Paradigms, Poetics, and Politics of Conversion

PARADIGMS, POETICS AND POLITICS OF CONVERSIO

Jan N.

BREMMER,

Wout J.

VAN BEKKUM

PEETERS

and Arie L.

MOLENDIJK

(ed .)

PARADIGMS, POETICS AND POLITICS OF CONVERSION

GRONINGEN STUDIES IN CULTURAL CHANGE

GENERAL EDITOR M. Gosman

EDITORIAL BOARD J.N. Bremmer, G.J. Dorleijn, A.A. MacDonald, B.H. Stolte, A.J. Vanderjagt Volume XIX Other volumes in the series: Jan N. Bremmer and Jan R. Veenstra (eds.), The Transformation of Magic from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period Gerrit J. Reinink and Bemard H. Stolte (eds.), Volume ll: The Reign of Heraclius (610-641): Crisis and Confrontation Volume Ill: Gillis J. Dorleijn and Herman L.J. Vanstiphout (eds.), Cultural Repertoires: Structure, Function and Dynamics Zweder von Martels and Victor M. Schmidt (eds.), Volume N: Antiquity Renewed: Late Classical and Early Modern Themes Volume V: Alasdair A. MacDonald, Michael W. Twomey and Gerrit J. Reinink (eds.), Learned Antiquity: Scholarship and Society in the Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and the Early Medieval West Volume VI: Alasdair A. MacDonald and Michael W. Twomey (eds.), Schooling and Scholarship: The Ordering and Reordering of Knowledge in the Western Middle Ages Volume Vll: Alasdair A. MacDonald and Arend H. Huussen Jr (eds.), Scholarly Environments: Centres of Learning and Institutional Contexts 1560-1960 Volume VI1I: Amanda Gilroy (ed.), Green and Pleasant Land: English Culture and the Romantic Countryside Volume IX: Margriet Hoogvliet (ed.), Multi-Media Compositions from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period Volume X: Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker and Renee LA. Nip (eds.), The Prime of their Lives: Wise Old Women in Pre-industrial Europe Volume XI: Frank R. Ankersmit and Henk Te Velde (eds.), Trust: Cement of Democracy? Volume Xli: Loqi Nauta and Detlev Patzold (eds.), Imagination in the Later Middle Ages and Early Modern Times Volume Xlll: Joop W. Koopmans (ed.), News and Politics in Early Modern Europe (1500-1800) Volume XIV: Patrick Dassen and Mary Kemperink (eds.), The many Faces of Evolution in Europe c.1860-1914 Volume XV: Barend van Heusden and Liesbeth Korthals Altes (eds.), Aesthetic Autonomy. Problems and Perspectives Volume XVI: Klaas van Berkel and Arjo Vanderjagt (eds.), The Book of Nature in Antiquity and the Middle Ages Volume XVll: Klaas van Berkel and Arjo Vanderjagt (eds.), The Book of Nature in Modern Times Volume XVIll: Jan N. Bremmer, Wout J. van Bekkum and Arie L. Molendijk (eds.), Cultures of Conversion

Volume I:

PARADIGMS, POETICS AND POLITICS OF CONVERSION~·

EDITED BY

Jan N. Bremmer, Wout J. van Bekkum and Arie L. Molendijk

PEETERS LEUVEN - PARIS - DUDLEY, MA

2006

Illustration on cover: Caravaggio (1573-1610), Conversion of Saint Paul, 1600, oil on canvas, 230 x 175 cm. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. © 1990, Photo Scala, Florence.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Paradigms, poetics, and politics of conversion / edited by Jan N. Bremmer, Wout J. van Bekkum, and Arie L. Molendijk. p. cm. -- (Groningen studies in cultural change; v. 19) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-429-1754-7 (alk. paper) 1. Conversion--Christianity--Social aspects--History--Congresses. 2. Conversion-Social aspects--Congresses. 1. Bremmer, Jan N. IT. Bekkum, Wout Jac. van. m. Molendijk, Arie L. IV. Series. BRIlO.P26 2005 204' .2--dc22

2006041693

D.2006/0602/45 ISBN-lO: 90-429-1754-7 ISBN-13:9789042917545 © Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, 3000 Leuven No part of this book may be used or reproduced/in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without permission from the publisher.

CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgements Contributors

vii

ix

Sociology of Conversion: The Last Twenty-Five Years Steve Bruce Conversion as a Rational Choice: An Evaluation of the Stark-Finke-Model of Conversion and (Re-)affiliation DurkHak

13

Towards a New Model of Religious Conversion Careers: The Impact of Social and Institutional Factors Henri Gooren

25

Paradigms in Psychological Conversion Research: Between Social Science and Literary Analysis Hetty Zock

41

Wolves Become Lambs: The Conversion of Lukewarm Religious and Worldly Clerics in Devotio Moderna Mathilde van Dijk

59

Conversion and Civil Society: Ysbrandus Trabius's Sermon Het cleyn mostertzaet (1590) Frank van der Pol

73

'Return Unto Me!': Literature and Conversion in Early Modem England Helen Wilcox

85

The Transvaluation of Body and Soul in the Spiritual Autobiographies of Anna Trapnel Hilary Hinds

107

vi The Penitential Struggle ('Busskampf') of August Hermann Francke (1663-1727): A Model of Pietistic Conversion? H ans Martin Kirn

123

Reformed Doctrine and Pietist Conversion: The Historical Interplay of Theology, Communication, and Experience Fred van Lieburg

133

Germanisation of Christianity: The Early Medieval Conversion History and the Search for German National Identity, 1890-1940 Christopher Koenig

149

Conversion to a Prophetic Healing Movement Lammert G. Jansma

165

The Unconverted and the Conversion: Gender Relations in the Salvation Narrative in Britain: 1800-1960 Callum G. Brown

183

Bibliography

201

Index

223

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In 1999, the local Groningen Research School for the Study of the Humanities, and the Groningen members of the national Netherlands Research School for Medieval Studies succeeded in obtaining a grant for an innovative, large-scale, collective research programme entitled Cultural Change: Dynamics and Diagnosis. Supported by the faculties of Arts, Philosophy and Theology and fmanced by the Board of the University of Groningen, the Cultural Change programme constitutes an excellent opportunity to promote multidisciplinary approaches to phenomena characteristic of transformation processes in the fields of politics, literature and history, philosophy and theology. In order to enhance programmatic cohesion, three crucial 'moments' in European history were selected: 1) Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages (c.200-c.600), 2) Late Medieval to Early Modem (c. l450-c.1650) and the 'Long Nineteenth Century' (l789-c.1918). In 2000 and 2002 further grants were obtained for Cultural Change: Impact and Integration and Cultural Change: Perception and Representation respectively. A fourth crucial 'moment' was added: From the Cold war to Globalization. Many international conferences and workshops have already been organised; more are planned before the end of 2007. This present volume, Paradigms, Poetics and Politics of Conversion, number XIX in the series Groningen Studies in Cultural Change, offers a selection of papers presented at the International Conference Cultures of Conversion held in May 2002 in Groningen. It is the second of two volumes. The first one (volume XVIII in the series) is entitled Cultures ofConversion and will appear at the same time as this volume. In the terms of Durkheimian sociology, conversion is a fait social. Although they are rarely treated as a cultural phenomenon, conversions can obviously be interrogated for the norms, values and presuppositions of the cultures in which they take place. In this way conversion can help us to shed light on a particular culture. At the same time, the term evokes a dramatic appeal that suggests a kind of suddenness, although in most cases conversion implies a more gradual process of establishing and defming a new religious - identity. The contributions in these two volumes pay special attention to the modes of language and idiom in conversion literature, the meaning and sense of religious-ideological discourse, the variety of rhetorical tropes, and the effects of the conversion narrative with allusions to religious or political conventions and idealizations. For the present volume we selected theoretical contributions on the theory of conversion and some case studies, which are mainly taken from the history of Christianity. We thank the Board of the University of Groningen for the financial support given to the Cultural Change programmes.

viii The editors are particularly grateful to Marijke Wubbolts for helping to organise the conference and to Nella Gosman-Scholtens for preparing the texts for publication. Martin Gosman, General Editor

CONTRIBUTORS Callum G. Brown is Professor of Religious and Cultural History, University of Dundee. Steve Bruce is Professor of Sociology, University of Aberdeen. Mathilde van Dijk is Lecturer in the History of Christianity and Gender Studies, University of Groningen. Henri Gooren is postdoctoral researcher in the programme Conversion Careers and Culture Politics: A Comparative study in Four Continents, University of Utrecht and Free University, Amsterdam. Durk Hak was Lecturer in Sociology of Religion, University of Groningen. Hilary Hinds is Senior Lecturer in English, University of Lancaster. Lammert G. Jansma is Director emeritus of the Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden. Hans Martin Kirn is Professor of Church History, Theological University, Kampen. Christopher Koenig is a graduate in Church History, Theological University, Kampen. Fred van Lieburg is Prqfessor in the History of Dutch Protestantism, Free University, Amsterdam. Frank van der Pol is Professor of Church History, Theological University, Kampen. Helen Wi1cox is Professor of English Literature, University of Groningen. Hetty Zock is Professor in Psychology of Religion, University ofGroningen.

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION THE LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

Steve Bruce Introduction

Sociological interest in individual conversion - why do these people here and now radically change their beliefs - is relatively new. 1 The conference organisers got it about right in asking me to review the last twenty-five years. Nineteenth-century tent revivals had been of interest to some sociologists 2 and in the late 1950s Alan Eister studied conversion to Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament movement3 but insofar as early sociologists looked at conversion, it was generally in the context of big stories about social change. What fuelled the great boom in studies of conversion was the dramatic arrival in the United States of the late 1960s of a series of exotic new religious movements. The numbers of young Americans who became devoted followers of the Revd Sun Myung Moon or the Bhagwan Rajneesh was vastly smaller than the numbers who shifted between atheism, Protestant and Catholicism in any month. But it was the rapid growth of new religions such as Scientology, The Divine Light Mission, and the Moonies that created a new interest in explaining conversion. Why did affluent young people, often university-educated (and hence, it was implied, who should know better), turn their backs on the world-views of their parents and give themselves into the thrall of strange messiahs? The brainwashing paradigm

The most popular answer given by lay people was that this phenomenon was not conversion at all; it was brainwashing. The case was made with

1 This paper is largely the speech I gave at the conference. I have added references and clarified some remarks but otherwise left the paper as a sweeping review. For a very detailed review of recent sociology of conversion, see Anthony and Robbins, 'Conversion'. 2 Davenport, Primitive Traits. 3 Eister, Drawing Room Conversion.

2

STEVE BRUCE

varying degrees of sophistication. For those who sought it, some academic under-pinning was found in the work of Robert Lifton4 and Edgar Scheins on Chinese indoctrination programmes. During the Korean war, US prisoners were subjected to an extensive campaign of torture, brutality and education to persuade them to embrace communism and denounce American imperialism. The brainwashing paradigm asserts that brain function can be deliberately distorted by physical violence or the threats of such violence, malnourishment, sleep deprivation, drugs, loud rhythmic music (but only pop music, not Beethoven) and hypnosis. Once befuddled, the victim credulously accepts beliefs he or she would otherwise not entertain. The brainwashing paradigm has never been popular with serious social scientists Benjamin Zablocki6 is the only one that comes to mind - and the reasons for rejecting it seem overwhelming. First, it did not work in Korea. Those who cite Lifton and Schein on coercive persuasion seem to have read only the titles of their books and not the contents. Despite having almost complete control over their prisoners (and the final sanction of death) the Chinese failed miserably. Almost no American prisoners were converted; mostly what was produced was behavioural compliance under duress. The very few who became more sympathetic to Maoism were people who were already well disposed to totalising systems of thought. Lifton devotes a lot of space to analysing the pre-dispositions of 'Miss Darrow' and 'Father Simon' (the two who came closest to being converted) and the main thrust of his explanation is not manipulation or coercion but the dynamic interaction of an authoritarian ideology and a pre-existing desire to surrender to a totalistic worldview. 7 In brief, although the work of Lifton and Schein is frequently and loosely cited as proof of brainwashing, the explanation of such change as was found lay not in what the Chinese did to their prisoners but in the appeal of a certain sort of ideology to a certain sort of personality. A second problem with the brainwashing idea is clearly demonstrated in the work of William Sargant. 8 Sargant begins with a discussion of two very different examples of fear distorting normal brain functioning. One example is 'shell shock': the mental illness suffered by some soldiers who had been under severe bombardment in the trenches in France during the First World War. The second is the disruption of the conditioning of Pavlov's

Lifton, Chinese Thought Reform. Schein, Coercive Persuasion. 6 Zablocki, 'Exit cost analysis'. 7 Lifton, Chinese Thought Reform, pp. 218-220. 8 Sargant, Battle for the Mind. 4

S

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION

3

dogs that resulted from them being threatened with drowning when Pavlov's laboratory was flooded. But both examples show only disruption to functioning; they do not show the successful implanting of alternative ideas. We might well accept that it is possible to destroy someone's mind (by, for example, severe interrogation techniques or long-term use of narcotics such as LSD) but I know of no examples of the second half of brainwashing: the successful introduction of a coherent alternative worldview. But when used to explain joining new religions there is a third problem with brainwashing: there is no evidence of coercion. The people who attended Moonies camps were never prevented from leaving. They were riot imprisoned or tortured or drugged. The case is best made by considering the most forceful assertion of coercion. Christopher Edwards was for seven months a member of the Unification Church. In his book Crazy for God (the title says it all) he asserts that he was brainwashed but the worst his own account shows is that he worked very hard for the cause; he ate cheap junk food and was often very tired; and he was constantly in the company of committed members who. appealed to his youthful idealism, reiterated proclamations of love, made chaste displays of affection, and discouraged him from thinking about his old life. Taken together, this seem hardly different from the life of an ambitious junior doctor or merchant banker! By far the most powerful evidence against the brainwashing paradigm is the recruitment record of the NRMs. If a movement which wishes to convert the entire world really does have the secret of coercive persuasion, we might reasonably expect it to use it. Hence those people who were foolish enough to fall into the movement's grasp would be successfully brainwashed. The Moonies talked to millions of young people. Only a tiny fraction of those accosted in public places by canvassers accepted the offers of hospitality and only a tiny fraction of those who visited a Moonie house agreed to attend the two-day workshop. Eileen Barker presents robust and clear data on recruitment. 9 Of those who were interested enough to attend the two day workshop; 15 per cent had quit before the two days were up; 70 per cent had gone before the seven day course; 82 per cent had gone before the three week course; and 93 per cent had broken off contact within a year. Only 7 per cent of those who willing subjected themselves to two days of Moonie 'brainwashing' were still involved after 12 months. Reflecting on those data, a former senior Moonie (who, incidentally, is now a prominent member of the Bush administration) ruefully said: 'Yeah, 93 per cent dropout rate. Not exactly the secret of fire, is it?'

