Review of "The Democratization of American Christianity" by Nathan Hatch

Nathan O. Hatch begins The Democratization of American Christianity by clearly stating his thesis in the first two sentences of Chapter One.  He immediately tells the reader, “This book is about the cultural and religious history of the early American republic and the enduring structures of American Christianity. It argues both that the theme of democratization is central to understanding the development of American Christianity, and that the years of the early republic are the most crucial in revealing that process". Hatch sets out to lead the reader through the early years following the American Revolution through the mid-1800’s, using the powerful leaders of American Christianity as guideposts.  Hatch delves into the lives and work of Christian visionaries like Barton Stone, Francis Asbury, Lorenzo Dow, Joseph Smith, and Charles Finney. While Hatch does take a micro-view of the American Christian movement by examining individuals, he also explores the macro-setting of five separate, major religious traditions, or "mass movements," as he phrases it, that were played out on the early American religious stage.  Hatch examines the Christian movement, the Methodists, the Baptists, the black churches, and the Mormons. Despite the wide-ranging theological opinions represented among these distinct bodies, Hatch notes that "they all offered common people, especially the poor, compelling visions of individual self-respect and collective self-confidence".  Hatch delves into many of the socio-economic and socio-political reasons for the rapid, and incredibly successful, Christianization of America in the early years of the nineteenth century.  The most important point that Hatch stresses throughout the book is that during this era, a spirit of independence and democratic idealism that had propelled the new nation through the Revolutionary War found a new home in American churches, providing a framework for a distinctive form of Christianity that was unheard of on the European continent at the time, and remains the underpinning of present-day American Christianity.

The second chapter of Hatch’s book focuses on the power struggles and crisis of authority that was prevalent in the years following the Revolutionary War.  John Adams’ statement that “the only moral foundation of government is the consent of the people” found its way into the popular religious movements of the time.  Each mass movement wanted to represent itself as an egalitarian (though some more than others) religious experience that would allow followers to live their religious lives as free men and women.  A broad crisis of authority during this period was displayed by ordinary citizens who began launching attacks on elite professions and expressing egalitarian ideas about citizenship, female identity, democratic representation, and old age.  Equality became the battle cry as the man in the street challenged every kind of political authority.  Hatch focuses in on the American Methodist, Lorenzo Dow, as a figure that highlights the willingness of American Christians to follow someone who was clearly in direct conflict with almost every form of the status quo.

The third chapter, “Storming Heaven by the Back Door”, Hatch explicates the phenomenon of American camp meetings, controversial gatherings that began in Britain and were often led by unlicensed Methodist ministers who encouraged attendees, of any age or sex, to give highly emotional, uncensored testimonies of their religious experience. The leaders of these popular meetings were charismatic and shared both a passion for expansion and hostility towards orthodox beliefs and style. Ordinary citizens were challenged to take religious destiny into their own hands by thinking for themselves and opposing any form of centralized authority.  Due to the lack of opposition by a powerful religious establishment, these populist movements experienced great growth.  At the turn of the nineteenth century, the powerful Congregational, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian Churches were in a temporary state of disarray.  Populist movements such as the Methodists, Baptists, and Christians were able to experiment and organize in the power vacuum, and Hatch notes that in a democratic and rapidly expanding nation, groups such as the Presbyterians and Episcopalians could no longer assume they could remain at the center of American religious culture. Pluralism and diversity among the new movements made it possible for any American to find a satisfactory group despite his or her preference in belief, practice, or institutional structure.

In chapter four, “Thundering Legions”, Hatch examines five separate religious mass movements that became very popular during the early years of the republic.  All of these movements, including the Christians, Methodists, Baptists, Mormons, and black churches shared a common style and demeanor.  However, each movement stood apart from the others in theological emphases and organizational structure.

