNewYork, 946), 64-181; aspers, ragedy, 03;Barrett,rrationalMan,71-72;Hutchison,Modernistmpulse,220-222.43jaspers, ragedy,04, f., speciallye "shipwreck,"5-96; n the"partialness"of southerneligion, ill, Southern hurches,95-199.44oles,GreatRevival, specially 83 it. I am unimpressed y tne criticism fBolesbyFredJ. Hood,Reformed merica University,labama,1980).204. Fora studyof Evangelicalismensitive o North-South ifferences,/ Miyakawa,Protestants,59-197.Also supporting oles, cf. Hill, SouthernChurches, 5-16;Percy, Notesfora Novel,"224; May, Enlightenmentn America, 27 ff.;Hill,South ndNorth, 9.45Bailey,outhernWhite rotestantism,8;Hill,Southern hurches,5-16;Hill,Southand North, 0 ff., 0-72;Wilson,Baptized, -3; Osterweis,ost Sause, 119;May,Enlightenmentn America, 27.46HerbertWallace Schneider, eligionin Twentieth-Centurymerica (Cam-bridge,1952), 14-15;Marsden,Fundamentalism,24; cf. Hutchison,ModernistImpulse, 75.For the outhern ackgroundnd context,f.Osterweis,omanticismand Nationalism, ff.;for a deeper cultural reflectionf the dichotomizingtendency, andiver,The Southerner s Extremist/'3-55.On the developmentof a specific either-or"n SouthernPresbyterianism,f. E. BrooksHolifield,The Gentlemen heologians Durham, 978), 0 ff.47C/.Mathews,eligionntheOld South. 5; Hill,Southern hurches,9; Boles,GreatRevival, 31-138.48C/. o eat, Religion n the South,"261-262;Marsden, undamentalism,6;Dabbs, Haunted,239; Hill, "Towarda Charter," 82,190,204; Hofstadter,nti-Intelletualism 47; on "assumed o harmonize,"f. especiallyTheodoreDwightBozeman, rotestantsn an Age of Science (ChapelHill, 1977), nd as primary,E. Y. Mullins,The AxiomsofReligion (Philadelphia, 908),301-302.Miyakawa,



27/32

242 Georgia Historical QuarterlyProtestants,-6, lso evaluates.John . McNeill,The Historynd Characterf CalvinismNewYork,1967,orig.1954), 01-212,53-373; erryMiller, The Marrow f PuritanDivinity,"nErrandntothe WildernessNewYork, 964, rig.1956), 1-53;Ahlstrom,Histori-cal Survey,"39, 57; Ahlstrom,Introduction,"7; cf.Hill,South ndNorth, 7-38;Mathews, eligion n the Old South,127; the echo of this n Mullins,Axioms,81 ff.; or nsightntothedeclensionn theSouth, f.Holified,Gentlemen heo-logians, 49-154.oMiller,Marrow,"3-98;PerryMiller, Declensionn a BibleCommonwealth,"inNature'sNation (Cambridge, 967), 4-49; f.Ahlstrom,Historical urvey,"17;Ahlstrom,Introduction,"3; May, Enlightenment,58; ScavanBercovitch, hePuritanOrigins f the American elf (New Haven, 1975),21; Marsden, unda-mentalism,5; for hisdevelopmentn theSouth,Holifield, entlemen heologians,155-175.siAhlstrom,HistoricalSurvey," 39-240;Ahlstrom, Introduction," 6; cf.Mathews,Old South, 228-229;Ann Douglas, The Feminization f AmericanCulture NewYork, 977),122ff.;Hutchison,Modernistmpulse,3-4; Bercovitch,PuritanOrigins,85.The classic reatmentfthecontext fthis eparationemainsSidneyE. Mead, "American rotestantismuringtheRevolutionary poch,"re-printedn Mead,The LivelyExperiment NewYork,1963),38-54.52Ahlstrom,Historical urvey," 51-254;Ahlstrom,Introduction,"8; Mead,LivelyExperiment,5-71, 0-102;ConradWright, he Beginningsf UnitarianisminAmericaBoston, 966, rig.1955), 52-280;May,Enlightenment,53-176,78-304.53Ahlstrom,Introduction,"5; cf. May, Enlightenment,22; Boles, GreatRevival,193-194;Mathews, ld South, 8-65;NormanPettit,The HeartPrepared(NewHaven, 966), 09.54Mathews,ld South, 1.ssAhlstrom,Historical urvey," 06; Boles,GreatRevival,125-138; f. Hill,SouthernChurches, 39 ff.;Manschreck,Problem and Promise," 8; Eighmy,CulturalCaptivity,. The exceptional ature f the "Landmark" aptists larifiesthispoint:cf.Ahlstrom,Historical urvey,"04,and JamesE. Tuli, A StudyofSouthern aptist andmarkismn theLightofHistorical aptist cclesiologyNewYork, 980, rig. 960),56Mathews,ld South, vii,14,20,34-35, 9-42, 44;cf.Hill, Southern hurches,94-95:Dabbs. Haunted. 239.

