Depiction of the Growth of Religion and Church in the Novel Kingdom of Matthias
Religion is a belief that is strongly rooted in the American society. The Kingdom of Matthias is a book that indicates how religion was on a high and low; the Patriarchical Kingdom of Truth narrated by Sean Wilentz and Paul Johnson with the former being a don at the Princeton University and later at the University of South Carolina. The story this book gives is one that occurs in the period during the Second Great Awakening, which saw spiritual fanatsies and even delusions take hold in America. The story began with the individual Elijah Pierson; Pierson was from a humble background and he later relocated to New York. Being that he was a committed religious guy, he viewed the residents of New York as being immoral.
For instance, majority of the people were drunkards and prostitution was uncontrolled. Pierson viewed himself as somone who could preach to convert people to become Christians and as such, he began spreading spiritual messages in New York. His style and charming nature was what caught many individuals’ attention and Pierson gained followers as many saw him as a prophet. His wife Sarah passed on and he tried to resurrect her, meaning that he was trying to restore her from the dead. As a result, he lost trust in God because he believed he had the power like the apostles did in the Bible in raising the dead. The story is mainly about the individual Robert Matthews known as “Matthias” the Folgers; the young and handsome Benjamin and the seductive Ann, Isabella Van Wanegan, a renowned abolitionist and early defender of women’s rights, Margaret Mathews; wife of Matthias and Isabella Matthias the daughter of Matthias.
In writing Kingdom of Matthias, the two authors apply the approach of memoirs and stories from other authors such as Margaret Mathews and Gilbert Vale to come up with a sensitive narrative of enthusiasm. From the sources the authors determined that it was biased, this was because they involved individuals who had close relation to the book’s main characters. The Kingdom of Matthias falls under the category of religion and its history which covers the historical growth in religion.
The book is a philosophical thriller that teases out the historical and cultural implications of the Second Great Awakening and narrates how the charming dishonest religious dealers such as Robert Matthews Matthias find their ways into the hearts and minds of the poor confused individuals by offering them something they can wholeheartedly believe in; false hope and brainwashing is what was done. Not to mention, Matthias made his male followers believe that women are devils who are out to separate them from God.
It is interesting to point out that one of the major subjects of this book is the hatred of women. The authors were indirect and left no confusion when narrating Matthews’ unique strange theology of the foundation of women prejudice. The authors gave a historical argument that the Strict Scottish Calvinist community shaped the patriarchal nature of Matthias. From the community, Patriarchy was highly favored with all the church elders being men and fathers having an unknown right of leading families in prayer and had authority to enter their homes. However, the biblical movement started with understanding the role of the father while in the process of proving that the mother is as both a teacher and household leader.
Matthew together with his male followers felt threatened by this movement and they responded by physically asserting their authorities. This can be evidence from the fact that Mathews frequently whipped his wife Margaret and he even got a jail term of 30 days for beating his daughter Isabella. Mathews created a delusion of the women being a huge temptation and devils who led good men away. Not to mention, Matthias believed that men had the authority to define how the women should dress, what they should eat and even their sexual life. Moreover, he strongly believed in the control of women and for him and his male followers, women only existed as sexual objects for the men and to cook, clean and take of the children.
Additionally, throughout the book, the authors also cover the subject of women’s control. Since the book is based in the United States and it is in the early 1800s, it reflects the struggles of the women targeting black women in the American society. Many of the black American women served as slaves and sexual objects for men in the United States and the situation was so much worse by the spread of spiritual fantasy that viewed them, the men as the unprecedented head of the family. The woman was to live to the compassion of the man. The individual who claimed he was a prophet of God ruled with an iron fist and he physically abused the women around him as he pleased.
For instance, he physically abused his wife and daughter and robbed Benjamin of his wife Anne. As such, the conditions for women in the patriarchal society were cruel and distressing; women knew no better than their husbands and fathers. The history of Pierson and Matthias is quite different that even though Pierson had his own ways he believed that relatively women had the same rights as men. Though not mentioned, this is likely to be the major reason why he wanted to raise his spouse from the dead. This story captures the moment when people especially women turned to religion and the bible to save them from the abuse in the society.
On the other hand, it is ironical that Matthias preached to his followers that women had the ability to lead men away from God. First, Matthias was successfully seduced by Anne Folger a wife to Benjamin Folger. Instead of refusing the attempts of Anne, Matthias even proclaimed that Anne was indeed his match spirit and her marriage to Benjamin was not considered legal.
This reveals the self-centered and selfish nature of Matthias; he only cares about himself and his needs. The position taken by Matthias is opposite to his nature at the start where he frequently whips his wife Margaret and later jailed for beating up his daughter Isabella. Even more, this iron fist rule of Matthias led to Benjamin sleeping with Isabella as a payback for what Matthias had done to him. Matthias forced to marry arguing that their spirits matched despite the fact that Isabella was already married to Charles Laisdell.
In Conclusion, the book is a story of religion and how the church has grown the patriarchal model that states that a woman’s function is to take care of her home and commit to her husband. Being unfaithful, especially from the woman’s side, was not tolerated at all and the increasing control that religious leaders have on their followers.
For instance, Matthias had the authority to end marriages as he pleased. Even more, this book indicates the issue of sex among followers considering the fact Matthias and his male followers had various sexual encounters with young female followers. The story also indicates how sex encounters have brought down great leaders who have to deal with sexual accusations leveled against them.
