Piety Versus Moralism

Book excerpt: This book represents the history of the New England theology from 1750 to 1830, revealing a significant conflict of attitudes and ideals involved in the decline of orthodoxy and the rise of the modern spirit in religion. It follows the course of theological discussion from Jonathan Edwards to Nathaniel W. Taylor, in whom liberalism triumphed. It shows how and why historical Christianity became unpalatable and unreasonable to the cultured in New England, how a great spirit was lost with the passing of the Edwardean theology, and how a new Christianity appeared in the place of the old. The author gives some clues to the source and nature of the weaknesses in present-day religious thought and makes a timely contribution to the launching of that reconstruction in Protestant theology, which is, admittedly, very much needed.