9

Barker, The Making of a Moonie.

4

STEVEBRUCE

Social forces

Although most rejected the psychological and neurological models of brainwashing, sociologists produced their own somewhat manipulationist explanations of conversion. Based on Lofland's close observation of the early endeavours of the Moonies in the USA, John Lofland and Rodney Stark produced a highly influential model of conversion that combined background social forces and structured social interaction 10. Arguably it was more of a summary of a few common elements in the biographies of the early converts than an explanatory model- what the authors called a 'causal process model' - but it did contain both variants of the social determinist view that social forces cause conversion: (a) social structure can create in people needs or pre-dispositions and (b) movement recruiters can convert people by manipulating social relationships. The weakness with both versions of social causation is that they over specify. Even refmed attempts to provide a check-list of social circumstances that cause people to commit crimes end up identifying a very large number of people, only some of whom commit crimes. Likewise with attempts to specify the social sources of recruitment to new religions. For example Roy Wallis's analysis of new religions according to whether they are world-rejecting, world-affirming or world-accommodating is accompanied by detailed descriptions of the social circumstances that create someone who should fmd each type particularly appealing. 11 These are insightful and thought-provoking. It is easy to see, for example, how a life of deferring gratification in pursuit of career success can create in a pool of adults approaching middle age the sense that along the way they have lost the capacity for deep friendship, for guilt-free pleasure and for authentic social relations. Hence the appeal of movements which endorse material wellbeing but offer to augment it by releasing the bonds of repression and sublimation. However, though the Wallis models are intuitively plausible, like structural explanations of crime, they encompass far too many people. What he offers as 'causes' of being attracted to certain NRMs are qualities possessed by very large numbers of people; yet very very few people are attracted to NRMs! We may bridge some of that explanatory gap by adding that the potential member must have the opportunity as well as the motive (that is, he must actually come across the offer of est training). We may also add that the strength of ties to friends and relations in the old world will influence whether opportunity is seen as such; clearly having successful rela-

10 11

Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming a world-saver'. Wall is, The Elementary Forms o/the New Religious Life.

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION

5

tions with a spouse and children diminishes the appeal of offers to throw everything up for a new heaven on earth. Similarly, the idea that social relations can be manipulated so that people are gradually levered into the new world has obvious intuitive appeal but again it over-specifies in that only a small fraction of those who developed some sort for relationship with the Moonies became sufficiently well socialised as to become Moonies. And putting together socially-determined needs and the manipulation of social relations still does not get us to the right scale. The autonomous seeker

As is common in the social sciences, the thesis produces the anti-thesis. Led by a number of important papers by Roger Straus, sociologists began to argue against both social structural and social interactional forms of determinism. 12 Conversion is not something that is done to the hapless individual; it is .. something the knowing choosing individual accomplishes. Instead of being a passive (and possibly unaware) carrier of social forces, what Harold Garfinkel called a 'cultural dope', the convert was seen as an active seeker after enlightenment. 13 I would like to mention particularly one set of studies in the activist paradigm. In 1979 David Bromley and Anson Shupe offered a useful challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy on conversion and recruitment. 14 They rightly note that most people think of conversion as occurring in the following order. First, background social structural conditions produce needs or pre-dispositions. Second, the individual is exposed to new beliefs which .address the predisposing needs. And third, the potential convert becomes a committed member of the group. Bromley and Shupe believe the sequence should be reversed. After initial contact with the group, the novice starts to behave as if he or she believed. The new role is experimented with. It is tried on, like a new suit of clothes. Only if it fits, only if the novice feels comfortable with the role, does he or she start to absorb the beliefs which make sense of, or validate the role. Finally the new recruit learns, through the new beliefs which are the solution, to see his previous life as a problem, as lacking in something. That is, by acting as if they were true believers, new members acquire the perspective which creates, through retrospective re-interpretation, the 'needs' which social scientists traditionally cite as the explanation for the Straus, 'Changing oneself; idem, 'Religious conversion'. Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology. 14 Bromley and Shupe "'Just a few years'''.

12

13

6

STEVE BRUCE

conversion. Or, conventional conversion explanations are the wrong way round. Experimental behaviour creates conviction. This is a highly attractive notion: the image of a person tentatively exploring ideas by acting out the behaviour that, for committed believers, comes with the new ideas fits well with ethnographic description of Moonie recruitment. But it does leave one rather big question unanswered. If we ignore needs or pre-dispositions, then how do we explain why there are social patterns to Moonie recruitment? Why are black people or Texas farmers or poor people not attracted to experiment with the role? That those who fmd reward in experimenting with the believer role differ systematically from those who do not (and from those who find the idea so ghastly they reject the very first advances of the Moonie recruiters) suggests that some part of the explanation come before the role-play. I do not see how we can dispense with some notion of needs or pre-dispositions. This is not the same as saying that the causes of conversion are socialstructural or socio-psychological. In the case of Moonies the pre-dispositions seem to be primarily ideological and cultural: recruits tended to be idealistic, raised in Christian households, keenly interested in matters spiritual but not strongly committed to one Christian church. We could work back a stage and show some social foundations: we could show why those characteristics were associated with a particular class, race, and age cohort. This would not be the hard social-structural causation that supposes we do need a social cause to new religion recruitment but it would anchor the Bromley and Shupe model.

Present state Since the manipulationist and activist paradigms have been clarified, there has been something of a decline in interest in conversion in anglophone sociology. One recent British sociology of religion text does not even have an index entry to conversion 15 and a quick count through recent issues of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion confirms my impression of neglect. Of the 250 articles in the last 25 issues, only two were concerned with conversion and one was by a psychologist. 16 This neglect may result from satisfaction with the state of our understanding. More likely it results from weariness with the topic. After all, there is just so many times one can have the passive versus active, or structure versus agency, argument. But there are two further considerations. Hamilton, The Sociology ofReligion. Belzen, 'Religion as Embodiment'; Zinnbaeuer and Pargament, 'Spiritual Conversion'. 15

16

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION

7

Arguably the last two nouns in our conference sub-title - poetics and politics - have played a part in re-shaping the field. One sort of stress on the 'poetics' of conversion argues that we cannot explain it; one development of the 'politics' says that we should stop wasting time with the trivia of individual conversion and concentrate instead on the political causes and consequences of religious change. The poetics

In many sense the arguments between manipulationist and activist perspectives are just local versions of our old friends structure and agency. For a quite radical approach to conversion one has to go to the ethnomethodologists. Long before post-modernists got in on the act, the followers of Harold Garfinkel were arguing that, for two reasons, we could not use what people said about their actions as data for understanding their motives and hence explaining their actions. First, explaining yourself, giving an account of your actions, is not merely objective reporting of the past: it is itself a social act in which the speaker wishes to achieve a certain outcome. Second, in many settings actors have available to them templates which shape the way they account for themselves. That is, accounts may be stylised to an extent that it is hard to believe the substance of the account is an accurate representation of the past. Courtroom testimony is an obvious example of both methodological problems. The actor has an interest in making a favourable impression - he or she wishes to be found not guilty - and there are templates that govern courtroom speech. Lawyers can coach their clients. The implications for conversion accounts should be obvious. Converts who describe their conversions are often trying to achieve a certain result: to impress others. They also often present their testimonies within a well-established frame that they themselves have learnt from others. Anyway who has spent any time in evangelical Protestant circles will appreciate that, while testimonies may not be as formalised as the elements of a Catholic confession, they are sufficiently predictable that an outsider could quickly construct a plausible testimony. The same two observations can be made of the accounts that some exmembers of new religions give in explaining their conversions. Like the person on a criminal charge, they want to be let off; in this case they want to be freed of responsibility for their previous actions. They want to say 'It was not me who for a while believed that a chubby Korean was the Messiah; they did it to me!'. And the brainwashing paradigm offers a preexisting template for giving a conversion account that allows ex-members to deny their own agency.

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STEVE BRUCE

That accounts are not merely accurate reconstructions of the past is taken by some social scientists to mean that we cannot use what people say about themselves as data for social explanation. For ethnomethodologists in the 1970s the problem was scientific validity. Accounts were poor data for the past but good data for the present so the only way to be truly scientific was to study the perfonnance of account-giving. As a development of a generalised sociology of motives perspective in short, ethnomethodology promises analytic pay-off in its commitment to address the relationship between accountability and activity in highly specific sociocultural situations, e.g., the experience of accounting for conversion. 17

For the post-modernists of the 1990s, social science was impossible anyway so we might as well do literary criticism I have to say I do not find either of these arguments for giving up attempts to explain religious conversion (or any other form of social action) terribly compelling. While I am a great admirer of ethnomethodology I am not persuaded that it is fine to explain how people account for their conversions but not why they converted. IS Although the conversation analysis strand of ethnomethodology boldly asserts that social science cannot deal with motivation, it actually imputes motives to speakers. For example, the difference between a question (Do you like parties?) and an invitation (Would you like to go to a party?) is not given in the grammatical structure or even in the tone of voice. It is an implied motive of the speaker. Clearly we are more likely to be accurate when imputing such simple and shortrange motives than when trying to dig out the reasons why someone joined a sect but this is a matter of degree, not of absolute distinction. To say that accounts cannot be taken naively as evidence about the reality behind them is not itself a sufficient justification for supposing that we can never test accounts or that in every case underlying realities are unknowable. After all, in our everyday lives we repeatedly deal with the problem. We are all regularly confronted with dissembling children, spouses, colleagues and students and yet we do not become practical relativists. 19 Not only do we become skilled at seeking signs of veracity from the internal evidence of the account itself but we also often have other sources of evi-

Taylor, 'Conversion and cognition', p. 21. My critical comments on ethnomethodology's treatment of motives can be found in Bruce and Wallis, 'Accounting for action' and 'Rescuing motives'. 19 It is an obvious point but it is always worth repeating; social scientists who argue for a relativist epistemology will only be worth taking seriously when they display a relativist attitude to their salaries. 17 18

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION

9

dence. This latter is an important point. Insofar as the ethnomethodological critique of using accounts as data for social scientific explanation was ever plausible, it worked best when speech acts were taken in isolation: when the account was all we had. When we have a wide variety of different sorts of 'accounts' (what the convert says in different settings, direct observation, contemporaneous diaries, letters and the like) the ethnomethodological reservations become less pressing. It may not be easy to know the past but I am not persuaded that we must give up trying. In brief, an interest in the poetics of conversion seems entirely legitimate but there is no reason for it to displace the more conventional interest in explanation. Politics

I suspect another reason for waning social science interest in explaining individual conversion is that it is seen as trivial. This conclusion is encouraged by the close association of the literature with the study of new religious movements, which have turned out to be fairly trivial. The older social science questions about large-scale religious change seem much more important in a world where fundamentalism is on every news broadcast, where the collapse of communism has permitted a resurgence in religiouslyinformed nationalisms, and where one of the biggest changes in the global religious landscape is the spread of Pentecostalism in the Third World. To mention just two contemporary authors I would place the attempts of Paul Gifford20 and David Martin 21 to explain the spread of Pentecostalism in the Third World and understand its consequences in the same class as that of Elie Halevy, Max Weber and Ernest Gellner. But, and this is an important reservation, while an interest in the largescale is quite proper, there is a danger in abandoning altogether attempts to explain individual conversion. Like it or not, our accounts of large-scale change imply models of individual action and unless we are very careful we may end up implying quite implausible models of individual motivation. Let us stick with the example of Pentecostalism in Latin America. In the left-wing explanation, the important fact about Pentecostalism is that it encourages an individualist and quietist response to social, economic and political troubles; without it there would be socialist revolution. Hence Pentecostalism serves the interests of the USA. Hence it is explained by the interests of the USA. In the right-wing version, religious conversion is a rational reaction to changing social circumstances. Swapping the traditional, 20

21

Gifford, African Christianity; idem, 'Some recent developments' . Martin, Tongues of Fire; idem, Pentecostalism.

10

STEVEBRUCE

fatalistic, organic and community-based Catholic faith for Pentecostalism allows the adoption of a new personality well suited to the demands of urban capitalist economies, offers a strongly supportive association of similarly-situated individuals, encourages puritanical behaviour, gives ordinary people leadership roles, and develops such vital generic skills as literacy. Both of these is easily caricatured. In the Marxist version, the imagined Pentecostal convert is a fool: led by others into a false analysis of his or her problems. In the positive adaptation model the convert is a cynic: switching religions because the new one seems more useful. In common with most examples of functionalist analysis, where the new behaviour is explained by its latent benefits, both versions neglect the point that for any institution or pattern of social action to have latent functions, it must also have manifest ones and those must be convincing to the actors. For example, the puritanism that comes with conversion to Pentecostalism has clear advantages for people whose precarious grip on prosperity would be much strengthened by sexual continence, the preservation of the family, continued employment, and avoidance of the conspicuous consumption of carnival. But the motivational under-pinning of these virtues is the belief that God requires them: that is what gives people the courage to sustain asceticism. If we accept that latent functions can only explain human action if we can connect the secondary benefits of conversion to the primary appeal of the new beliefs without implying that the converts are stupid or cynical, then we recognise that we still need to address the issue of belief: why is it that some people find one world-view more persuasive than another. I am not suggesting that a plausible explanation cannot be constructed. I am simply pointing out that if we confme our social science to the macro-level we may inadvertently impute to people motives that we would find implausible if we applied the same model to ourselves. Or, to put it another way, any causal model must remain plausible when it is unpacked to the level of the individual actor.

Conclusion A very brief review of a large field over a long-time cannot do more than sketch the main themes and this is what I have tried to do. In conclusion I would like to bid for a return to the core task of social science. I would like to enter a plea on behalf of continuing attempts to explain why people believe the things they believe. Of course there is much merit in the study of discourses and texts and accounts. These are revealing of social concerns in their own right. They are also an important part of our data for explaining

SOCIOLOGY OF CONVERSION

11

conversion (though they do not exhaust that material). And there is much merit in the study of large-scale patterns of religious change. But those interests should not detract from what ought to be a central concern for an empirical social scientist who does not see people as either merely the carriers of social forces or as the entirely autonomous maximising individuals of liberal economics. Striking the correct balance between structure and agency remains a fundamental challenge for sociology and there are few sites better suited to meeting that challenge than the sociology of conversion.