s7Cf.Barrett,rrationalMan,71-72;Dabbs,Haunted, 02.esc/.Hill,South nd North, 0-72;Boles,GreatRevival, 31-136;Mathews, ldSouth, 9-61; nd especially ill's developmentf "the central heme"n southernreligionn Southern hurches,3ff.59Smith,hanging onceptions,10; Niebuhr, rony,17; cf. Thelen,Man AsSinner,3-22,74-182.oC/. cott,Foreword,"n TragicVision, -xiii;Jaspers, ragedy,2-33;Myers,Tragedy, 3; Goldmann, idden God,48, 66. For an especially ppreciative er-spective,f.PhillipRieff, he Triumph f the Therapeutic:Uses ofFaithAfterFreud NewYork, 966), 06.eie/, notes# 49 and 50, above; also, forthe South,Cash,Mind, 84; Hill,Southern hurches,23ff.;Hill, South and North, 7; Farish,CircuitRider,93;Osterweis,omanticism,91.For thespecificallyresbyterianoint, f.Holifield,Gentlemen heologians, 38-145, nd directly n the Calvinist-Arminianssue,187-198. or the point, lthough disagreewithhis interpretation,f. Thomas,Confederateation, 2.2Mathews,ld South, 27.63Marsden,undamentalism,3; cf.Boles,GreatRevival,138; Farish,CircuitRider,72; Mathews, ld South, 0-61;Holifield,Gentlemen heologians, 96-205.



28/32

The Tragedyof SouthernReligion 243That this s not specific o southernEvangelicals is clear fromMiyakawa,Protestants,171ff., n Finney.64H1,Southern Churches,27, cf. 62-63; also Marsden, Fundamentalism,73-74;Mathews, Old South, 60-61; Dabbs, Haunted, 190.65H1, outhernChurches, 7.66Mathews,Old South, 31; cf.Hill, SouthernChurches,95-96; Hill, "South's TwoCultures,"34-35.For background, f.Cash, Mind, 341; Osterweis,Romanticism,189;Elizabeth K. Nottingham,Methodismon the Frontier (New York, 1941).67C/.Hill, SouthernChurches,25, and especially 73 ff.on the "central theme"of southernreligion; also Hill, South and North, 43; Mathews, Old South, 129;Bailey, Southern White Protestantism,18; Boles, Great Revival, 128, 131 ff.Specifically or SouthernBaptists, draw also on FisherHumphreys, A Theology ofSalvation," unpublished paper.68HM, "Toward a Charter," 189-190; cf. Hill, South and North, 25; RobertEllis Thompson, A Historyof thePresbyterianChurches in the United States (NewYork,1895),36-37.That this ndividualism was specifically heological,cf.Miyakawa,Protestants, 9 ff. n the Quakers; also Boles, Great Revival, 125 ff.;Mathews,OldSouth, 19.69C. C. Goen, Revivalism and Separatism in New England, 1740-1800 (NewHaven, 1962), 208 ff.,on the South, 296 ff.; cf. Hill, Southern Churches, 58-60;Rufus B. Spain, At Ease in Zion (Nashville, 1967), 3, 186; Eighmy,Cultural Cap-tivity, ; Miyakawa,Protestants, 0; Mullins, Axioms,51 ff., 80-281.70On the concept, "orgasmic experience," cf. Harry Guntrip, PsychoanalyticTheory, Therapy, and the Self (New York, 1973), 120 ff.;for applications: Cash,Mind, 296-298; Hill, Southern Churches,106, 145."Hill, SouthernChurches,103 ff., speciallythe story ecounted and interpreted,105-106. Concern about this aspect of Evangelicalism dated at least fromFrancisWayland: cf. Mead, Lively Experiment, 138.72H1, outhernChurches,61; South and North, 139; "Toward a Charter," 193;Mathews,Old South, xvi, 13; Mullins, Axioms, 205. On the "hostilityto the past"implicit here, cf. Percy,"The Failure and The Hope," 26; Dabbs, Haunted, 55;Wilson,Baptized, 159; JohnHope Franklin,"As Far As Our History. .." in Sellers,ed., Southerneras American,3 ff.;Lewis P. Simpson, "The SouthernRecoveryofMemory and History," Sewannee Review 82 (1974), 1-32; and especially King,SouthernRenaissance,who makes it a theme of his interpretation.

