Records of an organization founded by business and church leaders to overthrow commercialized vice in Lancaster by sending agents into the community to check for prostitution, obscenity, drinking, and gambling. Collection includes by-laws, minutes, annual reports, treasurers' reports, agents' expenses, reports on findings, correspondence, newspaper clippings, 25 books of agents' on-duty reports, and investigative reports. The Rev. Clifford G. Twombly was identified with this movement, as was the late William H. Hager, department store merchant.
x, 330 p., 8 p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps ; 24 cm.
Series
Early American studies
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-298) and index.
Contents
Introduction: the challenge of radical religion -- I: Religion and gender -- Radical religion in a colonial context -- Gender and confessional order in the Protestant world -- II: The Moravian challenge -- The challenge to gender order -- The ecumenical challenge -- III: Religious violence and the defense of order -- The Orthodox response -- The confrontation in the middle colonies -- Religious violence erupts -- Conclusion: The limits of radical religion in America.
Summary
"In the middle of the Great Awakening, a group of religious radicals called Moravians came to North America from Germany to pursue ambitious missionary goals. How did the Protestant establishment react to the efforts of this group, which allowed women to preach, practiced alternative forms of marriage, sex, and family life, and believed Jesus could be female? Aaron Spencer Fogleman explains how these views, as well as the Moravians' missionary successes, provoked a vigorous response by Protestant authorities on both sides of the Atlantic." [from the publisher]