CONVERSION AS A RATIONAL CHOICE AN EVALUATION OF THE STARK-FINKE MODEL OF CONVERSION AND (RE-)AFFILIATION

DurkHak

Introduction In the past, social scientists have looked on conversion and reaffiliation to religious intermediate groupings as a psycho-pathological process - some inner or outer force drove the recruits, almost passively and beyond their control, toward these groupings. In the 1970s and 1980s researchers began to realise that recruits to religious intermediate groupings more often than not were acting willingly and rationally. They found that affiliation is, first and foremost, the bringing of a person's religious or other behaviour into line with his or her personal network or with the person's relevant other. The volitional aspect of recruitment became the foundation of the StarkFinke model of conversion and reaffiliation to religious intermediate groupings. This contribution critically examines this model. Various postulates are criticised and replaced by others, thus giving the model a wider scope. As a consequence, the proposed model can account for individuals who switch political parties, and for those who feel attracted to the values and norms of a religious intermediate grouping before becoming affiliated. According to Durkheim, societies consist of various intermediate groupings with different values, norms and patterns of behaviour. l Wellintegrated individuals are simultaneously members of several intermediate groupings in society. For example, they can be part of a family and members of a religious group, a political party and a sports team, etc., all at the same time. However, simultaneously being an orthodox Jew and a Shiite or an orthodox Calvinist would be problematic because of the conflicting patterns of values and norms, and because of the conflicting patterns of behaviour that are associated with those values and norms. Membership of certain intermediate groupings thus appears to be exclusive.

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See Ultee, Arts and Flap, Soci%gie.

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The better the individuals are integrated in intermediate groupings, whether or not exclusive, the more those members observe the norms and values of those intermediate groupings/ and the less they are inclined to trade membership of one excusive intermediate grouping for another. With regard to religious intermediate groupings, the question is, therefore, 'why and how do people sometimes choose to embrace a new faith,?3 For decades the 'pairing of deprivation with ideological (or theological) appeal' has been the received view of social researchers on reaffiliation or conversion.4 The sociologist Rodney Stark cast doubt on this and, together with others, suggested an alternative explanation. In this article, I will examine Stark and Finke's alternative explanation in detail and pose the question: How should Stark and Finke's theory on conversion be evaluated, and how can it be improved? Before moving to answer the research question, there will first be short overviews of and debate on both the rational choice paradigm and the results of rational choice research on religion. Stark and Finke are rational choice theorists and, although the paradigm has made progress within the social sciences and economics, many scholars outside the rational choice community are not yet familiar with it. In order to understand the critical argument that is made here it is necessary to have more than a passing knowledge of rational choice theory. This article will thus give a short overview of earlier research on conversion and continue with a critical discussion of the model.

Rational choice theory and research on religion Since the 1970s, it has been possible to discern a scientific community of rational choice theorists within the social sciences. In the sociology of religion, the book A Theory of Religion (1987), based on rational choice and coauthored by Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, stands out in the fields of formalisation and theory-building in religion. s Although A Theory of Religion met with sharp criticism, it has also been hailed as a milestone in the sociology of religion. Recently, 'the theory of religion' has been thoroughly revised in Acts offaith. Explaining the human side of religion by Rodney Stark and Roger Finke. 6

Ibidem, p. 130. Stark and Finke, Acts affaith, p. 115. 4 Ibidem, p. 116. 5 Hak, 'Rational choice'. Cf. Call ins, 'Book review'; idem, 'Stark and Bainbridge, Durkheim and Weber'. 6 Stark and Finke, Acts affaith.

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The hard core of rational choice theory is partly made up by the dictum of methodological individualism, i.e. scientific macro problems have to be solved at the level of individuals who act purposively. Thus the explanandum is looked upon- as the often unintended result of the purposive actions of individuals. Rational choice adherents apply the Popperian cyclical method of scientific problem-solving/ refined by Imre Lakatos. 8 Progress can be achieved by answering the problem (P) with a tentative theory (TT), which is then put to the test. If the theory does not fail the test, it is corroborated, and it is then tested again and again until it is worn out or has degenerated. On the other hand, if the theory fails the test or is falsified, it is not discarded right away. Researchers hold onto the theory and look for disturbing factors in the general socio-cultural circumstances or those of the individual. As long as the theory enables them to solve their scientific problems, i.e. the research programme is progressive, the researchers will stick to it. The theory or research programme is then discarded only when it has degenerated or fails to solve problems, and when there is an alternative to hand. 9 Rational choice theory, a micro-economic theory of human behaviour, postulates that individuals act purposively and are embedded within a sociocultural context that both structures and restricts their actions. Individuals choose the most efficient means, as they perceive them, for achieving their goals. Because of human nature, more often than not individuals make a rational trade-off between costs and profits in their strivings. Costs and profits are both material and immaterial, as well as personal and situational. The 'validity' and usefulness of the axiom of a purposive rational actor, who tries to avoid costs in order to maximise gains and acts within a socio-cultural context, is contested by some in the sociology of religion, and there is a steady stream of critical assessments. 10 Frequently debated issues in the study of religion with regard to rational choice theory include the so-called market theory of religion and the secularisation thesis." Followers of Durkheim's ideas on integration have known for decades that religious pluralism leads to a low level of religious commitment. 12 However, market theorists maintain that, in the USA, cities Popper, Objective knowledge. Lakatos, ; Falsification'. 9 Hak, Stagnatie. See also Ultee, Arts and Flap, Sociologie. 10 In Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (1995); Young, RC theory; Bruce, Choice and religion; Zafirovsky, 'Extending the rational choice model'; Sen, Rationality andfreedom; Lichbach, Is rational choice theory all ofsocial science? 11 Stark, ; Rc theories of religion'. 12 Batenburg, Hak, De Vos and Wielers, 'De invloed'; Hak and Sanders, 'Kerkvorming'. 7

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are places of worship whereas rural areas are religiously indifferent. 13 The argument provokes much debate within the sociology of religion as it runs counter to received sociological wisdom, in which cities are considered as places where religious indifference is rife because of anomie and secularisation. Market theorists speak of a religious economy in which denominations (churches, sects and cults) operate as 'religious fIrms' selling 'products' for which there is a stable demand. They then argue that competition in the religious marketplace leads to specialised and efficient religious fIrms and, as a consequence, there is a higher level of religious participation. In a monopolised religious market, with one dominant firm without competitors, the firm neither specialises nor (aggressively) finds its way to potential customers and consequently does not generate a high turnover or mobilise many people. The more enterprises there are operating on the (religious) market, the more specialisation and competition there is. The greater the competition there is between churches, the greater the religious participation of 'buyers'. In theory, a stable demand for religion is modelled. Yet serious empirical doubts may be raised concerning the stability of the demand for religion, and it is even rather doubtful whether the market theory holds water. 14 Stark and Finke on 'Religious choices. Conversion and reaffiliation ' According to Stark and Bainbridge, some two decades ago lS research on reaffiliation resembled the state of cultural anthropology in its infancy. It consisted of 'an unsystematic collection of traveller's tales, mostly journalistic, often inaccurate, and nearly devoid of theory'. The main approach to reaffiliation appeared to be a psycho-pathological one. 16 Individuals committed to religion or joining new religions were seen as deprived. Deprivation was seen as the cause of receptivity to particular religious and/or political messages, 17 for example, 'Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' .18 Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch traced the relationships between sect and church membership and social class and status

13 Finke, 'The consequences'; Finke and Stark, The churching of America 17761990. 14 Breault, 'New evidence'; Olson, 'Religious diversity'. For a recent state of the continuing debate on the validity of the market theory as regards secularisation see Swatos and Olson, The secularization debate. 15 Stark and Sims Bainbridge, A theory, p. 171. 16 Richardson, '(re-)affiliation', p. 120. 17 Hak, 'Deprivation theory'. 18 Matt. 11: 28.

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grouping. 19 The US scholar Niebuhr saw sects as the churches of the disinherited. 20 In the 1950s and 60s, the construction oftypologies was prevalent in social research on reaffiliation. 21 John Lofland's study of affiliation to the 'Moonies' or Unification Church in the 1960s resulted in the so-called Lofland-Stark modeI/2 which has since become 'the most often cited model' on the subject. 23 Since the 1970s, both the psycho-pathological theory of recruitment and the construction of typologies have been criticised. In 2000, Rodney Stark and Roger Finke presented the insight that 'attachments lie at the heart of (re-)affiliation, and that (re-)affiliation therefore tends to proceed along social networks formed by interpersonal attachments. ,24 This proposition forms the basis of a fully-fledged rational choice theory on recruitment. In Acts offaith. Explaining the human side of religion, Stark and Finke expand and revise the original theory expounded in A theory of religion. The revision is so extensive that it can be seen as providing a new theory. At the same time, Stark and Bainbridge postulate that individuals want 'explanations' and seek 'high exchange ratios',z5 i.e. people try to avoid costs in getting the desired rewards. In the trade-off, individuals use the explanations to achieve the high exchange ratios. The explanations also help indiviquals because, by definition, they are 'conceptual simplifications of reality, models of reality designed to guide action'.z6 Consequently, explanations must also be seen as rewards. Rewards are 'anything humans will incur costs to obtain' and costs are 'whatever humans attempt to avoid'.z7 Rewards are not only unequally distributed, but some rewards are scarcer than others. Furthermore, some seem to be attainable only in the distant future or in another world, or are even non-existent. In the latter case, more often than not, people satisfy themselves with substitutes, which Stark and Bainbridge call 'compensators'. Compensators are considered as a special kind of reward and, like all rewards and costs, are personal and situational, as well as either general or specific in nature. The more general the compensator, the more extensive the array of rewards, and the more specific a compensator the more limited the rewards. Stark and Bainbridge defme religion as an institution that provides general compensators based on superWeber, Gesammelte AuJsatze; Troeltsch, Die Soziallehren. Niebuhr, The social sources. 21 Glock, 'The role of deprivation'; Wilson, Magic and the millennium. 22 Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming a world-saver'. 23 Richardson, '(re-)affiliation', p. 120. 24 Stark and Finke, Acts offaith, p. 118. 25 Stark and Sims Bainbridge, A theory, p. 30. 26 Ibidem, p. 30. 27 Ibidem, p. 30. 19

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natural assumptions. Eternal life and the millennium are examples of such rewards. Priests provide religious compensators of a general nature. Magic offers a set of specific compensators, and magicians are the providers of specific compensators par excellence. 'Magic does not concern itself with the meaning of the universe, but with the manipulation of the universe for quite specific ends' .28 In Acts offaith, the concept of religious compensators is sloughed and is replaced by 'other-worldly rewards'. The reason for this change, as stated by Stark and Finke, is that they: always disliked using that term as it implies unmeant negative connotations about the validity of religious promises. As we reworked the theory, it became evident that there is no need to distinguish these kinds of explanations by use of a special term. It suffices to analyse aspects of the religious means of fulfilment and the issues of risk and plausibility entailed therein,z9

As a consequence, they also had to redefine the concepts of religion and magic. They now side with the founding father of social anthropology, Edward Tylor, who at the time defined religion as 'the belief in supernatural beings'. They also oppose Durkheim, who rejected Tylor's definition on false historical grounds. As defined by Stark and Finke, religion 'consists of very general explanations of existence, including the terms of exchange with a god or gods' ,30 and 'magic refers to all efforts to manipulate supernatural forces to gain rewards (or avoid costs) without reference to a god or gods or to general explanations to existence' .31 Their concept of 'investments' refers to an aspect of the controlling mechanism of human bondage. Investments are costs made in lasting relationships that have not yet fully yielded their rewards. People living a righteous life in order to achieve salvation form the standard example of investment in religion. Living righteously, for them, means foregoing all kinds of short-term rewards for an uncertain long-term reward. In Acts offaith, in the chapter called Religious choices. Conversion and reajfiliation, the question of 'Why and how do people sometimes choose to embrace a new faith,J2 is discussed. As mentioned above, in answering it, Rodney Stark and Roger Finke oppose received opinion on reaffiliation, Ibidem, p. 30. Stark and Finke, Acts offaith, p. 289. )0 Ibidem, p. 91. 31 Ibidem, p. 105. I am less happy because it means the loss of a good analytical tool, which brought in its wake a new definition of religion and magic which is analytically less sharp than the original definition. See Hak, 'Gebedsgenezing'. J2 Stark, Rodney, and Roger Finke, A cts offaith, p. 115. 28

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viz. 'the assumption that people convert primarily because they are attracted to particular new doctrines 33 , and they replace it by the thesis that 'conversion is seldom about seeking or embracing an ideology; it is about bringing one's religious behaviour into alignment with that of one's friends and family members' .34 In 1965, John Lofland and Rodney Stark had found empirically that individuals accommodate their (religious) behaviour to the behaviour of the members of their personal networks. Together with the axiom on calculating an individual's form, this finding is taken from the building blocks of the Stark-Finke model on conversion. Combined with the (nominalistic) definitions of conversion, reaffiliation and social and religious capital, they formulate thirteen propositions on reaffiliation. The distinction between conversion and reaffiliation is only a matter of degree. Conversion 'refers to shifts across religious traditions' and is a 'long distance shift', for example from Christianity to [slam, whereas 'reaffiliation refers to shifts within religious traditions' .35 Consequently, reaffiliation occurs far more frequently than conversion. Social capital is defined as 'interpersonal attachments' and religious capital as 'the degree of mastery of and attachment to a particular religious culture' .36 The propositions concern the conservation of both social and religious capital when converting or reaffiliating, and with mixed religious marriages on the one hand, and the relationships between reaffiliation and conversion on the other. They read as follows: in making religious choices, people will attempt to conserve their social capital under normal circumstances, most people will neither convert nor reaffiliate to the extent that people have or develop stronger attachments to those committed to a different version of their traditional religion, they will reaffiliate to the extent that people have or develop stronger attachments to those committed to a religion in a different tradition, they will convert in making religious choices, people will attempt to conserve their religious capital the greater their religious capital, the less likely people will be either to reaffiliate or to convert reaffiliation will be far more prevalent than conversion (under normal conditions) when people reaffiliate they will tend to select an option that maximises their

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34 35 36

Ibidem, Ibidem, Ibidem, Ibidem,

p. 115. p. 117.

p. 114. p. 118ft:

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conservation of religious capital when people convert, they will tend to select an option that maximises their conservation of religious capital most people will marry within their religious grouping in mixed religious marriages, spouses usually will be of very similar religious backgrounds, belonging to groupings within the same religious tradition mixed religious marriages will be more likely to the degree that one or both spouses lack religious capital when mixed religious marriages occur, the couple will maximise their religious capital when the partner with the lower level of commitment reaffiliates or converts to the religion of the more committed partner. 37

It appears that Stark and Finke see reaffiliation and conversion first and foremost as resulting from cost avoiding behaviour, i.e. from the individual's attempts to preserve social and religious capital. The propositions on reaffiliation and conversion can be seen as translations of Stark et al. 's hardcore postulates. Religious man lacks explanations and wants them so that he can save former investments. They have found ample support for their hypotheses, with the exception of the proposition dealing with the fu38 ture religious homogeneity of mixed religious marriages. This proposition has not yet been researched in a systematic way.