73H11, South's Two Cultures," 42-43; SouthernChurches,86; cf. Mathews, OldSouth, 29-30; Bailey, SouthernWhite Protestantism, ; Farish, CircuitRider, 69-76.74H1, outhernChurches, 1.75H11,outhernChurches,xiii-xiv, 6 ff., 4 ff.76H1,"South's Two Cultures," 41-43; the beginningsof this can be seen inMathews,Old South,36.77H1, South's Two Cultures," 42-43; cf. Bailey, Southern White Protestantism,2, 8, 90-91; Hill, South and North, 29, 104; Mathews, Old South, 167; Wilson,Baptized, 70; William R. Taylor, Cavalier and Yankee (New York, 1963), xviii;William G. McLoughlin, Revivals,Awakeningsand Reform (Chicago, 1978), 137.7The rejectionofanyconceptof "organicsin" probablybegan with the southernrejection of Bushneil: cf. Ahlstrom, Introduction,"77; it was certainly deepenedby southernaversionto Rauschenbusch: cf. Smith,Changing Conceptions,199, 204;also Spain,At Ease, 17.79C/.Thelen, Man As Sinner; Hutchison, Modernist Impulse, 288-311; Kurtz,Not-God,165-171.80Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II (Glenview,1968),1; on August 1914,cf. Barrett, rrational Man, 32-35.8iC/. Ahlstrom, "Introduction," 79 ff.; Smith, Changing Conceptions, 221;



