Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism by Robert Maples

Anderson
Review by: Edith L. Blumhofer
The Journal of American History, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jun., 1981), pp. 98-99
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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98 The
Journal
of American History
embarrassing image of what they used to be. Equally important in Turner's
narrative is the idea that Christianity emphasized an historical (Jesus was a
real man, etc.) rather than a mythical method of perception. Thus Christians
could not mythologize the land and "come to loving terms with the earth" as
could the Indians Turner so obviously admires.
Much of Turner's hand-wringing over the lost virginity of the New World
smacks of 1960s environmentalism. Much of his treatment of Indian-white
relations is strongly reminiscent of Roy Harvey Pearce's The Savages of
America, Richard Slotkin's Regeneration through Violence and Howard Mum-
ford Jones's 0 Strange New World. Turner has cast a wide net in quest of his
vision, but his catch is meager and familiar.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA RODERICK NASH
Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism. By
Robert Maples Anderson.
(New
York: Oxford University Press, 1979. 334 pp.
Tables, appendixes, notes, selective bibliography, and index.
$15.95.)
This historical analysis of the forces giving structure to American Pentecos-
talism provides insights into the contemporary Pentecostal perspective by ex-
amining its multifaceted origins. Current interest in charismatic Christianity
makes this study both timely and provocative. Among the several features
contributing to the importance of Robert Maples Anderson's work, his inter-
disciplinary approach and his broad focus are particularly significant for Pente-
costal historiography.
In his opening chapter, Anderson combines sociological and anthropological
scholarship with theological and historical acumen in an attempt to define the
distinctive Pentecostal phenomena. His thesis rejects traditional Pentecostal
as well as historical evangelical assertions about the nature of the baptism
with the Holy Spirit and focuses rather on the psychological insights that
provide the basis for his understanding of Pentecostalism as "a struggle against
some illness in the larger society." Pentecostals, he claims, tend to be those
who, because they have encountered more stress than most, are "more
dependent, more suggestible, more neurotic, and more inadequate in in-
terpersonal relations than the general population. "
From this controversial characterization, Anderson shifts to a consideration
of the history of American Pentecostalism. His impressive research documents
the multifaceted evangelical origins of the movement more thoroughly than
other historians have done. The problem of classification of small religious
groups leads to an overstatement of relationships among various groups and
individuals. For example, the Elim Faith Home in upstate New York is
classified as "Holiness," Reuben Archer Torrey's teaching is identified as
Keswickian, and Moody Bible Institute is listed among schools providing
training in the Holiness ideology. Such associations require further
qualification, as does the role of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Anderson makes a strong and convincing argument for the central role of the
premillennial emphasis in early Pentecostal ideology. He notes a subsequent
and significant shift to a focus on speaking in tongues: "The former hope of
immediate physical escape from their unhappy world through the Second
Coming was replaced by the reality of immediate psychic escape through
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Book Reviews 99
ecstasy." Speaking in tongues, then, became "an end in itself" rather than an
eschatological sign, and, he concludes, speaking in tongues is now "the
central teaching of the Pentecostal movement. "
Anderson's judgments, expressed in the terminology of the social sciences,
raise fundamental questions about the traditional understanding of the very
essence of Pentecostalism. In a sense, they help to illumine the dichotomy
between traditional and neo-Pentecostal teaching. Thoughtful Pentecostal
scholars working within the tradition will undoubtedly reject much of the
author's interpretation, but they cannot dismiss his observations offhandedly.
For them, as well as for all students of American religion, Anderson's work
provides a model for further interdisciplinary analysis of the nature and
significance of the revivalistic evangelicalism and fervent worship that have
characterized much of American religious history.
HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY EDITH L. BLUMHOFER
Feminine Spirituality in America: From Sarah Edwards to Martha Graham . By
Amanda Porterfield. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1980. 238 pp.
Notes and index. $16.50.)
This provocative study identifies patterns in the attitudes American women
have historically adopted toward life and toward God. Focusing on such figures
as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frances Wright, Emily Dickinson, and Mary Baker
Eddy, Amanda Porterfield detects a tradition of "domestic consciousness"
that, she claims, has endowed those who have participated in it with "social
esteem and spiritual authority" and provided them with special "access to
beauty. "
Porterfield begins her chronological account by documenting perceptively
the analogy Puritans drew between a wife's sexual submission to her husband
and a saint's experience of God. Because they embodied the beauty that ac-
companied conversion, Puritan women, according to Porterfield, derived
power from dependence. Her recognition of the complexities surrounding
"feminine surrender" -that it was not "inevitably an unenjoyable or op-
pressive experience" -is one of the strongest aspects of her argument, and it
places Porterfield in the company of other historians of women who have
modified the indictment of the doctrine of separate spheres by noticing its
positive dimensions. As her later discussion of Victoria Woodhull reveals,
however, Porterfield regards "personal integrity" more highly than "social
effectiveness" and tends to trade away women's worldly accomplishments in
return for satisfied souls, a bargain that will alienate many feminist readers.
Even so, Porterfield's chapter on witchcraft and sexuality in literature
skillfully reveals the connections such novelists as John W. DeForest drew
between feminine beauty and Christian definitions of evil. Her demonstration
that Elizabeth Seton and Catharine Beecher capitalized on the equally strong
association between womanhood and Christian virtue is likewise impressive.
Porterfield is at her best when she is dealing closely with literary texts-with
Dickinson's domestic metaphors or Edith Wharton's spatial language. Her
final chapter imaginatively extends textual analysis to include the religious
and sexual elements in Martha Graham's dances.
Such contributions unfortunately do not offset the book's weaknesses.
Although she announces that her method will be biographical, Porterfield does
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