A critique of Stark et al. and an outline of an alternative rational choice theory In this final section I will discuss certain aspects of the hard core of Stark et al. 's theory of religion, and I will conclude by outlining a revised or alternative theory of reaffiliation and conversion, which also departs from the rational choice paradigm. To begin with, there is the concept of explanations, which is one of the key concepts in the theories of both Stark and Bainbridge, and Stark and Finke. As we have already noted, explanations are 'conceptual simplifications or models of reality that often provide plans designed to guide action' .39 They explain to calculating individuals how they can get the rewards they want at low cost, given their socio-cultural context. Consequently, explanations are sought as rewards in themselves. By defmition, they are therefore also the mechanism which is at the root of the individual's purposive behaviour. However, are the mechanism (to avoid costs Ibidem, p. 118ff Ibidem, p. 124ff. This proposition appears to be a restatement of Greeley's Law (Greeley 1981). 39 Ibidem, p. 87. 37

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and/or conserve capital) and the purposive strivings themselves not both analytically and empirically different? I think they are. Moreover, there is no need for such blending. I wiJl now expand on this. Apart from blurring the mechanism and the goals, there is a (US?) bias in their theory on religion. According to Stark et al., some of the explanations that individuals want can only be found in religion. Thus, to Stark et al., religion appears to be the only plausible source of certain rewards or explanations. However, the mere existence of these particular rewards does not necessarily imply that humans want or even need them. For the sake of theorising or modelling, we can postulate a stable demand for religious explanations, but the researcher has to prove the stable demand empirically. In addition, it remains a moot point whether there is empirically a stable demand for religion. The fact that there are ever-larger groups of people who can not only be classified as 'not belonging', but also as 'not believing' or 'unbelieving', is more than just an indication that it could be otherwise. The actual presence or absence of the demand as a socio-cultural contextual variable must at least be demonstrated in actual research. There is also the question of whether religion is indeed the only plausible source of certain rewards or explanations. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe, movements such as utopian socialism, anarchism and early socialism could easily compete with Christianity in the provision of particular general explanations. These ideologies provided thisworldly rewards of a similar nature to the other-worldly rewards found in religion. In 1933, research by Kruijt on un-churching in the Netherlands revealed that political agitators and evangelists were competing for followers. The inhabitants of some villages in the northern provinces of the Netherlands were almost totally re-Christianised by evangelists, whereas in neighbouring villages the inhabitants followed the 'socialist' political agitators and became almost totally un-churched. Moreover, most of the inhabitants of all these villages were socially deprived. At the time, both the political and the religious ideologies could provide their adherents with certain re40 wards or general explanations. Apart from the fact that political ideology and religion can compete as sources of certain rewards, this also highlights the fact that deprivation may play a role in reaffiliation or conversion. Finally, I doubt that the implication of trying to get the most for least, given the individual's personal context, is that individuals are trying to conserve their capital. As investments are past material and/or immaterial costs incurred, they not only can but also often have to be written off. Individuals regularly write off and also often forgo investments without perceived great loss. Depending on the goals set and the socio-cultural context in which 40

Kruijt, De onkerkelikheid.

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they operate, writing off an investment can even be very rewarding. Accumulation of capital, therefore, is a target rather than the conservation of social and religious capital. I have now completed my criticism of the assumptions of Stark et al. Next, I will propose an alternative model. The revised or alternative theory should subscribe re affiliation or conversion not only to exclusive religious intermediate groupings but also to other exclusive ideological non-religious intermediate groupings, in so far as they provide their members with the same sort of non-existent (albeit this-worldly!) rewards as religion. Further, although Stark and Finke rightly stress the importance of personal networks, it is not so much the shift in an individual's personal network that matters, but the shift in 'the relevant other(s)' within the several networks in which the well-integrated individual participates. Moreover, Stark and Finke overstate the shyness of ideology when they say that 'conversion is seldom about seeking or embracing an to ideology; it is about bringing one's religious behaviour into alignment with that of one's friends and family members' .41 A quick tour through my personal network taught me that it is more frequent than they are willing to admit. An alternative theory should also explain the behaviour of individuals who adopt the new ideology first, and then later join the exclusive intermediate grouping. In both theorising and researching it is analytically helpful to distinguish between instrumental goals and final goals. As the term suggests, instrumental goals help to achieve final goals. Instead of those postulated by Stark et al.'s explanations, I would suggest that the final goals are (a) physical well-being, for example good health, leisure, sexual intercourse, and (b) social approval. The latter, in its turn, can be distinguished by features such as a striving for status, positive affection, wanting to be loved, and confIrmation of behaviour, or behaving appropriately in the eyes of relevant others.42 Reaffiliation or conversion can be instrumental in achieving social approval, for example, in finding the wanted partner(s) and thus being loved (= positive affection), and/or in getting the approval of the relevant others (= conformation of behaviour) and/or, far more often, in achieving status by joining a religious intermediate group with high(er) SES membership. Therefore, reaffiliation or conversion to an exclusive religious intermediate grouping must be looked at, either as instrumental in achieving physical wellbeing and/or social approval, or as an unintended consequence of trying to achieve these final goals. Consequently, the conservation of social and

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Stark and Finke, Acts offaith, p. 117. Hak, 'Rational choice'.

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religious capital is quite often an unintended consequence of aligning with different 'relevant others', or with another network. Lack of physical wellbeing usually makes individuals visit their physicians. However, when they lack prospects as far as their health is concerned, they may join an intermediate grouping in which faith healing is practised. This is facilitated, i.e. costs less, when they are introduced to the group by a member of that group who is already in their personal network. They can also try magicians, as an occasional visit to a magician brings fewer costs in its wake. A travelling faith healer, who can also be considered a magician from a certain point ofview,43 reduces the costs. First and foremost, I consider the leaving and/or joining of an exclusive ideological intermediate grouping to be triggered by a shift in the individual's 'relevant other(s)' with regard to exclusive ideological intermediate groupings. This is in accordance with Stark and Finke's postulation that the individual's personal network plays an important part in the process. As 'relevant others' are situational, they shift constantly. Individuals experience various 'relevant others' during the daytime, during the week and during the life-cycle. For example, the 'relevant other' shifts from the parents/siblings and relatives, to teachers, peer group/friends, colleagues, partner, etc. Geographic distance or mobility is also an important cost factor, as is the kind of network in which the recruit finds himself. In a more homogeneous network, changing colour is much more costly than in a more heterogeneous network. The same holds true for the degree of integration in the intermediate groupings. The individual's personality, for example openness to new experiences, gender, age and level of education are all factors to take into account. Denise Rousseau and Yitzak Fried write that there is: the need to think differently about interactions between individuals and their. surroundings depending on whether the situation is weak (new, having few norms, dynamic, or emergent) or strong (established, having elaborate behavioural controls, stable or closed from external influences). Strong situations, such as those where performance pressure is high, limit the extent to which individual performance can be attributed to personality differences or individual 44 dispositions.

Stark and Finke rightly stress the importance of finding a partner in reaffiliation/conversion,45 but their propositions on heterogeneous religious 43 44 45

See Hak, 'Gebedsgenezing'. Rousseau and Fried, 'Location'. See also Derks, Nissen and De Raat, Het licht gezien.

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marriages must be extended. For instance, earlier research at the village of Urk showed that mixed religion couples-to-be chose a religious middle ground. This occurred to such an extent that the consistoryofthe chosen denomination demanded that the couple should be members for at least six months before they could have a church marriage and become full me mbers. 46 The research question under consideration is: How is Stark and Finke's theory on conversion to be evaluated, and how can it be improved? In order to answer the question, a short exposition on rational choice theory and religion was first given, followed by a condensed version of Stark and Fink's theory on conversion, with some critical comments. The outline of a revised theory has been sketched and the question now is whether the revised theory can explain conversion and reaffiliation in a more satisfactory way than Rodney Stark and Roger Finke's theory? Can the revised theory not only explain the old facts, but also predict and explain novel facts, and, finally, are these facts empirically corroborated? Ultimately these questions will on ly be answered in future research. Elsewhere I have argued47 that the monopolisation of scientific truth for utilitarian individualist or rational choice theories only, denying structural functionalists in particular their rightful place in the sociology of religion, is questionable. To a degree, this is for the purpose of propagating the new theory, but it also has to do with a skewed view of how the social sciences progress. In order to demonstrate this, I have constructed a structural functionalist theory which is at least as powerful or progressive as Stark and Finke's. As long as there is no definite 'winner', I make a plea for a multiparadigmatic theoretical-empirical sociology of religion.

46 47

Hak, 'Economic change and religious tradition'; idem, 'Kerksplitsing'. Idem, 'A structural functionalist theory on reaffiliation'.

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS

Henri Gooren

Introduction: The need/or a new model o/religious conversion Since the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City on 11 September 2001, the social and political force of religion is no longer the object of academic discussion alone. Contrary to scholarly and popular expectations, secularisation is a phenomenon that seems to be limited in scope to north-western Europe, whereas in the rest of the world religion remains what it has been for most of human history: one of the dominant forces in society and in the lives of people. The central question of this article - why people may change their religious affiliation or become disaffiliated - is therefore relevant from both an academic and a practical point of view. From a scholarly point of view, religious conversion is connected with other theoretical discussions, for instance with actor/structure debates or recruitment to social movements. I Analysing the dynamics of why people move from one religion to another, or from a rather passive to a highly committed form of religious participation, now seems more relevant than ever. The literature on conversion, which started impressively with WiIliam lames (The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, 1902) and other psychologists in the first half of the twentieth century, came to be dominated by the John Lofland and Rodney Stark ('Becoming a world-saver: A theory of conversion to a deviant perspective', 1965) and later by the Rodney Stark and Roger Finke (Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side 0/ Religion, 2000) approaches to the sociology of religion. Theoretical progress, however, has become problematic. The field of conversion studies currently seems to be stagnating, is perhaps even in decline. During the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, understanding conversion was an important theme in the sociology of religion and religious anthropology? However. the only new conI

2

See for an excellent overview. Mauss, 'Research'. See e.g. Barker, The Making; idem. 'The Conversion '; Beckford, 'Accounting for

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version model to subsequently arise was again a conversion stages model by Rambo (Understanding Religious Conversion, 1993), which was basically a refmement of Lofland and Stark's 'Becoming a World-Saver'. In the 1990s, apart from two wide-ranging anthologies on conversion to world religions/ the only pUblications to appear were a handful of articles, none of which proposed a new mode1. 4 The aim of this article is rather modest. It will make an inventory of existing literature on conversion by sketching the contours of the new model of religious conversion careers we are currently starting to work on. It will draw some comparisons to Latin America, a region that is not usually mentioned in the literature on conversion. These comparisons are based on earlier fieldwork on Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism and Mormonism in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

A new model o/religious conversion careers In western Europe, many people live thoroughly secularised lives, without any participation in churches or social movements. In the United States, a person born as a member of the Presbyterian Church may remain active in that church until death, although the extent and intensity of actual church participation may, of course, vary greatly over time. Other people born as Presbyterians, however, might join a Pentecostal group in their twenties and remain active in that new group, or not. Nominal Catholics in Latin America, born into Catholicism without ever feeling committed to it, might convert to a Pentecostal group. In sub-Saharan Africa, people may grow up fulfilling the demands of a traditional religion or witchcraft before converting to Christianity or Islam. But following this religious conversion, do they reject witchcraft entirely or simply give it a new meaning (demons and bad spirits)? Do they put it into another framework of meaning, which of course guarantees its continued importance in their lives?

Conversion'; Greil and Rudy, 'Conversion'; Horton, 'African Conversion', idem, 'On the Rationality of Conversion: One'; idem, 'On the Rationality of Conversion: Two'; Lofland, Doomsday Cult; Lofland and Skonovd, 'Conversion Motifs'; Richardson, Conversion Careers; idem, 'The Active vs Passive Convert'; Robbins', Cults; Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology'; Snow and Phillips, 'The Lofland-Stark Conversion Model'; Staples and Mauss, 'Conversion'; Straus, 'Religious Conversion'. 3 Hefner, Conversion; Van der Veer, Conversion. 4 Many of these articles dealt with an important new field of study, particularly in western Europe: conversion to Islam. See for example the special edition of Social Compass 46:3 (1999). On this subject, see also the excellent book by Jean-Marie Gaudeul, Called from Islam to Christ.

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gious conversion,s which were mostly based on research in the United States in the 1960s and 70s and were clearly influenced by the situation of religious pluralism in. that country. The older models were, moreover, largely derived from studies of conversion from one Christian church, sect, or movement to another. Another problem is that the classic process models of conversion from the scholarly literature of the 1960s and 70s took a chronological rather than a phenomenological perspective on religious change. Converts were supposed to go through a fixed set of stages, with each stage bringing them closer to full participation in the new religious group. These old models are difficult to use in the contemporary context of growing religious pluralism in Latin America and other parts of the developing world. In process model s of religious conversion, such as the original one by Stark and Lofland, converts of various world religions at different moments in time are supposed to go through similar stages before finally reaching a full or spiritual conversion. It is clear, for example from the literature on conversion to Protestantism in Latin America, that such process models of conversion are no longer valid because there seem to be no fixed stages and the patterns of conversion are much more complex and heterogeneous. 6 Hence a new 'model of religious conversion should also be connected, in the contemporary context of pluralism and/or globalisation, to recent sociological theories on the importance of religious economies and the religious market. 7 As I see it, our new model of religious conversion careers should defme a limited set of parameters, which can be empirically observed and investigated during fieldwork. These parameters need to identify the factors in the conversion process, the indicators that show an actual conversion has taken place, and the indicators that demonstrate an ongoing commitment after conversion. Hence I will use the more dynamic concept of the conversion career, 8 which includes all periods of greater or lesser participation in one or more religious groups during a person's life.