29/32

244 Georgia Historical QuarterlyHutchison,ModernistImpulse, 288 fi.; Gustav Krger,"The 'Theology of Crisis/"Harvard Theological Review 19 (1926), 227-258; Thelen, Man As Sinner; ReinholdNiebuhr,Moral Man and Immoral Society (New York,1932).82Ahlstrom,Introduction,"81; cf. also p. 80, on therediscovery f "Homo simulJustus t peccator."83Sydney . Ahlstrom,A Religious Historyof the American People (New York,1975),vol. 2, p. 439.84C/.Thelen, Man As Sinner, 178 ff.; Smith, Changing Conceptions, 208-209,214-215, 221; Hutchison, Modernist Impulse, 295; Niebuhr, Irony, 17; Ahlstrom,"Historical Survey," 315-316; note #33, above; on "liberalisms," cf. Hutchison,Modernist Impulse, 288 ff.; for existentialism,Barrett and Deutsch as cited innote #16,above.85C/.Walter Lowrie, Our Concern with the Theology of Crisis (Boston, 1932),135; Cherbonnier,"Biblical Faith," in Scott, TraerteVision, 31.86C/.Ahlstrom,Religious History,vol. 2, pp. 431 ff.;also the effect f JosephWood Krutch, The Modern Temper (New York, 1929), evaluated by Hutchison,Modernist mpulse, 272; Barrett, rrationalMan, 64; Robert M. Crunden,From Selfto Society:1919-1941 (Englewood Cliffs, 972), 134; Davenport,Myth, 136, who seesthisas "the legacyofWorld War II."87C/. Appendix C" in Hutchison,Modernist mpulse, also ix.88C/. Davenport, Myth, 44-81; King, Southern Renaissance, index listings;FifteenSoutherners,Whythe South Will Survive (Athens, 1981), passim.89Allen Tate, "Remarks on the Southern Religion," in Twelve Southerners,/'//Take My Stand (New York, 1962,ori?. 1930), 165, 168.oTate, "Remarks,"158-159.Qilbid.,157,159.92Ransom,God Without Thunder,38; cf.4-5,28-29,47.93King, SouthernRenaissance, 54-65,forperhaps the most unsympathetic reat-ment. Davenport,Myth, 65, comes closer to the nub: the Agrarians' ignoring"theexistenceof theNegroand theCivilWar defeat."94Kruger, The 'Theology of Crisis/ 233; cf. Hutchison, Modernist Impulse,289-290.son the "protestagainst modernity," f. Simpson,"The SouthernRecovery," 1.Davenport,Myth,52, sees Donald Davidson as engaged in the same endeavor. Therejectionis clearest in Tate, "Remarks," 173, and Ransom, God Without Thunder,188,but cf.also 135on "Luciferand Prometheus."96On O'Neill, cf. Myers, Tragedy, 99-100; Davenport parallels Faulkner andNiebuhr in Myth, 132-cf. also 105; Simpson, "The SouthernRecovery,"5, 13-14;Holman, "Southerneras American Writer," 194; Woodward, "Why the SouthernRenaissance?",236-237.97Davenport,Myth,135; cf.149.98Holman, "Southerner as American Writer," 196, cf. 191; Simpson, "TheSouthernRecovery,"10-11; cf.Davenport,Myth,82-84,116-117,146; King, SouthernRenaissance,279,on Warren.9King, Southern Renaissance; Woodward, "Why the Southern Renaissance?";Hyatt H. Waggoner, William Faulkner (Lexington, 1959); Simpson, "TheSouthernRecovery";Davenport,Myth; cf.Woodward, "Burden"; Wilson, Baptized,179; Louis D. Rubin, Jr. and Robert D. Jacobs,eds., Southern Renascence (Balti-more, 1953). These of course but scratch the surface,but with King's "Notes,"theyprovidea good starting-point.ooo'Connor, "Some Aspects, in Mystery nd Manners, 44-45; cf. D abbs s usein Haunted, 170-171;also an echo in Percy,"Notes fora Novel," in Campbell andHolloway, eds.,224.loiEighmy,Cultural Captivity, x, quotes Faulkner on SouthernBaptists as "an



