Description
The author of this study examines the career of Joseph Bellamy, a Connecticut Calvinist minister noted chiefly for his role in originating the New Divinity-the influential theological movement that evolved from the writings of Bellamy's teacher, Jonathan Edwards. Bellamy's contributions as a preacher, noted controversialist, and church leader from the Great Awakening to the American Revolution are examined in light of the social contexts in which they occurred. The author shows how the New Divinity was so immensely popular and why it was so important.
This study of religious thought and social life in early America focuses on the career of Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790), a Connecticut Calvinist minister noted chiefly for his role in originating the New Divinity-the influential theological movement that evolved from the writings of Bellamy's teacher, Jonathan Edwards. Tracing Bellamy's contributions as a preacher, noted controversialist, and church leader from the Great Awakening to the American Revolution, Mark Valeri explores why the New Divinity was so immensely popular. Set in social contexts such as the emergent market economy, the war against France, and the politics of rebellion, Valeri shows, Bellamy's story reveals much about the relationship between religion and public issues in colonial New England. Review: A superb study. The author has made very significant arguments about Joseph Bellamy, an unduly neglected eighteenth-century theologian, and also about the New Divinity Theology, an unusually important strand of American thought. This is certainly one of the best studies of late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century theology that I've ever read. I am confident that it will give many readers the delight it has given me. Mark A. Noll, Wheaton College
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