Cf. Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming a World-Saver'; Lofland, Doomsday Cult. See for example Brusco, The Reformation; Goldin and Metz, 'An Expression'; Gooren, Rich Among the Poor; Lancaster, Thanks to God; Mariz, Coping With Poverty and Martin, Tongues of Fire; idem, Pentecostalism. 7 Stark and Finke (Acts of Faith, p. 193) give the following definition: 'A religious economy consists of all the religious activity going on in any society: a "market" of current and potential adherents, a set of one or more religious organisations seeking to attract or maintain adherents, and the religious culture offered by the organisation(s)'. For a more extensive discussion of the debate on religious markets, see Gooren, 'The Religious Market'. 8 Cf. Richardson, Conversion Careers (1978). 5

6

28

HENRIGOOREN

Factors in conversion l. The following factors are important: situational factors, personality factors, institutional factors (the church's position towards cultural practices, evangelisation activities, the charisma of the leaders, the appeal of the church's organisation and doctrine), and social factors (especially the role of social networks). 2. The indicators to show that an actual conversion has taken place. The most promising indicator of conversion is related to changes in converts' speech and reasoning. Converts supposedly engage in 'biographical reconstruction: reconstructing their past life in accordance with the new universe of discourse and its attendant grammar and vocabulary of motives' .9 3. The indicators that demonstrate an ongoing church commitment after conversion.

Clifford Staples and Armand Mauss showed that three factors, mentioned by Snow and Machalek lO as conversion indicators, are actually commitment indicators. These are the adoption of a new master attribution scheme, the supposed suspension of reasoning by analogy, and the embracement of the convert role. These are indicators of confession, which is a theological term describing a new social identity following a successful conversion. My new model of religious conversion careers aims to distinguish five levels of religious participation (fig. 1).11 Pre-affiliation refers, in retrospect, to the world-view of the person preceding affiliation or conversion. Many people simply have an affiliation to a church: they attend regularly and are registered as members, but religion does not appear to be a key part of their life. Conversion refers to a radical personal change of life and world-view, and a commitment to a new community. A successful conversion, in turn, might eventually and gradually lead to confession: a coremember identity, involving high-level participation in the new religious community and strong evangelism beyond it. However, this new discipline may turn out to be too difficult to maintain, especially for men. Though many converts continue to be committed members, disaffiliation may also follow, possibly the start of a new career. Affiliation, conversion, confession and disaffiliation are dynamic, but not necessarily chronological during

Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology', p. 173. Ibidem, pp. 173-174. 11 These are merely categories in a typology, not chronological phases of individual spiritual development. For the theological distinction, see Spindler, Vindicating Conversion, as well as Gros, Meyer and Rusch, Growth, pp. 741-742, 755. For the sociological 'levels of adherence', see Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, p. 45ff.

9

10

TOW ARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

29

a person's conversion career. Figure 1: The new model of religious conversion careers

_c_o_nv_e_~_io_n-----11 ~

/

1-.1

'.

'---_A_f_fi_li_a_ti_on_--'I

\

\\\

I

Confession

.................., ........................." .

Pre-affiliation

- \. .~

I -.c:................. I

..""

If""'' '

Disaffiliation

The starting point of the new model of religious conversion careers is the individual, who feels a certain urge to be or become religiously involved, to give expression to certain feelings of religious meaning (personality factors). This individual, of course, is living at a certain point in the life cycle, whether adolescence, early or late parenthood, or perhaps even grandparenthood; e.g. slhe might even be experiencing a turning point (situational factors). Moreover, no-one exists only as an individual. S/he is usually part of larger or smaller circles of relatives, friends and acquaintances (social factors). Finally, the individual's choice of which church group to convert to (or remain active in) is influenced by institutional factors, such as which religious groups are available on· the local religious market, the evangelisation activities and cultural politics (i.e. criticisms of local cultural practices) of these churches, and the appeal of the doctrine, rules of conduct and type of church organisation to the individual. For each of the four groups of factors (personality, situational, social and institutional), five levels of church participation (pre-affiliation, affiliation, conversion, confession and disaffiliation) can be described and discussed. This article deals with the impact of the social and institutional factors in the new religious conversion careers model (see above). The impact of personality and situational factors will be discussed in another article. 12

12

To be published by the Free University (Amsterdam).

30

HENRI GOOREN

Social factors l3 Although increased personal autonomy is often considered a trait of modernity, hardly any individual can live in a social vacuum. The force and number of one's social ties shape an individual's room for manoeuvre in any given society or social class. The number of social ties between individuals, and their strength, may vary immensely. In addition, there are huge differences with respect to the number and importance of social ties between inhabitants of rich and poor countries, and between people from lower and upper classes. People are shaped not only by their personality and the particular circumstances of their lives, but by the people they interact with (whether daily or only once in their lives). Pre-affiliation If the individual does not have strong ties to friends and relatives who oppose conversion to a new church, taking the step to convert becomes easier. The absence of social ties can be an important indicator of potential conversion. In a situation of pre-affiliation, if the existing social networks are strong and consist mostly of people outside religious groups, the likelihood of joining another religious group is weak. However, if friends and relatives have already joined the Mormon Church and the individual is the last Presbyterian, taking the step to join the Mormons, of course, becomes much easier. Hence, if the affective bonds with people from a certain religious group are strong, the likelihood of joining that group increases because the threshold to entrance, so to speak, is low. To put it crudely, people join the church of their family or their friends. l4 However, someone in the family has to be the first in switching from one religious group to another. Moreover, s/he may pay a high price for this switch. Affiliation The importance of social networks is paramount. Strong extra-church bonds make it more likely that church commitment will remain limited to the level of affiliation, because many social ties pull people away from church. On the other hand, if social ties with church members become increasingly stronger and more affective, the likelihood of raising the level of participa13 This section has benefited from Lofland, Doomsday Cult; Mauss, 'Research'; Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology' and Mauss (personal communication, October 2003). 14 Stark and Finke, Acts of Faith, p. 116.

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

31

tion in church also increases. Could it be true that people are more likely to have a conversion experience if their social bonds with church members become stronger? This constitutes an important social factor: intensive interaction with total converts to the church. 15 The more intensive the interaction, the more likely is the possibility of experiencing a conversion. However, this factor is also a liability. One Mormon convert in Guatemala dropped out of church at an early stage because the older members paid no attention to him at all. 16 Since church commitment increases via social learning experiences, another social factor is role learning from converts and core members. This too is a sensitive factor. New members have to not only feel welcomed by established members and church leaders, but also be involved actively in church life. In many church groups (e.g. Pentecostals, Mormons) this takes the form of performing a task as a volunteer, such as teaching, organising or speaking in public. If new members do not feel welcome in the church group, or if conflicts arise with other members, they will drop out. A major part of the high growth rates of, again, the Pentecostals and Mormons in Latin America can be attributed to the phenomenon of church switching or, to stay with the market metaphor, church shopping. 17 People try out a church but they do not feel welcome, so they drop out and try another church, etc. Meanwhile all these churches probably count them as members. Some individuals may actually use their church affiliation as a means to create a wedge in their current social ties, for instance, trying to minimise contact with relatives or in-laws by spending more and more time in church. If they get along much better with the church members than with their relatives, the likelihood of deepening their church commitment increases. To give another example, it has been documented that for many women in Latin America, conversion to a Pentecostal Church is a way of avoiding contact with an abusive husband or even a way of helping him get his life in order and start acting as a responsible father and spouse. 18 Joining a church may help people to find 'free social space' 19 for themselves, and there are many forms of achieving this.

See Lofland, Doomsday Cult; Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology'. See Gooren, Rich among the Poor, pp. 155-156 and 164. 17 Gooren, 'Analyzing LDS Growth'; idem, 'Reconsidering Protestant Growth'; idem, 'The Dynamics of LDS Growth'. 18 Brusco, The Reformation; Mariz, Coping with Poverty. 19 Martin, Tongues of Fire, p. 280. 15

16

32

HENRIGOOREN

Conversion If the individual is predisposed to remain within the church, the likelihood of experiencing a conversion increases if there are strong bonds with church members who have already experienced a conversion or who might even be core members with a confession identity. Many individuals imitate the behaviour of people who are important to them. The role-learning factor is greatly strengthened in such a situation. Part of the learning process is the core members' expectation that the individual will perfect his or her own testimony, his or her own conversion story. This, of course, involves learning a new narrative. 20 Converts are frequently asked to give elaborate testimonies of their newly found religious convictions, both within the church and outside it. This helps some to become core members themselves, while others might be put off by the pressure of high expectations from core members.

Confession I define confession as a core-member identity, involving a high level of participation inside the new religious community and strong evangelism on the outside. Most church leaders, teachers and administrators would normally have a confession identity. The same applies, of course, to professional or volunteer missionaries. People who develop a core-member identity do so through constant social interaction both with other converts and core members, and with outsiders. To be able to convince outsiders, the individual has to have a strong conversion story. Many outsiders ask humiliating questions or even openly ridicule the individual for his or her convictions. If the individual does not have a strong belief, a strong conviction and a strong story, slbe may even begin to doubt some of the church's rules and doctrines. I will assume that the confession identity is not an easy one to reach or maintain. In my research on Mormons in Costa Rica and Guatemala, for instance, it became clear that most of the senior leaders had gone through long periods of inactivity during which they were temporarily disaffiliated from their church or even temporarily affiliated to another.21

Disaffiliation Social factors probably account for the great majority of disaffiliations. The strength of certain social ties, for example the dependence of newly-weds

20

ef. Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology'.

See the story of Mormon 'bishop' (congregation leader) Mario in Gooren, Rich among the Poor, p. 154.

21

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

33

on the support of their friends and relatives, causes many people to drop out of their preferred church for a certain period of time. In the case of Mario, the Guatemalan Mormon leader mentioned above, this happened after marrying into a strongly Catholic family. Even members with high commitment and strong testimony may drop out if conflicts arise with other members or church leaders, as happened to the Mormon printer Miguel. He converted to the church in 1978 and worked with the V.S. missionaries in his church in Guatemala City, but the leaders changed his task as a church volunteer. He was ridiculed by fellow members and even some church leaders because he could not read and write. Miguel dropped out of the Mormon Church after being an active member for over a decade. Institutional factors

The specific church group the individual may decide to convert to (or remain active in) at a certain point in life is influenced by institutional factors. Which religious groups are available on the religious market? What are the particular evangelisation activities and cultural politics (criticisms of certain elements of local culture which the church disapproves of, e.g. machismo in Latin America) of these churches? What is the appeal of the doctrine, rules of conduct and type of church organisation to the individual? Pre-affiliation

If the individual lives in a society with a religious monopoly, the religious economy is not open and free but restricted. Consequently, the competition in the religious market will be non-existent or at least unequal. Latin America was closed to Protestant missionaries until the second half of the nineteenth century; Roman Catholicism was usually the official religion mentioned in the various national constitutions. In Arab countries, ninety to ninety-nine percent of people consider themselves Muslims. 22 Religious activities by other religious groups are severely circumscribed and the religious monopoly is effectively guarded by closing-off the society to missionaries. Conversion to another religion by a Muslim can be punished by death. If these laws remain the same, Christianity will never grow in considerable numbers in the Middle East. Apart from these legal restrictions, there may also be cultural restrictions. The first Protestants in Latin America generally had a hard time because they were ostracised by neighbours and relatives.

22

See lohnstone and Mandryk, Operation World.

34

HENRIGOOREN

Consider, as a contrasting case, the situation of religious pluralism in the United States of America. In a society with religious freedom, the religious economy is open and there are many religious markets of a highly competitive nature, leaving room for many religious niches catered to by many different churches. 23 How do churches compete on a religious market? First, they have to be present. Before the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries in Latin America, an individual was either an active Catholic, a nominal Catholic or an inactive Catholic. S/he had no choice. Second, churches have to be visible through missionary activities. Church members or missionaries (professionals or volunteers) have to go out into the streets to bring in new members. Third, churches' doctrines, rules of conduct and organisation must have a certain appeal to outsiders, to pre-affIliates with a potential interest in joining a church. Affiliation

The above-mentioned cases show that the line between social and institutional factors is sometimes hard to draw. The Mormon Church, for instance, is perfectly organised, on paper, in a great many neatly defined volunteer tasks ('caUings'). In the United States, the system works fine, but in Latin America it usually does not. 24 This shows the importance of social and cultural factors, which tie in with the institutional, i.e. organisational, factors. Elsewhere, I have analysed in more detail the factors that may induce people to affiliate themselves with a certain church by focusing on the Guatemalan case. 25 A new and relatively unexplored factor to explain affIliation is the cultural politics of a particular church. Is it critical or supportive of certain cultural practices, e.g. witchcraft, adultery, machismo or even political activism? First impressions from earlier research on Mormons and Pentecostals in Central America seemed to indicate that people feel attracted to churches that question certain cultural patterns that were generally accepted before but which people now feel to be oppressive or keeping them locked in poverty. Machismo and alcohol problems have already been mentioned, and the need to spend money lavishly on Roman Catholic fiestas for patron saints could also be mentioned here,z6 Based on the literature, the church's doctrine and organisation only partly explain a church's appeal to outsiders. The particular rules of conduct Stark and Finke, Acts of Faith, pp. 209-217. Gooren, 'Analyzing LDS Growth'; idem, 'The Dynamics of LDS Growth'. 25 Idem, 'Reconsidering Protestant Growth'. 26 Idem, Rich among the Poor.

23

24

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

35

a church espouses, however, are more important. Many people (especially in Latin America and Africa) seem to be attracted to churches that forbid them to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs or engage in adultery.27 The church-imposed discipline helps them to put their lives in order and to maintain more disciplined life-styles. This brings many advantages to their households, such as a more stable life, more money and better education for the children. If these benefits are available to all members, whether affiliates or core members, the need to convert is presumably less strong. Many mainstream churches do not make heavy demands on their members, thus they actually encourage the individual to remain only affiliated. The price of affiliation is low, so to speak. These churches may have great numbers of affiliated members but there is no growth, and there are usually no missionaries either, or only professional, fully paid missionaries. As is the case with a professional, fully paid clergy, these are not the most zealous of evangelists. It is hard to make outsiders enthusiastic about a church that asks nothing of its members. The church may get many freeriders, who like the solemn atmosphere of church services, but not many church volunteers. 28 The church will not gain new members and, in the end, it may cease to exist as its members grow older and die. Harsh as this may sound, it is actually a good description of the situation in many mainstream churches in western Europe (Anglicans, Dutch Reformed and Lutherans) and the United States (Presbyterians, Unitarians and Episcopalians).

