Customer Reviews

The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America

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In this work, Paul Johnson has taken a relatively small and unknown event and used it to illustrate not only an interesting event but also an interesting perspective on the Burned-Over District as a whole. It touches on everything from sexual corruption to radical doctrinal innovations. The Burned-Over district saw the beginning of numerous religious movements such as Mormonism, Adventism, Christian Scientists, numerous smaller religions that did not survive, and even significant political movements such as Antimasonry.

This book is the story of one of those movements. The prologue introduces Matthias as he went to Kirtland to visit with the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith. While this event occurred near the end of Matthias’ activity, it is obvious that he stole many of his ideas from Joseph Smith. Matthias initiated the practice of the washing of feet which was common to both the followers of Joseph Smith and Ellen White. He also believed that the truth of the Gospel had fallen from the earth shortly after the time of Christ another Mormon belief. In addition, he had a sword which he claimed was ancient similar to Smith’s sword of Laban, as well as naming the Priesthood after the order of Melchezidek. Likewise, his early mentor Mordecai Noah taught that the Indians were actually a branch of the Israelites which is a central idea found in the Book of Mormon. All of these ideas came out before 1830 when Matthias began his activity.

The most humorous part of this history is the anecdotes that relate to Matthias’ enemies trying to shave off his beard. Johnson has done an excellent job condensing all the most relevant information in this short work. The Kingdom of Matthias is an enjoyable read and a must for anyone interested in this interesting period in American religious history.

"Kingdom of Matthias" serves as proof that religious cults and their leaders are not new to this century. A fascinating account and eerily accurate reflection of what happens when successful, intelligent people look for something more from life in the wrong place. With the sex scandals, questionable financial practices, media attention, and made-to-order eccentric leader, this story is a historical mirror to today's events. Recommended.

Although I am an academic with expertise in the Second Great Awakening and Early National Period of US history, I had never heard of the Prophet Matthias until a colleague suggested I read this book. "The Kingdom of Matthias" by Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz is an extraordinary study in what happens when enthusiastic religion and mental illness combine in one individual to tip him and his followers over into the unhealthiness of a personality cult.

The Prophet Matthias stands in a long line of deeply eccentric American religious figures whose stories are compelling and frightening, yet who remain on the fringe of American religious history. He is David Koresh without an explosive encounter with BATF, a cult leader who demanded that his followers submit to him in every segment of their existence, including sexually.

But perhaps the most important and powerful story in this book is the story of his most devoted and loyal follower, who went on to play a significant role in US history in her own right. I decline to reveal her identity in this review because if the reader knows who she was, it will dramatically dilute the book's final paragraph and, ultimately, its full impact. Suffice it to say that you will never look at her the same way again after reading this book.

I'm seriously considering assigning this book to my undergraduate students in "Christianity in America" this fall. It is very readable, very provocative, and will make you think about the issues it raises long after you have finished reading it.

News! News! Ave is born of Eva! Well, fellow post-Judeochristians, the good news is that religious frenzy has come and gone in American history before, and it eventually burns out. The "burnt-over district" of New York State got its nickname from the fury of its religious frenzy in the 1820s-1840s, during what historians have called the Second Great Awakening. With any luck, the lesson learned from that episode can be applied to the current weirdness, when a religious fanatic in Kansas can shoot a doctor to death in the nave of his own church, all in the name of Life. The lesson is: stand fast and don't let the bigots ignore their own sins.

The writers of this amusing little tale of 'sex and salvation' are two of America's finest academic historians. Sean Wilentz is the author of "Chants Democratic" and other books of social history of the early 19th C, as well as of "The Age of Reagan." Paul E. Johnson is also a social historian and the author of "A Shopkeeper's Millennium", concerning the enormous societal changes in America from the era of guilds and local trade to the dawning of modern enterprise. Those two books are classics that I recommend very strongly. "The Kingdom of Matthias" is a bagatelle by comparison; I'm quite sure Wilentz and Johnson had a lot of fun researching and writing it. It reads like a jolly novella.

In the 1830s, Robert Matthews of upstate New York was able to persuade a number of people of his divine inspiration. He was, he announced, the reborn Matthias, the Spirit of Truth, the Prophet of the God of the Jews. One of his devotees was a wealthy merchant Elijah Pierson, for whose murder Matthews would be tried in 1835. The Prophet's co-defendant in that case was a gaunt, tall woman of color named Isabella Baumfree, better known to later generations as Sojourner Truth. Ms. Baumfree had an ambiguous place in the cult of the Kingdom of Matthias, as the servant of the Prophet. Neither defendant was convicted, but the trial put paid to Matthews's recruiting efforts in New York. The authors are less convinced of anyone's innocence. Everything known about Matthews suggests the typical sociopathic profile of a 19th Century Jim Jones. There was, by the way, the usual juicy hanky-panky of free-love and consort-swapping in and around the Kingdom of Matthias. And there were comic opera efforts by the outraged agents of conventional religiosity to shave the Prophet's beard! As a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban declared, when asked why his cohorts all went bearded: "All prophets wear beards!"

Matthews, at one point, traveled west to meet Joseph Smith, the prophet of another, more successful new revelation, also a scion of the "burnt-over district." The report is that the two prophets spoke privately at some length, and then denounced each other as impostors. One has to wonder why Smith's cult thrived so mightily while Matthews's crashed in scandal, when there was nearly nothing to separate them in their initial phases. Are we ready to conclude that Joseph Smith was the real thing?