30/32

The Tragedyof SouthernReligion 245emotional ondition hathasnothingodo withGodorpolitics r anythinglse.";cf&lso 124; thePresbyterianituationmaybe gleanedfromThompson, resby-terians n theSouth, ol. 3, pp. 491-492.i02On thevalidity f usingperiodicals,t least for the Baptists, f. Hill inthe"Introduction"o Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,ii. I have consulted speciallyThe Christianndex (Maon), f.Spain,AtEase,215,and the Wesleyan hristianAdvocateMaon), f.Farish, ircuit ider, 2.The content fPresbyterianapersseemswell reflectedy Thompson, resbyteriansn theSouth,vol. 3, pp. 272-273.On theperdurancefProhibitions a central oncern,f.Bailey, outhernWhiteProtestantism,11-112.orrepresentativeontent,f.Christianndex 112:48 1 De-cember1932),12; O. E. Turner, The Depression s Over"; also the seriesbyRuf sW.Weaver,OurEvangelical risis," eginningn Christianndex113:31 10August 933).^EncyclopediaofSouthern aptists Nashville, 958), ol.2,pp. 958-959,ignedby GrayAllison.io4Ahlstrom,Historical urvey,"14; on "yes-and-no,"f.Goldmann, iddenGod,50,57.Hutchison,Modernistmpulse,301, eemsto misconstrueheReviewand Expositor oticeof Niebuhr'sMoral Man and ImmoralSociety: n context,"redemptionnd regeneration"eflects he theology utlined n thispaper. Cf,E. J.Forrester,Modernism,rthodoxy,nd SomeOtherMatters,"ndex U2:6 (11February 932),13; thebook notices f BaTth thatappear in Index 113:12 (23March1933), 1, and Index 113:43 (9 November 933),4. Especiallyfascinatingis thepraise f "EditorAlfred . Smith" f The NewOutlook n Index 113:44 (16November 933), , byRev.JohnR. Gunn, Religion nd Recovery."io5Bailey,outhernWhiteProtestantism,25; Pope,Millhands nd Preachers,182-183. f.Bailey, WP,154for ummaryvaluation,nd 107-109 oranalysis fthe outhernlergy'sossofstatus hatreflectsansom,God Without hunder, .Cf.also editorialsn Index112:28 (14July1932), , "Benefitsf theDepression";112:43 (27 October1932), , "The OtherSide"; 113:2 (12 January 933),6, "ButGod."106C/. ash,Mind,378; Poteat, Religion n the South,"265-266;Thompson,Presbyteriansn theSouth,vol. 3, 403-406;Bailey,SouthernWhiteProtestantism,111;also W. M. Jones, The RevivalThat Is Needed," ndex 112:41 (13 October1932), ,26-28; ChurchAttendance,"ndex114:26 3 July 934), , 8, lamentingtsfalling ff, ven as in the same issueS. L. Morgandecries he"Low Standard fChurchMembership,",20-21.io7Robertoles,ronyn theMind'sLife (Charlottesville,974), 8.losjamesMcBrideDabbs, WhoSpeaksFor the South? (NewYork,1964),117-118.Cf.theuse madeof thisby Percy, Failure and the Hope," 22. Related isBoles'spoint,GreatRevival,195: "It is significanthatalthough he South wasperhapsthe most religious' ection f thenation, t could boast no greattheo-logians."io9Simkins,istory,22; Poteat, Religionm theSouth," 54. Cf.Pope,Mtll-hands nd Preachers,3, 103;Thompson, resbyteriansn the South,vol. 3, pp.504 ff.,speciallyn "thespiritualityf the church."That thiswas not theonlyalternativen other egions,f.Schneider,eligion n Twentieth-Centurymerica}197-198:ontroversialotices ftheOxfordGroupdo appear n thedenominationalperiodicals. abbs,Haunted, 01-202, 17,offersritical valuation. f.also Parish,CircuitRider,97; Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,8; Spain,At Ease, 182; Bailey,SouthernWhiteProtestantism,34.nosimkins,istory,21ff.me/. Marsden, undamentalism,2; Pope, Millhands nd Preachers, 9, 10S;Dabbs,Haunted, 95-196;nd,mostvividly,rskine aldwell, eep South (Athens,1980,orig. 1966). Early-centuryttitudesto the city are captured by Baey,