Conversion On the other hand, strict church groups, such as the Pentecostals, Mormons and lehovah's Witnesses, make heavy demands on their members in terms of investments of time and money, and rules of conduct. In these churches, salvation comes only for the active members. Among the Witnesses, for instance, only active members who go out into the streets to knock on doors are counted as members in the statistics. For the lehovah's Witnesses, the only members that matter are core members. The social pressure to have a conversion experience in part originates in institutional arrangements and is very strong. Hence, these strict churches are the ones that are growing. This is not a new phenomenon 29 and is not restricted to the western world. Pentecostals are exploding in south-east Asia, Africa and Latin America, growing strongly in the United States, parts of Europe and other parts of Asia, and 27 See e.g. Martin, Tongues of Fire; idem, Pentecostalism; Gooren, Rich among the Poor. 28 See Iannaccone, 'Sacrifice and Stigma', on the free-rider problem in churches. 29 See e.g. Kelley, Why Conservative Churches are Growing.

36

HENRI GOOREN

growing moderately in western Europe. Mormons are gaining members especially in Latin America and Africa, but the drop-out rates are as impressive as the growth rates. 30 Most churches (apart from the stagnating mainstream churches mentioned above) have their own, often fairly standardised trajectory for new members to help them to ultimately arrive at the conversion stage. The conversion process in each church follows a certain scenario, which leaves room for a whole repertoire of forms of conduct. The conversion process for Mormon men in Guatemala, for example, typically goes as follows. As adolescents, they talked to Mormon missionaries in the street or heard about the church from friends. Before marrying, they had alcohol problems and reached a point where they could not go on any longer. They wanted to put their lives in order. Around this time, they often started a small enterprise. With the aid of their spouse, relatives or church members, they managed to overcome their alcohol problems and started to have a more disciplined life. If relations with the old members were good, they usually stayed within the church and often became core members themselves. 31

Confession Confession is defmed as a core-member identity, involving a high level of participation inside the new religious community and strong evangelism on the outside. I noted above that most church leaders, teachers and administrators normally have a confession identity. As is the case with conversion, the actual form of confession differs from one church to another. The model should try to do justice to this diversity, but also attempt to identify factors in the core-member identity that are universal to all, or at least most, churches. The main difference again runs between churches with professional and fully paid clergy (most mainstream Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church) and churches in which all or most leadership positions are tasks carried out by volunteers. In the first group, confession becomes a professional identity; to put it crudely, not a calling but just a job. Using the religious markets model, Stark and Finke have shown that professional clergy are usually not highly motivated to increase their church membership. More members mean a heavier workload, while the clergy's wages re-

The Guatemalan case sheds new light on Rodney Stark's high estimate of over 267 million Monnons (and a low estimate of almost 64 million) by the year 2080. Stark ('So far. So Good', p. 179) is projecting the high 1980s growth rates a century into the future, while ignoring the equally high drop-out rates. 31 This part is based on Gooren, Rich among the Poor. 30

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

37

main the same. 32 In churches with a predominantly volunteer leadership composition, people are generally much more motivated to bring new members into their church. This motivation, of course, fIrst of all has a spiritual side. God wants them to convert people. But, again, it also has a practical side. More members mean higher self-esteem for core members ('we brought them in') and a lower workload because the reservoir of volunteers keeps expanding. Successful churches, basically defmed as churches which experience membership growth, mostly have voluntary leaders and voluntary mi~­ sionaries! This applies to MOffi1ons, Jehovah's Witnesses and almost all Pentecostal groups. In the MOffi1on Church, incidentally, the term 'calling' is used to describe voluntary positions in the church. There is, of course, a negative side to the supposed success story of strict churches using volunteers. Volunteer tasks place high demands on all members, but especially on core members: leaders, teachers and administrators. These demands can be described as time, money and energy. Mormon congregation leaders, called 'bishops', in Guatemala City spend an average of nineteen hours a week on church business. 33 It is hard to combine this with the average working week of fifty to sixty hours. Thus follows the supreme irony: in a church which values family life so highly, the volunteer leaders themselves only spend an average of thirty hours a week athome!34

Disaffiliation As mentioned previously, there is not much literature on disaffIliation, which is also known as inactivity, church desertion, and the ultimate form, apostasy.35 Although clearly a major concern of church leaders and mission studies experts,36 there is a lack of substantive data on the subject. It would be interesting, for instance, to compare activity rates for Mormons, Witnesses, Adventists and Pentecostals in as many countries as possible.

32

See Finke and Stark, Acts o/Faith, p. 217.

33 By way of comparison, the average time spent on church matters of all informants together was 7.5 hours. The general Mormon average was 9 hours, Pentecostals spent about 8 hours a week on church matters, and Catholics only a few hours (Gooren, Rich among the Poor, p. 196). 34 These Mormon bishops were dedicated core members who tried not to complain, but their spouses and children certainly did. 35 The standard works on apostasy are Bromley, Falling from the Faith; idem, The Politics. Another interesting contribution is Richardson, Van der Lans and Derks, 'Leaving and Labelling'. See also Wright, Leaving Cults. 36 See for example Kessler, 'La crisis'; McGavran, Understanding.

38

HENRI GOOREN

From my own fieldwork experiences in Central America, there seem to be two main causes of institutional factors leading to disaffiliation. First, many new members are never fully institutionalised in their new church group and culture. Mormon missionaries were baptising new members in Costa Rica and Guatemala after only two weeks and six lectures. These converts never had a spiritual conversion experience, did not know many of the basic tenets of Mormonism and, if they could not connect well with the core members, they soon left. They were uncertain. They felt abandoned when people suddenly expected them to teach a class or do administrative tasks. ~o they dropped out. This might be called inactivity through inexperience. The second cause is somewhat the opposite. New members gradually get well socialised into Mormon life, but cannot deal with the stress caused by the social and time demands of their new religion. This applies especially to individuals who convert, whilst the rest of their family remain Catholic (or Protestant). They are pressured by relatives to stop going to that silly church. Their spouses complain that they spend too much time in church and not enough with their family. In a situation of poverty and the average forty-six-hour working week, spending nine hours in church every week (plus travel time, reading, studying, etc.) can simply become too much. Inactivity through overload, so to speak. The future challenge of successful strict churches will not be how to get outsiders to join their church, but how to keep them inside their church. Consolidation instead of growth; socialisation over evangelisation.

Summary and conclusions This essay has concentrated on the role of social and institutional factors in the new religious conversion careers model which I am currently developing. The model identifies five levels of religious commitment in an individual's conversion career: pre-affiliation, affiliation, conversion, confession and disaffiliation. It acknowledges the influence of four types of factors on these levels of religious activity: personality factors, situational factors, institutional factors and social factors. Personality factors might be decisive in determining whether or not people become religiously active at all. In most of western Europe, only a minority of people are church members or even religious. If there is no religious frame of reference, no need to make religious meanings, then there is no need to become religiously active by joining a church. Personality is the basic factor in determining whether an individual continues in the disaffiliation level. If there is a religious need, then the likelihood of going from preaffiliation to actual affiliation is greatly increased by situational factors,

TOW ARDS A NEW MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION CAREERS

39

such as a personal crisis, especially if it makes the individual feel slhe has reached a turning point and if s/he sees the problems in religious terms. Institutional factors seem quite decisive in determining whether an individual continues to be simply affiliated to a church, without making a great commitment to spend time, money and energy on church membership. In stricter churches with strong rules of conduct (no smoking, drinking or fornicating), the social pressure to convert makes the price of simple affiliation too high. Social factors indeed37 seem to be decisive in determining whether or not people experience a conversion: a radical change of life and woridview. The influence of significant others - relatives, friends and especially core members of the new church - also seems important in moving some converts to the level of confession, which is a core-member identity, involving a high level of participation inside the church and strong evangelism on the outside. As I am only at the preliminary stage of developing the religious conversion careers model, the relationships between the four types of factors (personality, situation, social and institutional) and the five levels of church activity are still sketchy. The examples used in this article come mostly from prior research on religions in Central America. The challenge is to combine this new conversion careers model with more general literature and to apply it to different types of religion (Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism) in different continents and to strict Christian churches (e.g. Pentecostals, lehovah's Witnesses and Mormons) in western Europe. I am especially curious to apply my conversion careers model to Islam. First, to see if the model can help explain why moderate Muslims can become involved in a much more radical and even militant version of Islam. I wonder if some of the processes described for Pentecostals, lehovah's Witnesses and Mormons in central America are at work here. Second, to see if the model can help explain why formerly Christian or atheist Dutch people convert to Islam (which often seems to happen when they marry a Muslim spouse). What is the role of personality and social factors here? Or are situational or institutional factors more important? It is a pity that scholarly circuits are so separated that, for instance, experts on Pentecostalism in Latin America and Africa are only now beginning to have more contact. Religion and religious change are still at the heart of social and cultural change in most of the world.

As suggested by the early literature of Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming a WorldSaver' and Lofland, Doomsday Cult.

37

PARADIGMS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL CONVERSION RESEARCH BETWEEN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND LITERARY ANALYSIS

Hetty Zock

In recent conversion research, there has been an increasing awareness of the huge influence of models of conversion and the twofold effect of such influence. On the one hand, they assist in constituting the phenomenon - the experience of conversion - itself. It is generally acknowledged that it would be naive to think that conversion stories are the accounts of what 'really happened' to an individual - what he or she really felt, experienced, thought, saw and heard. Rather, the stories reflect the cultural models of conversion prevalent in a particular time, group or subgroup. A model offers individuals a way to have a conversion experience and a form for expressing it that is culturally acceptable. On the other hand, models of conversion - in the fonn of concepts, theories and scientific paradigms regarding conversion, partly taken from religious models - determine the research itself. This awareness has led to a predominantly textual, narrative approach in conversion research. It is the texts that are studied, the conversion stories rather than the underlying reality. This even applies in social-scientific conversion research. We may refer to the current trend of biographical-narrative study of conversion in psychology,l and to the interest in the rhetorics of conversion in sociology.2 Elsewhere in this volume, the sociologist Steve Bruce observed in a somewhat polemic way that a lot of social science seems to have turned into literary criticism. 3 This, however, raises a problem, since the social sciences aim at shedding light on the psychosocial reality behind conversion: Why do people change from one belief to another? I For the narrative approach in psychology, see Sarbin, Narrative Psychology~ McAdams, The Stories and Hermans, 'Conceptions'. 2 Snow and Machalek, 'The Convert'; idem, 'The Sociology', pp. 170-178. Snow and Machalek see conversion primarily as a change in one's universe of discourse. For the linguistic, constructionist approach in recent sociological conversion research, see Popp-Baier, Das Heilige, p. 220, and Wohlrab-Sahr, 'Paradigmen'. 3 See the contribution by Steve Bruce to this volume (p. 8).

42

HETTYZOCK

Which functions does conversion have? What are the psychic and social predispositions towards conversion in what contexts? What are the effects of conversion on the individual? Thus the task at hand is how to fruitfully combine the social-scientific and the literary, textual approaches. For instance, how can conversion narratives be used to reveal psychosocial processes? In this essay I focus on the contribution of the psychology of religion, in which conversion has long been an important subject. In fact, the field arose out of the interest in the phenomenon of conversion during the last quarter of the nineteenth century in the USA, the period of revivalism. During the 1960s and 1970s, a new surge of interest was stimulated by the rise of new religious movements and, since the 1980s, there has been a steady albeit not revolutionary psychological interest in conversion. My aim here is both historical and theoretical. First, I trace the theoretical changes in psychological conversion research by looking at how and why psychologists of religion 'convert' from one theory, approach or view of conversion to another, with a particular focus on ruling paradigms and their relations to the scientific, societal, cultural and religious contexts. This explains why psychological conversion research became somewhat isolated in the 1960s and 1970s, especially from the flowering socio-historical conversion research on the new religious movements, and how the gap is being bridged, since the 1980s, through the influence of a more contextual, culture-sensitive, hermeneutical approach in the psychology of religion. Second, I argue that the paradigm emerging in current psychological conversion research - what I call the biographical-narrative paradigm - offers a promising perspective for an interdisciplinary study of conversion in a pluralistic context, combining literary, historical and social-scientific approaches. Let me start with some introductory remarks on the field and focus of psychology of religion. Firstly, the field of psychology of religion is not easy to demarcate. I opt for a wide view, including the work not only of academic psychologists but also of clinical practitioners (such as psychiatrists, psychotherapists, pastoral counsellors), sociologists, anthropologists, historians and religious studies scholars who use a psychological approach. Secondly, what is the particular focus of the psychological approach to conversion as compared to other approaches? Through an overview of existing research, I have arrived at the following answer. Psychologists look at conversion as a marked change in religious identity that brings about personal changes in the convert. The emphasis is therefore on the individual, who, to a certain extent, consciously asserts the change in identity. Thus, conversion is considered in its modem form. As Peter van der Veer argues, it is only in the modem era, when religion has become a matter of individual conscience and personal decision, that individual conversion and conversion stories be-

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43

gin to abound. 4 As we will see, this focus on the individual does not necessarily imply that the social, cultural, political and historical contexts are not taken into account, although some psychological research may be rightly accused of 'psychological reductionism', explaining conversion purely by individual psychic factors, such as emotional crisis, character predisposition or difficult life-experiences. Thirdly, it is important to realise that until recently psychological conversion research has been mainly carried out in the context of Christianity, more specifically of Christianity in the (post-) modern Westem world. This has greatly influenced theory and method. Only in the last few decades has the focus of interest expanded to include, for instance, the study of conversion to Islam in the West. 5 I will proceed as follows. After presenting the main paradigm conflict in social-scientific conversion research, I will give an overview of psychological research on conversion, distinguishing three periods and three paradigms. Finally, I will illustrate the usefulness of the biographical paradigm by a case study of a Dutch evangelical television programme called 'The Transformation' . A conflict o/paradigms - the convert, passive or active? In an influential article from 1985,6 the sociologist James T. Richardson argues that two competing paradigms can be discerned in social-scientific conversion research since the 1960s: the old, 'passive' paradigm and the new, 'active' paradigm. The passive paradigm is based on the traditional Christian model of conversion, with the conversion of Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (as narrated in the Bible in Acts 9) as the prototype. Consequently, it is also called the 'Pauline paradigm'. Note that the religious and scientific views on conversion are intermingled here. The active paradigm emerged in the study of new religious movements and characterises the convert as an active meaning-seeker. Richardson uses the term 'paradigm' loosely, in the Kuhnian sense of the word, as a way of looking at things that determines what the researcher 'sees' and thus, to a great extent, constitutes the phenomenon, of conversion itself. 7 Van der Veer, Conversion. Kose, Conversion; Wohlrab-Sahr, Konversion. 6 Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert' (enlarged upon in Kilboume and Richardson, 'Paradigm Conflict'). 7 'We ... use the term paradigm to mean an over-arching perspective that suggests the problems to be studied, and the methods to use in seeking answers to research questions in a given area '" furnishing a perspective about the basic nature of human beings and of the social, biological, and psychological world of which they are a part', (Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert', p. 164, note 2). Thus the 4

