I commented on Carson's blog entry on blogging. I reiterated some of the points I used in my in class essay because I do feel strongly about how neat of an assignment this blog has been! The link to the post is here. Hope everyone's finals go amazing!
<3 Amy
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Moved by the Spirit?
Okay, so for last class we had to read about the religious upheaval that took place in Kentucky and surrounding states during the early 1800s. It was foreign to me and I think most of the students my age because I don't think we're very familiar with religious fanaticism. And when I say religious fanatacism, I don't mean to infer that the Americans of that time period and area were dangerous, but rather that they showed interest in their religion to a surprising extent.
Some might consider Mormons to be fanatics, and most of us are very committed to our beliefs, but it doesn't seem like it's to an outrageous extent, and it doesn't seem like we do anything unnatural. This could be really biased because I was raised LDS, but I honestly feel I never do anything in worship or praise that ever seems contradictory to my nature.
This relates to the religious upheaval that took place in Kentucky because there were some strange happenings there. At the biggest meeting, there were several preachers expounding doctrine at the same time in their own different spheres, but all throughout this time period from about the 1820s to the 1830s, people were known to be "moved by the Spirit" where they would either shout suddenly or start having spasms all over, and those were just some of the occurences.
This was somewhat foreign to me, because in all the church meetings I've been to, nobody has ever stood up and shouted "Amen" or started having spasms(although I have been in a Church meeting where a girl started to have a seizure and it included something of the both...maybe these "religious fanatics" were simply epileptic!). And I've always assumed most congregations are simliar to mine (though honestly, I've only ever been to one church service that wasn't LDS).
One other thing about the religious upheaval that took place in Kentucky in the 1820 that I found interesting was that it was a combination of different Christian denominations. Both Methodist and Baptists ministers were represented there and they really didn't segregate. This seems almost unbelievable seeing as the difference in doctrine is what usually stirred up so much commotion on the religious scene. Nevertheless, I think it said something about the people at the time, that they were willing to set aside doctrinal differences to focus on the merit of the event, which was really just to become more religious and more dependent on God.
I really can't imagine some of the events they recorded actually occurred, but I recognize that what they participated in had a good intent, and I think even though as Christians we can differ on doctrine, if we could gather without borders for a week just to draw closer to God, that would be pretty amazing. It also do something for our nation's condition right now...
Some might consider Mormons to be fanatics, and most of us are very committed to our beliefs, but it doesn't seem like it's to an outrageous extent, and it doesn't seem like we do anything unnatural. This could be really biased because I was raised LDS, but I honestly feel I never do anything in worship or praise that ever seems contradictory to my nature.
This relates to the religious upheaval that took place in Kentucky because there were some strange happenings there. At the biggest meeting, there were several preachers expounding doctrine at the same time in their own different spheres, but all throughout this time period from about the 1820s to the 1830s, people were known to be "moved by the Spirit" where they would either shout suddenly or start having spasms all over, and those were just some of the occurences.
This was somewhat foreign to me, because in all the church meetings I've been to, nobody has ever stood up and shouted "Amen" or started having spasms(although I have been in a Church meeting where a girl started to have a seizure and it included something of the both...maybe these "religious fanatics" were simply epileptic!). And I've always assumed most congregations are simliar to mine (though honestly, I've only ever been to one church service that wasn't LDS).
One other thing about the religious upheaval that took place in Kentucky in the 1820 that I found interesting was that it was a combination of different Christian denominations. Both Methodist and Baptists ministers were represented there and they really didn't segregate. This seems almost unbelievable seeing as the difference in doctrine is what usually stirred up so much commotion on the religious scene. Nevertheless, I think it said something about the people at the time, that they were willing to set aside doctrinal differences to focus on the merit of the event, which was really just to become more religious and more dependent on God.
I really can't imagine some of the events they recorded actually occurred, but I recognize that what they participated in had a good intent, and I think even though as Christians we can differ on doctrine, if we could gather without borders for a week just to draw closer to God, that would be pretty amazing. It also do something for our nation's condition right now...
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