Reviews for Cosmos Crumbling: American Reform and the Religious Imagination

The average rating for Cosmos Crumbling: American Reform and the Religious Imagination based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-02-24 00:00:00 Thomas Gernold The idea that religious thought intermixed with reform movements of the early to mid nineteenth century is not necessarily new. However, Robert H. Abzug's Cosmos Crumbling takes a somewhat unique approach to the topic by accepting the predominant religious thinking of the time at face value. Abzug rejects the idea that religion served as either a conscious or unconscious cover for other issues such as class, status, social changes, or other material and psychological conditions. Instead, he asserts that disestablishment of state religion in fact made believers more genuine and passionate, and that the reform movements they spawned were directly linked to new forms of religious cosmology that encompassed the previously secular aspects of daily life. The book explores this concept through a series of incredibly well-written, intertwining biographies of major religious and reform leaders that Abzug labels "religious virtuosos." The catalyst for nineteenth century reform, in Abzug's analysis, is confluence of political and social factors that contributed to a sense of religious crisis. Disestablishment of state religion, ideas of religious tolerance, and the freedom for individuals to interpret scripture themselves all created a sense that society had lost its "spiritual anchor." The expanding revolution in communications and transportation brought isolated communities into closer contact, especially in the West, and contributed to an erosion of many social "yardsticks" for measuring religious dedication within a community. The evaporation of the Federalist Party caused a sense of crisis within orthodox churches. Many of the upcoming "religious virtuosos" thus viewed themselves as guardians of truth against an overly tolerant, relativistic, and unpredictable society. Influential leaders like Lyman Beecher, Timothy Dwight, and Charles Finney each had unique approaches to their work, but Abzug draws attention to the similarities of their cosmological constructs. These men, and many of their followers, believed they could usher in the prophesied millennium of God's reign on Earth, that would then culminate with the second coming of Christ. Abzug describes this sentiment with a borrowed term from theologian Paul Tillich, asserting that followers at the time believed they were in a time of "kairos," a special time of crisis during which God directly intervenes, creating a moment of transcendence. This belief thus spawns the evangelistic, mission-oriented, urgent nature of these movements, and explains why they are tied to reform. The cosmological views of these leaders dictated that if they could change daily life and forge a more morally perfect society, prophecies would be fulfilled and God's glorious reign on Earth would begin. Abzug makes this connection incredibly clear, beginning with the temperance movement. He demonstrates that temperance advocates such as Justin Edwards linked membership in temperance societies to the coming of the millennium. Temperance also highlighted the aggressive, antagonistic nature of the reform movement, as advocates viewed themselves in a "war of attrition against evil in the form of the drunkard" (92). Shockingly, some temperance advocates favored denying aid to alcoholics of the time, viewing them as beyond hope, preferring to simply wait for them to die off. While some reforms, such as temperance, enjoyed some widespread success and popularity, others were less so. Abzug provides a detailed examination of abolitionism through a biography of William Lloyd Garrison. Abzug again links this movement to religious cosmologies, showing how many key arguments of the abolition movement incorporated the idea of America as a God-chosen nation - the new Israel. Garrison not only labeled slavery as a sin, but proclaimed that it was "the" sin that held America back from unification with God. However, the abolition movement was fractured, and some evangelicals went as far as to say that God would deal with slavery in his own time, and the issue should not be agitated, as doing so destroyed the social and political unity that was necessary to usher in the millennium. The abolition movement thus introduced fractures into the reform movement that grew over time. Not all reforms were about public issues. Abzug points to the physiological reforms such as vegetarianism, that were advocated by Sylvester Graham and William Alcott. These movements were marked by an incredibly detailed set of regulations regarding dress, personal habits, nutrition, and many aspects of daily life. Abzug asserts that these ritualistic practices were an attempt to create a "neo-Mosaic" law that directly tied religion into every area of secular life. These reforms were much less popular than others. The least popular element of reform, which Abzug claims destroyed the reform movement, was feminism. He traces how Catherine Beecher and Lydia Child changed definitions of womanhood by giving them a larger role in society, but demonstrates that Angelina and Sara Grimke took the concept much further by advocating complete gender equality. Their arguments also invoked religion, arguing that equality was absolutely biblical. However, linking feminism to abolition and millennialism amplified the latent divisions within the reform community, generated intense resistance, eventually fracturing the entire movement. Abzug relies heavily on the writings of the various "virtuosos" he discusses, and he shows a masters of the secondary literature. Sadly, he neglected to include a bibliography. Although the work stands well on its own, it could benefit from expansion in some areas. In particular, the book focuses largely on New England, and a look at how these reform movements were viewed in other areas of the country would strengthen Abzug's work. He suggests that there was a generational component to the religious shifts of the period, emphasizing that reformers were mostly young people. This is an interesting theme that is unfortunately not explored further. However, these flaws are incredibly minor and do not detract from the value of the book. Cosmos Crumbling is an incredible achievement, serving as both a wonderful synthesis and as a unique and valuable interpretation of the reform movement.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-02-16 00:00:00 Annie Bombardier Excellent work on the role of religion in the nineteenth century American reform movements. Abzug refuses to relegate religion to the periphery as an authentic driving motive in American public life, unlike other historians, who, according to Abzug, engage in "psychological reductionism" by attributing movements to angst or existential dread.