S

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James T. Richardson

The passive (Pauline) paradigm

The active paradigm

- passive, deterministic - individual - emotional - static - radical, once-and-for-all - belief precedes behaviour

- active, volitional - social - rational - dynamic - conversion career - behaviour precedes belief

In the Pauline paradigm the convert is seen as passive. The conversion comes over you, it happens without your volition. 'You are converted by external powers over which no control is possible,.8 Thus the view is deterministic. You cannot do anything about it and cannot play an active role in the process. Generally, the emphasis is on conversion as an individual event. The conversion experience is highly emotional, a strong, irrational experience that often leads to the solution of an inner, emotional conflict. Conversion consists of a sudden change that radically transforms the individual. There is a clear demarcation between the period 'before' and 'after' the conversion. One previously static situation is replaced by another and different but equally static situation. Finally, a transformation of beliefs precedes the transformation of behaviour. Paul came first to the belief that Jesus was the son of God and was subsequently socialised in the Christian community. The 'active' paradigm is seen emerging in the 1960s. It is more in line with a humanistic Christian view that combats the Pauline paradigm in stressing the active role of the Christian in being converted. You have to work on your own salvation. In this 'active' paradigm, converts are seen as meaning seekers, active subjects, 'seeking to develop their own "personhood",.9 Conversion is seen as a volitional process in which there is selfdetermination rather than determination by external forces. Generally, the

term 'paradigm' is used in a loosely Kuhnian way. Shinn speaks rather of 'models' (,Who Gets to Define Religion?'). 8 Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert', p. 163. 'The individual is conceptualised as a passive recipient of personality changes and life experiences' (Kilbourne and Richardson, 'Paradigm Conflict', p. 2). 9 Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert', p. 167.

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social aspects of the process are emphasised, the influence of the social environment, especially of affectively coloured personal contacts. 1O One consequence of emphasising the volitional aspects is that conversion is no longer seen as a predominantly emotional event, but as a rational process in which the individual, as an intentional and evaluating being, looks for ideas, people, groups and rituals that appeal to him or her. Conversion is considered to be a dynamic rather than a static process. The individual is experimenting, trying out a religious way of life. Conversion need not be onceand-for-all, and it is possible to speak of 'conversion careers' (the title of one of Richardson's books).11 One last characteristic is that the transformation of religious behaviour is seen as preceding belie/rather than the other way around. A few years later, Richardson further qualified the 'passive versus active' paradigms by adding a 'subparadigmatic' distinction: 'intraindividual versus interindividuallevel of analysis' .12 The characteristic 'focus on the individual' is no longer seen as exclusively linked to the passive paradigm,and the characteristic 'attention to the social context' is no longer seen as exclusively linked to the active paradigm. In this way, conversion theories can be classified as active intraindividual, active interindividual, passive intraindividual and passive interindividual. In the following survey, I use Richardson's view on paradigms as a focus of attention. To what extent can psychological research on religion be understood from the paradigmatic perspective? However, I do not completely take Richardson's constructionist point of view. He argues that what has changed over time is not so much the phenomenon of conversion itself as the paradigms - the way of looking at conversion. I do not agree completely here. Theories do not come out of the blue. They arise in concrete religious and social practices. It is to be expected that when religious practices change, theories also change. With Lofland and Skonovd, I hold that changes in theory are related to changes in the phenomenon of conversion itself. 13 I therefore complement the paradigmatic view with a contextual apLong and Hadden, 'Religious Conversion'. Richardson, Conversion Careers. 12 Kilbourne and Richardson, 'Paradigm Conflict'. \3 'What converts stress in their accounts varies markedly, and we suspect that the differences are not simply artifacts of the "accounting process" ... biases elicited by researchers, or the result of selective perception in the construction of conversion accounts. Instead, we are suggesting that holistic, subjective conversions actually vary in a number of acute, qualitatively different ways which are best differentiated by their respective "motif experience'" (Lofland and Skonovd, 'Conversion Motifs', p. 374). It might even be the case, I would add, that there is some influence of scientific paradigms on the religious models of conversion themselves. We should not 10 11

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proach by examining the possible influence of the (religious) socio-cultural context. A survey of psychological research on conversion: from the Pauline paradigm to conversion as identity construction

Three hey days can be distinguished: Period I: 1880-1925, with early American psychology of religion, its main topic being conversion against the background of revivalism; Period 11: the 1960s and 1970s, when conversion was studied in the context of the rise of new religious movements; and Period Ill: from 1980 down to the present day, in which I see a new paradigm emerging in the context of pluralism. Period I: 1880-1925 (early American psychology of religion: conversion as an emotional adolescent phenomenon)

Conversion was the theme par excellence of the first American psychologists of religion. The famous 'Clark school of religious psychology' should be mentioned here, as well as William James, considered to be the father of psychology of religion. The members of the Clark school,14 inspired by the social gospel movement, had a Christian pedagogical outlook. 15 They saw conversion as having a function in the 'normal' emotional and moral development of adolescents. Conversion was seen as a sudden individual change, often in the context of crisis and conflict. The focus was on the highly emotional conversion experience. William James focused even more on conversion in the context of individual emotional development. 16 He neglected the social and institutional aspects of religion and focused on the individual extremes, the people in deep crises who had an intense conversion experience. Conversion, in James's view, is a unifying emotional experience in which a person suffering from a 'divided self - feelings of discomfort, unhappiness, being out of place, not belonging, inferiority, guilt, not being your true self, etc. - overcomes these feelings. James wrestles with the question whether conversion is a 'normal' developmental crisis. He is ambivalent in this respect, being convinced that some people are more predisposed to conversion than others. only look at the convert's subjective experience, but at the objective, social organisational aspects of the process as well. Lofland and Skonovd distinguish six 'conversion motifs' - types of conversion, centred around a 'motif experience': intellectual, mystical, experimental, affectional, revivalist and coercive. 14 For instance Hall, Starbuck and Leuba. 15 Wulff, 'A Century of Conversion'; idem, 'The Psychology'. 16 lames, The Varieties.

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Against this background we have to situate his famous distinction of two character types: 'sick souls' and 'healthy minded persons'. The sick soul is a character type that suffers from a 'divided self and wrestles to become whole; he or she needs a 'second birth' - a conversion - to become whole. An individual in conflict is a candidate for conversion. In lames's view, therefore, conversion is character dependent rather than age dependent. How do these views on conversion fit the religious context of the time? The fact that an emotional, sudden conversion was considered 'normal' or 'normative' agrees with the fact that, in the period of revivals, conversion was socially expected. Adolescents were supposed to go to religious meetings and have a conversion leading to a religious commitment, just as every adolescent was expected to find a job, marry and settle down. Thus conversion was a common phenomenon, part of establishing an adult identity. As we have seen, lames differs from the Clark school in emphasising the conflicted nature of the convert. However, both emphasise the emotional function of conversion. It may well have been that the revivalist expression of conversion - an individual, emotionally charged spontaneous, sudden experience - was taken too much at face value, as describing the 'nature' of conversion. Indeed, the outlines of the Pauline model of conversion are clearly found in the leading theories of the time. The convert is generally seen as passive, in the sense that inner emotional processes lead to conversion. Conversion is considered to be mainly an individual event. Neither the role of the religious context itself, nor the possible role of socialisation and intergenerational transmission receive much attention. It might be the case that undergoing religious (Christian) socialisation was so common that it was overlooked as a possible factor of influence. In conclusion, the prevalent, revivalist conversion experience may have led researchers to concentrate on and magnify the emotional and experiential aspects, so that volitional, rational and social aspects were overlooked. Yet it would be wrong to see all theories about conversion at the time as easily fitting into the intraindividual passive paradigm. Several types of conversion were distinguished: gradual and sudden, voluntary and involuntary, emotional and intellectual. Moreover, attention was certainly paid to the social aspects of conversion. 17 It is a pity that in later research only a schematic, truncated, almost caricatured view of the Pauline paradigm came to be equated with the psychological view. ls Useful findings and hypotheses from this period were not taken up. This may be due to the tremendous and lasting influence of William lames, who - although his theory on conversion was more complex than appears from the general summaries - did in17

18

See for instance Coe, The Psychology. Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert', p. 165.

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deed neglect the social context and considered the voluntary aspects of conversion less important than the subconscious ones. From that time onwards, psychological and socio-historical conversion research went separate ways.

Period II: 1960-1980 (conversion in the context o/psychiatry and new religious movements) From 1925-1960 there was an almost deadly calm in psychology of religion. David Wulff discerns two major factors in its decline as an academic discipline: first, the resurgence of fundamentalism and the crisis of Progressivism after the destruction of the First World War, and second, the rise of the behaviourist paradigm in psychology, whereby research into experience and unconscious processes (important in early American psychology of religion) became suspect. 19 Another factor, I would like to add, was the decline of revivalism and hence the declining interest in conversion, whereby psychology of religion was deprived of its main topic. It was only from a (Freudian) psychoanalytical perspective that religion was studied, and this introduced a rather critical and often reductionist view of religion. Conversion, when it was examined, was seen as a pathological phenomenon (with the exception of Carl G. Jung). This was still the case during the second peak of psychological conversion research that started in the 1960s. The centre of research was again the USA, but it extended to Europe. It was a time of momentous social changes and turmoil. The impact of individualisation, pluralisation and secularisation began to be felt. Conversion, in its traditional, dramatic and emotional Pauline-Christian form, was no longer a common phenomenon. New religious movements (cults, sects, Eastern religions) began to flourish and attract young people, to the abhorrence of established citizens and governments. Conversion came to be seen as dangerous, and new religious movements as a threat to mental health. 20 Two main lines of research can be discerned in this period: first, research done by 'doctors' - clinical practitioners (psychiatrists, psychologists, pastoral counsellors) who looked at conversion from a clinical perspective, and second, research done by 'sociologists' (sociologists and scholars of religion) who were interested in the sudden increase in new religious movements and used sociological and social-psychological theories. 21 In my view, it is here that psychological and sociological conversion re-

Wulff, 'A Field in Crisis'. See Shinn, 'Who Gets to Define Religion?'. 21 There was some empirical psychological research as well, though, especially on the relationship between mental health and conversion, cf. Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle, 'Changing Beliefs', and Rambo, 'Current Research'. 19

20

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search became separated, because the 'doctors' predominantly stuck to the old, passive paradigm, while in sociological research the active paradigm gradually took over. The doctors Among the doctors, the pastoral-theologian Earl H. Furgeson wanted to draw a sharp distinction between normal religious growth (gradual change) and abnormal, sudden change: conversion. He may have needed this distinction in order to rescue the possibility of 'normal' religiosity which was becoming contaminated by both the reductionist psychoanalytic theories and the pathologically weird aura of the conversion of young people to sects 22 and cults. According to Furgeson: Religious conversion, from the psychological point of view, is an abrupt, involuntary change in personality in which the subject under the pressure of resolving internal conflict or tension, surrenders the control of his life to beliefs and sentiments previously peripheral or repressed (italics HZ).23

Here the intraindividual passive paradigm is clearly dominant. This approach also appears in the work of psychiatrist Carl W. Christensen/4 who saw conversion as an attempt to solve an unconscious authority conflict, especially repressed aggression and hate of the father (although he emphasised more than Furgeson the possible regenerative outcome of conversion). The prevalence of the passive-intraindividual paradigm in the work of the doctors, in my view, can be accounted for not only by their sticking to the Pauline model, but must also be understood from the clinical psychoanalytic context. As Richardson remarks/ 5 the fact that their research subjects were troubled adolescents - patients - coloured their view on conversion as having to do with emotional turmoil. Furthermore, the dominant psychoanalytic theory at the time was intraindividual.

The same pattern may be seen in an article by the chief psychologist of a Lutheran medical centre (Kildahl, 'The Personalities'). The outcome of his research is that sudden converts are of the hysteric personality type, and that gradual religious developers are smarter. 23 Furgeson, 'The Definition', p. 16. 24 Christensen, 'The Renewal'; idem, 'Religious Conversion'. 25 Richardson, 'The Active vs. Passive Convert', p. 175. 22

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The socio!ogisti6 The reason for discussing sociologists is that their work is included in all current handbooks and introductions to psychology of religion/ 7 because of their social-psychological approach?8 This is a first indication that psychology of religion has become more context sensitive. Richardson saw the active paradigm emerging for the first time in the conversion model developed in Lofland and Stark's study of a millenarian cult. 29 The interindividual perspective is clearly present with attention paid to conversion as a social event with an organisational aspect, to the role of networks and the importance of affective ties, and to the role of converters and recruitment tactics. Further, converts begin to be seen as active, religious seekers, choosing themselves which people to relate with and which religious networks to get involved in. Although one of their findings indicates that an individual crisis (psychic or social - strain, feelings of insufficiency, etc.) often precedes the religious search, which is a passive aspect, they emphasise the role of the active, volitional subject who chooses to get involved in a religious group, to adopt its habits, and to get to know its beliefs before the actual conversion experience takes place. Conversion is seen not so much as 'sudden' but rather as the result of a process, with behaviour preceding belief. The interindividual active perspective remained dominant in sociological research on the new religious movements till the 1980s. There were, however, also theories that fit the passive interindividual paradigm, such as the social drift model and the brainwashing model, which see converts as passive victims of converters?O Shinn argues that the brainwashing model, which was based on psychological research and deeply influenced by psychiatric practices in the USA, 31 'reveals an anti-religious bias that appears to run deep within the assumptions of America's Enlightenment and individualistic culture' .32 Richardson is right in stating that the rise of the active paradigm may be partly understood from the research context. The differences in social For a survey of sociological research on conversion in the period, see Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology of Conversion'. 27 For instance, Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis, Religion; Paloutzian, Invitation; Spilka and McIntosh, The Psychology; Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle, The Psychology. 28 Snow and Machalek, 'The Sociology of Conversion', p. 178. 29 Lotland and Stark, 'Becoming a World-Saver'. 30 Long and Hadden, 'Religious Conversion'. 31 Sargant, Battle. 32 Shinn, 'Who Gets to Define Religion?', p. 199. For an overview of the debate on brainwashing, see also Bromley and Richardson, The Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy.

