Evangelicalism and Liberation
To fully analyze and comprehend the effects evangelicalism had on nineteenth century white women and the twentieth century African American an understanding of where this theology evolved from is imperative. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a theology coined as Calvinism underlined the provisions one underwent to liberate one's self to strive towards salvation. Calvinism, like a sect, had high standards for admission and publicly divulged those who met such standards. It was known within the community who met those standards and were bound for heaven and who failed to meet those standards therefore being damned to hell. This was characterized during mass when those who were saved were allowed to proceed to the alter, and those going to hell were required to stay sitting. Under Calvinism a sense of liberation may have been experienced by those saved, but as far as liberation for a particular race or gender, liberated was far from what one viewed life to be. For men and women, salvation was completely out of their hands. Saved or unsaved was the question that needed to be answered and the decision was unavoidably unreachable by any action, sacrifice or dedication a person undertook
How I see it, the church regarding the roles of women provided refuge from and encouragement for three main societal struggles: the pressure of child rearing, their lack of voice, and their lack of recognition. It provided them with a stable, consistent source of strength that they could unquestionably rely on. David Brainerd illustrated his frustration of this concept by saying, "I could not bear, that it should be wholly at God's pleasure, to save or to damn me, just as he would (Document 1, pg. Yet extending acceptance beyond their own race took more drastic measures. Through the slave holder's conversion, instead of aspiring to mirror the love and acceptance God exemplified, he used his religion as support for his malice toward his slaves. One would assume that through following the word of God one would turn to love and acceptance, but the contrary happened. African American services were full of energy, clapping, dancing and song. Yet, the irony came when this apparently benevolent slave-holder would viciously beat and savagely starve his slaves. With women in the nineteenth century their responsibilities to society were unchanged as a result of the evangelical movements. Though by law African Americans were free, extremist groups such as the KKK made sure they continued to "know their role. It gave women confidence in their competency. In order to have the means to liberate one's self this initial feeling of competency is essential. The following quote from a revival states, "Oh! What a power while hundreds were prostrate upon the earth before the Lord. " Yet, through every attempt to weaken African American's spirit, a backlash of inner faith emerged.
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Acceptance Essays