Among the preachings of Matthias there were some interesting anathemas; judgment would be cast upon:
- all who say that the first day of the week is the Sabbath
- all who preach to women without their husbands
- all who say that sprinkling is baptism
- all who say the immersion with clothes on is baptism
- all who eat passover in a lower room
- all who buy and sell land
- all lawyers
- all who drink wine from bowls
- all men who wear spectacles
- all who say that the Jews crucified Jesus
- all women who do not keep at home

The restoration of absolute patriarchy was a central tenet of the Kingdom of Matthias. There are, of course, skeptical humanists who observe that male fear of women's assertiveness is fundamental to most forms of fundamentalism.

Was Matthews a con man? A deliberate liar and opportunist fraud? Or a madman? Or an emissary of Satan? Don't you feel an urge to read this little book of 170 pages to gather the clues?

I would first like to say that this was a required reader for me for my US history class, but so far, I'm a little over 1/4 way through it and I actually enjoy it. Had it not been required, and someone gave me an overview of it, and I actually read it, I would still enjoy it. I would recommend this book even if it's not a required reader. It's very interesting. Excellent descriptions of the lives of the people in this group/cult. I am excited to finish reading it here soon.

During The Second Great Awakening's religious revival of evangelicalism, Robert Matthews- the self-appointed prophet Matthias- was one of many to create and spread his own ultimately doomed religion, a patriarchal Kingdom of Truth in which Matthias sat at the head as the Father and redeemer. Matthias and his Kingdom were one of many religions developed and spread during the early 1800s, and many of Matthias' teachings were similar to those of other prophets and seers more successful in popularizing their messages. Yet Matthias and his group remained on the margins of society. Johnson and Wilentz want to explain not only the religion itself, but the reasons for its failure while other similar ones succeeded.

The authors acknowledge that their main three sources are all biased for various reasons and were considered with this in mind. Accordingly, the sources, two books written about Matthias and the Kingdom and one pamphlet by Matthias' wife about his years before the Kingdom, must be weighted against one enough to derive something as close to the truth about the events. Other primary sources used are newspaper reports, personal narratives/memory, church records, indictment papers from Matthias' trial, and lectures. A lot of the background and contextual details are taken from various books, some of which Johnson and Wilentz wrote, and journal articles.

The rich and narrative style of the story helps it flow in a way that is interesting but informative. The two were able to create a story that read easy, that is fun to read and very enjoyable. The book is a snapshot of one religious group during the early 1800s that, though being the stuff of pure entertainment, has been all but forgotten. While the book is very isolated in its focus, it expands upon the world at the time by placing Matthias and his Kingdom in the context of their time period. Not only does the book show how the world around Matthias shaped his Kingdom, but how the Kingdom was part of the larger evolving world that it existed within. Though there were many other religions around this time in development, the bizarreness of the story of Matthias illuminates best the failures of religious revival as the others exemplify success, which allows for a more complete idea of the varied nature of 19th century American religion and society.

However, the heavy use of sources that are admittedly very shaky and biased places a lot of the events into question. While no doubt everything written is based on fact and reality, and though the authors state that they have derived truth from contradicting and biased evidence to the best of their ability, there remains a matter of what is fact and exaggeration. The authors can never know what truth really is, they can only guess at it. Additionally, the book went off on tangents about people and rivalries that had no significance to the story. For example, the explanations of Matthias' brothers, and the story of the Stone and Folgers argument. They were fun to read, but ultimately had nothing to do with the story of Matthias and The Kingdom.

This book had me hooked from the start. Although at times it reads like a soap opera it tells the true story of Robert Matthews also know the the prophet Matthias. Although a highly researched history book it captures the excitement of a major hollywood film. Johnson and Wilentz manage to weave the sotry in a manner that flows perfectly and tells detail by detail how Robert Matthews became the prophet Matthias and the subsequent fall of his kingdom. This book painst a vivid picture of the conditions that Americans lived through in the second great awakening.

For many Americans who felt left out by the rapid transformation of the era men with ideas like Matthews seemed to merit some consideration. For a populace that was rapidly shifting from a localistic and agrarian way of life to an urban market driven one Matthews' ideas of hyper paternalism were attractive.

I reccomend this book to anybody not just people interested in history. It brings together religion and history in a very exciting and enjoyable way.

Kingdom of Matthias is an exploration of the inner workings of an American cult which explored a new way of life, yet was set against an outside society that could not comprehend its ways. The group gathered people from many different walks of life which were held together by the will, creativity, and perhaps insane methods of their beloved leader. You don't need to be a person that is very interested in history to enjoy this book. The characters and their plights and desires are fascinating and will make you keep turning the page.

The Kingdom of Matthias, is definately worth a read. If it is for school or your personal interest you will find it worth your time. It tells an interesting tale that you normally aren't educated about. I never heard one word about this subject until I had to read the book for class.

The authors mix history of the time with the story of Robert Matthews and his following. Although the historical background is a really slow read, the authors write about the characters so well. They really show you that you can have compassion for them, while also thinking they are totally insane.

The point is you won't be sorry you read this book.

The Kindom of Matthias provides the reader with an interesting look into the past. Centered on a small religious community in upstate New York, the book tracks the way societal changes influenced individuals religious experience. Written in accessible style this book is a must read for those interested in 19th century American history, or the history of Spirituality.