They often followed the interpretations of charismatic leaders such as Joseph Smith (Latter Day Saints), Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell (Restorationist), William Miller (Adventists) and Lorenzo Dow (Methodists). The views of the Bible proclaimed from the pulpits of formally educated clergy in established denominations gave way to a more free-wheeling and populist understanding of the scriptures that was often dissociated from such authoritative communities.īut these evangelicals never developed their approach to understanding the Bible in complete isolation. What the French traveler and diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville described as “individualism” had a profound influence on biblical interpretation and the way laypeople read the sacred text. Small differences over how to interpret the Bible often resulted in the creation of new sects such as the Latter Day Saints, the Restorationists (Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ), Adventists and various evangelical offshoots of more longstanding denominations such as Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Quakers.ĭuring this period, the United States also grew more democratic. In the early 19th-century United States, biblical interpretation became more free-wheeling and individualistic. In the 18th century, popular access to the Bible was one way that the British – including the North American colonies – distinguished themselves from Catholic nations that did not provide such access. The English Calvinists who settled the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay built entire colonies around their reading of the Bible, making New England one of the most literate societies in the world. By the time Protestants started forming settlements in North America, there were distinctly Anglican, Presbyterian, Anabaptist, Lutheran and Quaker reading of the Bible. Protestant denominations formed around such interpretations. Philippe Lissac/Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesĪs people read the Bible – many for the first time – they inevitably began to interpret it as well. The Protestant Reformation put the Bible in the hands of ordinary people. Prior to this, most men and women in Europe were exposed to the Bible through the Vulgate, a Latin version of the Old and New Testaments that only educated men – mostly Catholic priests – could read. In the 16th century, Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers translated the Bible from an already existing Greek text into the languages of common people. As a historian of the Bible in American life, I can attest that such shallow reading in service of political and cultural agendas has long been a fixture of evangelical Christianity. Other popular passages include Psalm 30:2: “Lord, I called to you for help, and you healed me.” 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” and Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of a creature is in the blood.”Īll of these verses have been lifted out of context and repurposed to buttress the anti-vaccine movement. Luke tells in his gospel (17:11-19) is not the only Bible verse I have seen and heard evangelical Christians use to justify anti-vaccine convictions. “Jesus went around healing lepers and touched them without fear of getting leprosy,” he said. A devout evangelical Christian friend of mine recently texted to explain why he was not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
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