Hatch's fifth chapter explores the democratization of print media after the Revolutionary War.  Religious periodicals were essentially nonexistent at the turn of the nineteenth century, but only thirty years later, they had become the "grand engine of a burgeoning religious culture."  Print media effectively promoted populist religious movements and also served as a "bond of union" between competing groups.  Before the Revolutionary War, print media only addressed issues of importance to the elite minority and clergymen.  After the war, it offered a democratic appeal to the masses.  Hatch also explores the rise of American church music, including the hymn, gospel music, and the black spiritual.

The sixth chapter explores the profound commitment of American churches to their audience.  Insurgent leaders such as Alexander Campbell considered people's common sense to be more reliable, even in theology, than the judgment of the educated elite. Faith in public opinion became the new arbiter of truth.  Theology was measured by how well it was accepted in the religious marketplace. Characterized by anticlericalism, leaders insisted that all distinctions between laity and clergy be abolished.  They strongly believed that the removal of these distinctions would restore peace, harmony, and vitality to the Christian church. Hatch stresses that as people began to think for themselves, they wrote off Calvinist orthodoxy as "senseless jargon of election and reprobation." But, by the mid-nineteenth century, populist religious movements of the early republic were undergoing a metamorphosis from alienation to influence. 

Hatch discusses this transformation in chapter seven. By the mid-nineteenth century, members of populist movements were stationed at high levels of both federal and state government and many mass movements were achieving levels of regional respectability. Hatch goes on to observe that the increase in a formalized American Protestantism was part of a larger trend to "bring discipline and consolidation to a culture marked by experimentation and novelty."  Even anti-establishment leaders such as Alexander Campbell and Nathan Bangs reached the conclusion that democracy in the American church had gone too far.  Extreme individualism was producing leaders who lacked accountability.  And due to their mass appeal, many unaccountable leaders had gained substantial wealth, power, and social prominence.  Not surprisingly, these men often walked a fine line between authentic servant-hood and exploitive demagoguery. However, the formalization of the movements resulted in a backlash of populist dissent.  Capitalizing on the backlash, Charles Finney, a Presbyterian and lawyer, emerged from obscurity and became the most sought after preacher since George Whitefield.  In his sermons, Finney depicted Calvinist orthodoxy as the disease that had infected the church.  Finney praised the Methodist focus on "soul winning" and sought to make religious life audience-centered. Like other populist preachers before him, Finney passionately argued that absolutely nothing should intervene between man's own mind and the Scriptures.

Lastly, chapter eight explores the recurring populist impulse in American Christianity.  Despite the culture wars of the twentieth century, more Americans claim religiosity than any other population in western industrial society. Hatch delineates three distinct features in American society that explain this phenomena: fervor for religion among ordinary people, a continued prominence of populist religious leaders, and the vitality of mass democratic movements that reflect the charisma and organizational skills of those leaders.

I thought this was an excellent book.  Nathan Hatch deftly uses engaging narrative to illuminate the lives of early religious leaders and the mass movements they initiated and led.  Because of its narrative qualities, I think the book should be just as accessible for the lay reader as it is for the seminary student.  I found Hatch’s argument for early American Christianity’s profound impact on American culture to be cogent and the evidence well presented.  I think the most interesting part of the book was Hatch’s exploration of the Mormon movement.  Coming from an evangelical Christian background, I have not had much education on the Mormon movement and because of the stark theological differences, it is easy to forget that it stems from the same period of American Christianity as the Methodist or Baptist churches.  The part of the book that was most interesting for me was Joseph Smith’s history, and his interesting shift from treasure seeking to religion discovering.  Hatch’s categorization of the book of Mormon as a “document of profound social protest, an impassioned manifesto by a hostile outsider against the smug complacency of those in power and the reality of social distinctions based on wealth, class, and education” gave me a reason to explore a book that I do not see as spiritually valuable, and instead provided me a framework for focusing on its social, economic, and political arguments.  Overall, I think Hatch’s book is probably one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I’ve had about American history.