ebooks Rethinking Secularism by From Calhoun Craig in History

Description

Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz brilliantly recapture the forgotten story of Matthias the Prophet; imbuing their richly researched account with the dramatic force of a novel. In the hands of Johnson and Wilentz; the strange tale of Matthias opens a fascinating window into the turbulent movements of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening--movements that swept up great numbers of evangelical Americans and gave rise to new sects like the Mormons. Into this teeming environment walked a down-and-out carpenter named Robert Matthews; who announced himself as Matthias; prophet of the God of the Jews. His hypnotic personality drew in a cast of unforgettable characters--the meekly devout businessman Elijah Pierson; who once tried to raise his late wife from the dead; the young attractive Christian couple; Benjamin Folger and his wife Ann (who seduced the woman-hating Prophet); and the shrewd ex-slave Isabella Van Wagenen; regarded by some as "the most wicked of the wicked." None was more colorful than the Prophet himself; a bearded; thundering tyrant who gathered his followers into an absolutist household; using their money to buy an elaborate; eccentric wardrobe; and reordering their marital relations. By the time the tensions within the kingdom exploded into a clash with the law; Matthias had become a national scandal.