Law and Providence in Joseph Bellamy's New England RELIGION IN AMERICA SERIES Harry S. Stout, General Editor A PERFECT BABEL OF CONFUSION SUBMITTING TO FREEDOM Dutch Religion and English Culture in the The Religious Vision of William James Middle Colonies Bennett Ramsey Randall Balmer OLD SHIP OF ZION THE PRESBYTERIAN CONTROVERSY The Afro-Baptist Ritual in Fundamentalists, Modernists, the African Diaspora and Moderates Walter F. Pitts Bradley J. Longfield AMERICAN TRANSCENDENTALISM AND ASIAN RELIGIONS MORMONS AND THE BIBLE Arthur Versluis The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion CHURCH PEOPLE IN THE STRUGGLE Philip L. Barlow The National Council of Churches and the Black Freedom Movement, 1950-1970 THE RUDE HAND OF INNOVATION James F. Findlay, Jr. Religion and Social Order in Albany, New York, 1652-1836 EVANGELICALISM David G. Hackett Comparative Studies of Popular Protes- tantism in North America, the British SEASONS OF GRACE Isles, and Beyond, 1700-1990 Colonial New England's Revival Tradi- Edited by Mark A. Noll, David W. tion in Its British Context Bebbington, and George A. Rawlyk Michael J. Crawford FORSAKEN BY GOD THE MUSLIMS OF AMERICA Religious Melancholy and Protestant Edited by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad Experience in America Julius H. Rubin THE PRISM OF PIETY Catholick Congregational Clergy at the CONJURING CULTURE Beginning of the Enlightenment Biblical Formations in Black America John Corrigan Theophus Smith REIMAGINING DENOMINATIONALISM FEMALE PIETY IN PURITAN Interpretive Essays NEW ENGLAND Edited by Robert Bruce Mullin and The Emergence of Religious Humanism Russell E. Richey Amanda Porterfield STANDING AGAINST THE WHIRLWIND THE SECULARIZATION OF Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth- THE ACADEMY Century America Edited by George M. Marsden and Diana Hochstedt Butler Bradley J. Longfield LAW AND PROVIDENCE IN JOSEPH EPISCOPAL WOMEN BELLAMY'S NEW ENGLAND Gender, Spirituality, and Commitment in The Origins of the New Divinity in an American Mainline Denomination Revolutionary America Edited by Catherine Prelinger Mark Valeri Law and Providence in Joseph Bellamy's New England The Origins of the New Divinity in Revolutionary America MARK VALERI New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1994 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Kuala Lumpur Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland Madrid and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1994 by Mark Valeri Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Valeri, Mark R. Law and providence in Joseph Bellamy's New England : the origins of the New Divinity in revolutionary America / Mark Valeri. p. cm.—(Religion in America series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-508601-5 1. New Divinity (Movement)—History. 2. New England—Church history—18th century. 3. Bellamy, Joseph, 1719-1790. 4. Providence and government of God'—History of doctrines—18th century. I. Title. II. Series: Religion in America series (Oxford University Press) BX7250.V35 1994 285'.0974'09033—dc20 94-8629 246897531 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Lynn MacKinnon Valeri This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments One of the few unmixed pleasures of writing a book is to acknowledge those who befriended the writer and his project. This book concerns Jo- seph Bellamy, an eighteenth-century Connecticut preacher who was one of the originators of an American brand of Calvinism known as the New Divinity. I offer it as at least some payment for the many debts of friend- ship accrued in its making. I express my gratitude to the following institu- tions and people in particular. The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Oregon Council for the Humanities, and Lewis and Clark College awarded me several grants for research and travel. The National Endowment for the Humanities also funded a year's fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society, where I benefited enormously from the hospitality and expertise of John Hench, Joanne Chaison, and Marie Lamoureux. Each of the research institutions and archives listed in the bibliography has given generous access to its manuscripts. Ed and Barbie Banks and Don and Marion MacKinnon provided friend- ship and hospitality on numerous research trips to Connecticut. They al- ways dispelled the thought, which came on me every July, that it was a cruel fate to have to trade Oregon's summers for New England's. From its inception as a doctoral dissertation, this project has had many kind readers. John Murrin, Albert Raboteau, and the late Paul Ramsey pro- vided critical insight at an early stage. Chris Grasso and Steve Bullock made helpful suggestions at a later stage. Philip Gura pressed me to make Bellamy more interesting than I had in my dissertation; William Freehling helped me to do so (I hope) by chastening my prose. A newly organized group of American historians in the Portland area—Joel Bernard, Jackie Dirks, Jane Hunter, David Johnson, Chris Lowe, and Larry Lipin—commented on drafts of several chapters. Larry has been especially patient in critiquing the social analyses of an instinctively intellectual historian. At Lewis and Clark, Dick Rohrbaugh has given encouragement; John Callahan has given that, and his wisdom on words. Michael McGiffert edited (as only he can) viii Acknowledgments an earlier version of Chapter 5, which contains material from an article in The William and Mary Quarterly. This material is reprinted with permission. I would be remiss if I did not also mention R. Fenton Duvall, Jim Hunt, and William Slottman, who at an early stage in my career led me to ap- preciate the study of history. To my good fortune, my fellow students of the New Divinity are highly talented and generous scholars. Mark Noll, who writes about much more than the New Divinity, may not count himself a student of that move- ment, but he has frequently expressed an interest in Bellamy. He gave me confidence that this project was worthy of publication, even with its many faults. Joseph Conforti, whose book was the first I read on the topic, has offered many acute historiographical and bibliographical suggestions. William Breitenbach has edited my work with consummate skill and pre- cision. I have been amused by the coincidence that Bill teaches at a nearby institution; this may make the Pacific Northwest, an unlikely candidate, the latest outpost of the New Divinity. My scholarly debts are deepest to two other historians of American re- ligion who have given their time and encouragement with remarkable grace. Harry Stout of Yale University guided this manuscript to Oxford University Press. His cheer and energy lifted my spirits on many a sultry summer day in New Haven. John Wilson of Princeton University advised my doctoral work, introduced me to Jonathan Edwards, suggested Bellamy as a dissertation topic, and invited me to coauthor an essay with him— my first foray into print. John's gifts as an interpreter of American reli- gion are matched only by his kindness and wisdom. Over the past decade I have said "thank you" to him more times than I can count. This makes one more. The one to whom this book is dedicated has read this study many times, commented on it perceptively, and talked about it with interest and enthu- siasm. She knows far too much about Joseph Bellamy. I can only hope to return the measure of friendship that she has so steadily bestowed on me. Contents Abbreviations, xi Introduction, 3 1. Conversion, 9 2. Law, 41 3. Original Sin, 76 4. The Wisdom of God, 110 5. Revolution, 140 Epilogue: The New Divinity, 173 Bibliography, 180 Index, 199