31/32

246 Georgia Historical QuarterlySouthernWhiteProtestantism,7.ii2Cash,Mind,298; Pope,Millhands, 64,109; ThomasMerton, Letterto aSouthern hurchman,"n Campbell nd Holloway, ds.,Failureand Hope, 85 if.Cf.Dabbs,Haunted,195-196;nd Caldwell,Deep South.iiacash,Mind,297.Note the basisforthis n Spain,At Ease, 210; also Bailey,SouthernWhite rotestantism,8,quotingBishopCandler.mSimkins, istory,25.use/, especiallyMathews, ld South,185-186, 12-215, 28-229.iieCash,Mind,92, Cf. Farish,CircuitRider,325; Mathews,Old South,104.112-114; ing, outhern enaissance, 89-190; nnFirorScott,The Southern ady(Chicago,1970);Ann FirorScott, Women,Religion, nd Social Change in theSouth,1830-1930,"n Hill, Solid South,92-121.Ann Douglas,Feminization,l-though uggestivelyrilliant, ttempts oo much and is disappointingn theSouth. The informationvailablevia GerdaLerner,TeachingWomen'sHistory(Washington,981), 0-42,s notencouragingboutprospectsn the near future.117C/. hlstrom,Historical urvey/'19;Williams,Tradition nd Experience,"in Smith ndJamison,ds., haping, 57;on theSouth,Cash,Mind,97-98, 38-139;Taylor,Cavalier nd Yankee, 4. The ambivalenceowardmmigrationlarifies:f.Rowland T. Berthoff,SouthernAttitudesToward Immigration, 865-1914,"Journal>f Southern istory 7 (1951), 28-360; or evaluation n thespecificallyreligiousffect,f.Hill, Southern hurches,6, 176.usHill, Southern hurches,vii;cf. lso 11,quoting o eat nd Simkins. f.alsoWilson,Baptized, ; Bailey,SouthernWhiteProtestantism,-4; Boles,GreatRe-vival, 92-197.use/. Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,6, 72; Wilson,Baptized,90-91;Berthoff,"SouthernAttitudes," 42-343;Tindall, Ethnic Southerners,5; Mathews,OldSouth,178;Clement aton,The Freedom-OfThought trugglen the Old South(NewYork, 964), 6,312-313; homas,Confederate ation, 1; Degler, lace OverTime, 0-61.120C/.Williams,Tradition ndExperience,"93-494;Hill, "Towarda Charter,"inSolidSouth, 98-200.!2iOn southerndifference,"f.Taylor,Cavalier nd Yankee, viii; on "trans-cendence,"f.Jaspers,ragedy,0-41.i22Tindall, thnic outherners,1.i23Robert ennWarren, he Legacyof theCivil War (NewYork,1961),108-109;cf.Dabbs,Haunted,84; Wilson,Baptized, 6-17.i24MacIntyre,fter irtue, 21; f.Myers, ragedy,51.i25DanielJ. Anderson, he Psychopathologyf Denial (CenterCity,1981);cf.Woodward,Irony," 75; Mathews, ld South,156;Dabbs,Haunted, 04; Cash,Mind,135;Spain,AtEase,22; Wilson,Baptized, 4,68-69.i26Wilson, aptized, 6-17; f.Eighmy, ulturalCaptivity,7; Spain,At Ease,17,29; Thompson resbyteriansn theSouth,vol. 3, p. 218; Hill, "South'sTwoCultures." 6.i27Dabbs,Haunted,202,217; this s one facet f thetheme f Mathews,OldSouth, f.xvii; cf. the reflectionn Hill, Southand North,109; the corollarynHill, Southern hurches,6-17,nd Wilson,Baptized, . The significanceor"thecommunityf tragedy"s clear fromSchneider, eligionin Twentieth-CenturyAmerica,37.

i28Onthe distinctionetween hame and guilt,cf.ErnestKurtz, hame andGuilt:An HistoricalPerspectiveCenterCity, 1981); thatusage is reflectednHolifield, entlemen heologians,7. Othertreatmentsf "guilt"tend to ignorethismportantistinction:f.Hill,"South's woCultures" nd "Toward Charter,"Solid South,43, 191; Dabbs, Haunted,107 ff.;Thomas,Confederate ation,21;Bailey,SouthernWhiteProtestantism,49; the debate between Genoveseand



32/32

The Tragedyof Southern Religion 247Takaki as represented n Charles Crowe, ed., The Age of Civil War and Reconstruc-tion,1830-1930 (Homewood, 1975,rev. ed.), 51-58 to which add Degler, Place OverTime, 80. On the relationshipof this point to the theme of tragedy, f. Jaspers,Tragedy,52; Niebuhr, Irony, 147, 161; then: Dabbs, Haunted, 150; Mathews, OldSouth, 0;Tindall,EthnicSoutherners,7; Hill, South and North, 0; finally,heinterpretation f the parable of the Prodigal Son by Dabbs, Haunted, 178.i29Ring,SouthernRenaissance, 171, accepting the idea from Pat Watters, TheSouth and theNation (New York, 1969),352.isoGoldmann,Hidden God, 389; cf. Davenport,Myth, 160.i3iEmoryM. Thomas, "The Paradoxes of ConfederateHistoriography,"unpub-lished paper delivered 10 May 1981 as Universityof Georgia Award Lecture.Thomas's citation reads: "For these and more interpretations ee Frank E. Van-diver, ed., The Idea of the South (Chicago, 1969); Monroe L. Billington, TheSouth: A Central Theme (New York, 1969); and David Potter, The South andtheSectional Conflict Baton Rouge, 1968)." Cf. the same theme in Tindall, EthnicSoutherners,9.i32Grady McWhiney and ForrestMcDonald, The Celtic Influence in SouthernHistory,"paper delivered at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Southern HistoricalAssociation,Atlanta, 15 November 1979.

The Tragedy of Southern Religion.pdf

Documents

Transcript of The Tragedy of Southern Religion.pdf