You are here

Millennial thinking and its implications for social reform: Premillennialism in urban America, 1865-1925

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
1988
Summary:
A Christian view of the future labelled premillennial dispensationalism developed and replaced postmillennialism in middle nineteenth-century America. Dispensationalism predicts deteriorating conditions, leading to a "rapture" of the true church just prior to the second coming of Christ. After tracing three centuries of millennial thinking in America, this study examines the social reforms sponsored by dispensationalists. Contrary to their escapist, or pessimistic eschatology, selected dispensationalists sponsored a variety of reform measures in the middle nineteenth and early twentieth-century America. This study examines the contributions of five remarkable dispensational, social activists: The Reverends A. J. Gordon, A. T. Pierson, W. B. Riley, J. R. Straton and M. A. Matthews. Their activism demonstrates some dispensationalists actively led social reforms in urban America. They successfully balanced an eschatology which argues for a declining culture, while affirming the biblical mandate to care for the impoverished.
Title: Millennial thinking and its implications for social reform: Premillennialism in urban America, 1865-1925.
266 views
78 downloads
Name(s): Johnson, Dale Walden.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Mohl, Raymond A., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1988
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 136 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: A Christian view of the future labelled premillennial dispensationalism developed and replaced postmillennialism in middle nineteenth-century America. Dispensationalism predicts deteriorating conditions, leading to a "rapture" of the true church just prior to the second coming of Christ. After tracing three centuries of millennial thinking in America, this study examines the social reforms sponsored by dispensationalists. Contrary to their escapist, or pessimistic eschatology, selected dispensationalists sponsored a variety of reform measures in the middle nineteenth and early twentieth-century America. This study examines the contributions of five remarkable dispensational, social activists: The Reverends A. J. Gordon, A. T. Pierson, W. B. Riley, J. R. Straton and M. A. Matthews. Their activism demonstrates some dispensationalists actively led social reforms in urban America. They successfully balanced an eschatology which argues for a declining culture, while affirming the biblical mandate to care for the impoverished.
Identifier: 14490 (digitool), FADT14490 (IID), fau:11288 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1988.
Subject(s): Millennialism--United States--History
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14490
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.