Law and Providence in Joseph Bellamy's New England: The Origins of the New Divinity in Revolutionary America (Religion in America)

218 Pages·1994·13.52 MB·English

by  Mark Valeri

Law and Providence
in Joseph Bellamy's
New England
RELIGION IN AMERICA SERIES
Harry S. Stout, General Editor
A PERFECT BABEL OF CONFUSION SUBMITTING TO FREEDOM
Dutch Religion and English Culture in the The Religious Vision of William James
Middle Colonies Bennett Ramsey
Randall Balmer
OLD SHIP OF ZION
THE PRESBYTERIAN CONTROVERSY The Afro-Baptist Ritual in
Fundamentalists, Modernists, the African Diaspora
and Moderates Walter F. Pitts
Bradley J. Longfield AMERICAN TRANSCENDENTALISM
AND ASIAN RELIGIONS
MORMONS AND THE BIBLE
Arthur Versluis
The Place of the Latter-day Saints in
American Religion CHURCH PEOPLE IN THE STRUGGLE
Philip L. Barlow The National Council of Churches and the
Black Freedom Movement, 1950-1970
THE RUDE HAND OF INNOVATION
James F. Findlay, Jr.
Religion and Social Order in Albany,
New York, 1652-1836 EVANGELICALISM
David G. Hackett Comparative Studies of Popular Protes-
tantism in North America, the British
SEASONS OF GRACE Isles, and Beyond, 1700-1990
Colonial New England's Revival Tradi-
Edited by Mark A. Noll, David W.
tion in Its British Context Bebbington, and George A. Rawlyk
Michael J. Crawford
FORSAKEN BY GOD
THE MUSLIMS OF AMERICA Religious Melancholy and Protestant
Edited by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad Experience in America
Julius H. Rubin
THE PRISM OF PIETY
Catholick Congregational Clergy at the CONJURING CULTURE
Beginning of the Enlightenment Biblical Formations in Black America
John Corrigan Theophus Smith
REIMAGINING DENOMINATIONALISM
FEMALE PIETY IN PURITAN
Interpretive Essays
NEW ENGLAND
Edited by Robert Bruce Mullin and
The Emergence of Religious Humanism
Russell E. Richey
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STANDING AGAINST THE WHIRLWIND
THE SECULARIZATION OF Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-
THE ACADEMY
Century America
Edited by George M. Marsden and Diana Hochstedt Butler
Bradley J. Longfield
LAW AND PROVIDENCE IN JOSEPH
EPISCOPAL WOMEN BELLAMY'S NEW ENGLAND
Gender, Spirituality, and Commitment in The Origins of the New Divinity in
an American Mainline Denomination Revolutionary America
Edited by Catherine Prelinger Mark Valeri
Law and Providence
in Joseph Bellamy's
New England
The Origins of the New Divinity
in Revolutionary America
MARK VALERI
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1994
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1994 by Mark Valeri
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Valeri, Mark R.
Law and providence in Joseph Bellamy's New England :
the origins of the New Divinity
in revolutionary America / Mark Valeri.
p. cm.—(Religion in America series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-508601-5
1. New Divinity (Movement)—History.
2. New England—Church history—18th century.
3. Bellamy, Joseph, 1719-1790.
4. Providence and government of God'—History of
doctrines—18th century.
I. Title.
II. Series: Religion in America series (Oxford University Press)
BX7250.V35 1994 285'.0974'09033—dc20 94-8629
246897531
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For
Lynn MacKinnon Valeri
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Acknowledgments
One of the few unmixed pleasures of writing a book is to acknowledge
those who befriended the writer and his project. This book concerns Jo-
seph Bellamy, an eighteenth-century Connecticut preacher who was one
of the originators of an American brand of Calvinism known as the New
Divinity. I offer it as at least some payment for the many debts of friend-
ship accrued in its making. I express my gratitude to the following institu-
tions and people in particular.
The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Oregon Council for
the Humanities, and Lewis and Clark College awarded me several grants
for research and travel. The National Endowment for the Humanities also
funded a year's fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society, where I
benefited enormously from the hospitality and expertise of John Hench,
Joanne Chaison, and Marie Lamoureux. Each of the research institutions
and archives listed in the bibliography has given generous access to its
manuscripts.
Ed and Barbie Banks and Don and Marion MacKinnon provided friend-
ship and hospitality on numerous research trips to Connecticut. They al-
ways dispelled the thought, which came on me every July, that it was a
cruel fate to have to trade Oregon's summers for New England's.
From its inception as a doctoral dissertation, this project has had many
kind readers. John Murrin, Albert Raboteau, and the late Paul Ramsey pro-
vided critical insight at an early stage. Chris Grasso and Steve Bullock made
helpful suggestions at a later stage. Philip Gura pressed me to make Bellamy
more interesting than I had in my dissertation; William Freehling helped
me to do so (I hope) by chastening my prose. A newly organized group of
American historians in the Portland area—Joel Bernard, Jackie Dirks, Jane
Hunter, David Johnson, Chris Lowe, and Larry Lipin—commented on
drafts of several chapters. Larry has been especially patient in critiquing
the social analyses of an instinctively intellectual historian. At Lewis and
Clark, Dick Rohrbaugh has given encouragement; John Callahan has given
that, and his wisdom on words. Michael McGiffert edited (as only he can)
viii Acknowledgments
an earlier version of Chapter 5, which contains material from an article in
The William and Mary Quarterly. This material is reprinted with permission.
I would be remiss if I did not also mention R. Fenton Duvall, Jim Hunt,
and William Slottman, who at an early stage in my career led me to ap-
preciate the study of history.
To my good fortune, my fellow students of the New Divinity are highly
talented and generous scholars. Mark Noll, who writes about much more
than the New Divinity, may not count himself a student of that move-
ment, but he has frequently expressed an interest in Bellamy. He gave me
confidence that this project was worthy of publication, even with its many
faults. Joseph Conforti, whose book was the first I read on the topic, has
offered many acute historiographical and bibliographical suggestions.
William Breitenbach has edited my work with consummate skill and pre-
cision. I have been amused by the coincidence that Bill teaches at a nearby
institution; this may make the Pacific Northwest, an unlikely candidate,
the latest outpost of the New Divinity.
My scholarly debts are deepest to two other historians of American re-
ligion who have given their time and encouragement with remarkable
grace. Harry Stout of Yale University guided this manuscript to Oxford
University Press. His cheer and energy lifted my spirits on many a sultry
summer day in New Haven. John Wilson of Princeton University advised
my doctoral work, introduced me to Jonathan Edwards, suggested Bellamy
as a dissertation topic, and invited me to coauthor an essay with him—
my first foray into print. John's gifts as an interpreter of American reli-
gion are matched only by his kindness and wisdom. Over the past decade
I have said "thank you" to him more times than I can count. This makes
one more.
The one to whom this book is dedicated has read this study many times,
commented on it perceptively, and talked about it with interest and enthu-
siasm. She knows far too much about Joseph Bellamy. I can only hope to
return the measure of friendship that she has so steadily bestowed on me.
Contents
Abbreviations, xi
Introduction, 3
1. Conversion, 9
2. Law, 41
3. Original Sin, 76
4. The Wisdom of God, 110
5. Revolution, 140
Epilogue: The New Divinity, 173
Bibliography, 180
Index, 199