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status between subjects and researchers were smaller than in the case of the doctors. The sociologists were younger, often had the same background as their subjects and shared their ideals and values. They used participantoriented methods, such as in-depth interviews and participant observation, instead of case studies, making it more likely that research subjects were seen as being like anyone else rather than as passive patients. Furthermore, the active paradigm fitted the increasing value accorded to autonomy and the individual taking charge of his or her own life. In the 1970s this orientatiQll also permeated psychotherapy theories and practices. In conclusion, the active interindividual paradigm was able to evolve in sociological circles in the 1960s, while in psychological/psychiatric circles the passive intraindividual paradigm remained dominant. This began to change around 1980.

Period III: 1980 to the present (conversion in the context o/mental health and identity construction) Since 1980, conversions in the West mainly take place in new religious movements, evangelical Christianity and Islam. 33 The context is that of pluralism, with individuals having to make a personal choice in the supermarket of worldviews and religions. There is a steady stream of studies, but conversion research has not reached as high a peak as in the two earlier periods discussed above. From an overview of the rather diverse research, a first observation is that psychology of religion is becoming more and more influenced by other disciplines. This is evident, for instance, in the heuristic

The question is how widespread the phenomenon of conversion actually is since 1980. Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle ('Changing Beliefs') argue that the impact of the new religious movements may be much smaller than often perceived, about 1% of believers, and they emphasise the still crucial role of socialisation as the route to religious commitment. Discontinuity in comparison to parents - in the sense of conversion or apostasy/defection - is rare. People who convert are the exceptions. Paloutzian, Richardson and Rambo, 'Religious Conversion', p. 1051, however, state that 'the number of converts per year grows dramatically large'. Not only the statistics of new religious groups show an increase in converts; according to Gallup polls (Gallup and Jones, One Hundred Questions, p. 166), 38% of adults in America claim to have had a sudden or gradual 'born again' experience, described as 'a turning point in your life when you committed yourself to Jesus Christ'. Of course, much depends on the definition of 'conversion' and the evaluation of the conflicting research outcomes. Further, we have to be careful not to generalise from this kind of finding: in Europe, the evangelical Christian groups have not had great impact, while in other parts of the world evangelical and charismatic groups are definitely on the rise. In addition, conversion to Islam, which has become an important religion in the West as the result of migration, has become more frequent.

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conversion model developed by Lewis R. Rambo,34 a professor of psychology and religion, who integrates theoretical insights and empirical findings from diverse disciplines such as social sciences (psychology, anthropology and sociology), missiology and religious studies. Research can focus on the various aspects of the conversion process that are in constant interaction,35 although in different situations one aspect may come to the fore. The sociocultural context ('context', 'encounter', 'interaction') as well as individual factors ('crisis', 'quest', 'commitment', 'consequences') are taken into account. The characteristics of the active paradigm can be easily traced: the search for meaning in the aspect of 'quest', the social factor in the aspects of 'encounter' (the first contacts with a religious group or one of its members) and 'interaction' between 'advocates' and potential converts. A further aspect concerns the way 'commitment' takes· place. Two trends can be discerned in recent research. First, a great deal of attention is paid to the relationship between conversion and mental health. Second, conversion is increasingly studied in the wider context of identity construction, especially from a narrative perspective. Conversion and mental health The theme of conversion is approached via several theoretical perspectives, such as coping,36 attachment theory,37 personality theory/8 neuropsycholog/9 and cognitive psychology (conversion as a reorganisation of cognitive structures).40 On the one hand, research focuses - as it did in earlier periods - on vulnerability factors predisposing to conversion, such as emotional distress, major negative life events, family dysfunction, an unhappy childhood, personality disorders (converts allegedly belonging to the authoritarian, hysteric or schizoid personality typet 1 and narcissistic problems. 42 On the other hand, the psychological effects of conversion are studied. The valuation of conversion in the perspective of health varies a great deal. Pargament mentions that conversion is often accompanied by emotional relief, Rambo, Understanding Religious Conversion. Rambo speaks of 'stages', which in my view is a confusing term, as he is actually indicating aspects, points of view, that are in constant interaction at the same time. He says himself that conversion is not a chronological, unilinear process. 36 See the work of Kenneth I. Pargament. 37 See the work of Lee A. Kirkpatrick. 38 Paioutzian, Richardson and Rambo, 'Religious Conversion'. 39 Brown and Caetano, 'Conversion'. 40 Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis, Religion. 41 Pargament, The Psychology, pp. 227-231. 42 Ullmann, The Transformed Self.

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greater self-confidence and self-control, and leads to a radical transfonnation. 43 Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle emphasise the ambivalence in research results. They conclude that 'there is little doubt that conversion, especially with group support, helps the individual to rebuild his or her ego and to function better', but also state that 'even within modem culture converts are more vulnerable and less stable than controls' .44 Most of this research hovers between the passive and active paradigms. The subject is predominantly seen as 'determined', driven by his or her psychic background, emotional problems, difficult life events and family circumstances. Yet the conscious, cognitive capacities of the individual as a meaning-seeker are also taken into account. Further, the perspective is often more interindividual than intraindividual. Attention is paid, for example, to the role of the social context and the importance of affective ties. Sociological insights are integrated to a certain extent.

Conversion and identity construction (the biographical-narrative paradigm) Since the 1980s, conversion is increasingly studied in the wider context of identity construction. Here the influence of the active paradigm is much stronger and self-transformation is the catchword. 45 This corresponds with the prevailing trend in identity theory, which postulates that identity formation is a socio-cultural process in which the 'self is constructed by an active individual using available cultural traditions to mould his or her own identity.46 Beit-Hallahmi states that the study of conversion yields relevant insights for psychology of religion because it reveals the basic processes of developing a religious identity. He defines conversion as 'a perceptible change in one's religious identity - a conscious self-transformation' .47 Bat43 Pargament, The Psychology, p. 231. Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle, 'Changing Beliefs', pp. 122 and 138. Their results on the relationship between conversion and mental health have to be assessed with care because, here also, a lot depends on the definition of conversion. Moreover, the usual empirical research has methodical weaknesses. Conversion is often considered only as a dependent variable; research subjects were often recruited one-sidedly from college students, and little longitudinal research has been done (Popp-Baier, 'Konversionsforschung'; Paloutzian, Invitation; and Paloutzian, Richardson and Rambo, 'Religious Conversion '). Popp-Baier states rightly that the usual questionnaire research has to be complemented by qualitative, hermeneutical methods such as in-depth interviews, participant observation, etcetera. 45 Popp-Baier ('Konversionsforschung', pp. 101-103) recognises 'self-transformation' as one of the trends in current psychological conversion research. 46 Cf. the work of Kenneth J. Gergen and Hubert J.M. Hermans. 47 Beit-Hallahmi, Prolegomena, p. 114.

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son and Ventis discuss conversion in a chapter entitled 'religious experience and personal transformation' .48 Paloutzian and his colleagues state that research on the relationship between conversion and personality change shows that conversion does not lead to changes in personality structure but does affect personality on two other levels: 'the particular ways that a person expresses his or her traits or adapts to diverse situations in the real world - characteristic adaptations, personal strivings, personal concerns', and the level of 'identity and life narrative, self-defmition in light of global life themes, purpose in life' - in short, the more self-defming personality functions. 49 V. Bailey Gillespie, a theologian using social-scientific and especially psychological theory, represents a humanistic Christian standpoint. In his view, conversion is not just a shift of confessional allegiances, but' a profound transfonnational change in the whole personality and orientation of an individual, a change which leads the person to a fundamentally new identity as a human being' .50 Conversion, we may conclude, is seen, in a typically modem way, as active self-transfonnation with cultural means. An important line in this kind of research is constituted by narrative conversion research,51 which emerged with the narrative trend in the social sciences in general and in identity theory in particular. Narratives are assigned an important role in identity construction. Identity is seen as constructed predominantly by telling stories about the self, and a life-history is seen as a biographical reconstruction in which life-events are interpreted and receive meaning. 52 As mentioned above, this linguistic-narrative perspective is becoming prevalent in current research on conversion. It is by hearing and reading conversion stories that a potential convert becomes acquainted with a religious group, its beliefs and behaviour. It is by telling conversion stories that people appropriate a conversion model and use it as a means of biographically reconstructing life-events. With this linguisticnarrative trend, social-scientific conversion research has received new impetus, whereby· sociological and psychological approaches increasingly intermingle in a fruitful manner. 53 In my view, a new paradigm - what I call the biographical-narrative paradigm - is emerging. 54 Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis, Religion. Paloutzian, Richardson and Rambo, 'Religious Conversion', p. 1068. 50 Gillespie, The Dynamics, back cover. 51 Popp-Baier, 'Psychologische Analysen'; Wohlrab-Sahr, 'Paradigmen'. 52 Cf. the work of Paul Ricoeur and Dan P. McAdams. 53 In sociology, cf. Snow and Machalek: 'The Convert' and 'The Sociology'; Staples and Mauss: 'Conversion or Commitment?; Stromberg: Language; Knoblauch', ReligiOse Konversion; Wohlrab-Sahr: Konversion. In psychology, cf. Ganzevoort: Een cruciaal moment and idem, 'Common Themes'; Popp-Baier: Das Heilige. 54 Popp-Baier (,Psychologische Analysen' p. 233) makes a similar suggestion. 48

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The passive paradigm

The active paradigm

The biographical-narrative paradigm

- passive, deterministic

- active, volitional

- active, volitional

- individual

- social

- socio-cultural

- emotional

- rational

- emotional and rational

- static

- dynamic

- dynamic

- radical, once-and-for-all

- conversion career

- a lifelong process

- bel ief precedes behaviour

- behaviour precedes

- interaction between bel ief and

belief

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behaviour

The biographical-narrative paradigm is an elaboration of the active interindividual paradigm. The convert is seen as an active individual seeking transformation of life and self through religious-cultural models presented in conversion stories. The focus of attention shifts from psychic and social problems as determining factors in conversion, to individuals actively dealing with these problems in identity construction, using the conversion model of a religious group as an integrating element. Conversion thus becomes less age-specific, linked as it is to a person's whole life-history. The conversion may have both emotional and rational aspects. In principle, it encompasses all human functions. Rather than a behaviour/belief sequence, the interaction between beliefs and behaviour is emphasised. The new paradigm must be characterised as socio-cultural rather than as interindividual. It is not only the individual's relationships and networks that have to be examined, but the wider socio-cultural context as well, including the specific religious tradition of the individual (in order to discern conversion models, the meaning of beliefs, and rituals) and his or her socio-political and cultural development. A crucial question in narrative-focused biographical research concerns the status of conversion stories, in particular the relation between stories and 'real life'. The various studies can be situated on a sliding scale, depending on their concentration on either the 'narrated life' or the 'lived life,.55 Authors concentrating on the narrated life consider conversion stories primarily as speech acts, and analyse their structural/formal, rhetorical features. Here it might be argued that psychology to a great extent dissolves in literary analysis, with conversion being seen primarily as a linguistic construction. Authors concentrating on the 'lived life' acknowledge a close relationship between the conversion story and the biographical experience, ss Popp-Baier, 'Psychologische Analysen', pp. 237-240.

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and aim to show the socio-psychological functions that conversion stories fulfil in the biography. Peter Stromberg shows how religious conversion language (as a symbolic system, a universe of discourse) is not only referential, but also constitutive. Religious meanings are connected with concrete individual experiences which lead to actual self-transformation. 56 Thus conversion stories do affect psycho-social functioning. For instance, Stromberg discusses the story of Larry, a retired executive, who, although he has always highly valued his own competence and control, was rather ambivalent in this respect. This came to the fore in Larry's conversion narrative where he described a healing experience he had when suffering from a nervous breakdown in his youth. In church, he suddenly wanted to disrupt the religious service because he needed the pastor to pray with him. He interpreted this impulse as the word of God: 'It is the Lord that told me to do that'. The pastor prayed with him and from that moment on Larry started getting well. What is important is that it was the religious language that gave voice to his conflicting motives - wanting both to be in control and to surrender himself ~ and assisted his psychic integration. In my view, the interaction between the narrated and the lived life ought to be central in psychological biographical conversion research. Only in this way can the specific psychological focus (on personal change in real life, on how conversion involves and affects the individual) come to the fore and contribute to interdisciplinary conversion research. Empirical findings and hypotheses (about psychic and social predispositions towards conversion, psycho-social mechanisms, the process of meaning-giving, the role of life-events, the relationship between conversion and mental health, etc.) can be integrated in a biographical approach in order to examine how a specific individual uses conversion stories to create and reconstruct meaning. In this way, empirical research, literary analysis and a hermeneutic-psychological interpretation of meaning can be usefully combined. In conclusion, with the biographical paradigm, conversion becomes a topic for interdisciplinary cultural studies. Psychology - at least a hermeneutical, context and culturesensitive kind of psychology - has much to contribute in this respect. The Transformation (the biographical-narrative paradigm illustrated) The biographical paradigm is not only a fashionable model used by researchers, but also reflects changes in religious life itself and in the function of conversion, as will be illustrated by a short discussion on the Dutch evangelical television programme 'The Transformation'. Every fortnight an episode is broadcast in which a convert is interviewed, and in 1995 a book 56

Stromberg, Language.

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was published containing fifteen of the stories. 57 It strikes me that a clearly Pauline model of conversion can be found in the conversion experiences described by the converts, although conversion is also presented in lifehistory perspective. Each story presents the conversion as a radical change after a clearly indicated moment of conversion. At the end of each story, a few elementary facts are given including the 'year of conversion' (or an even more precise date), name and age of the convert. The conversion miraculously solves a crisis, but the conversion is seldom complete after the first experience no matter how decisive it might be. Lapses are described and there is religious growth after the conversion. Various conversion moments are distinguished. The average age of the converts - in their thirties and forties - is rather high, indicating that it is not an adolescent phenomenon. 58 It is striking that the moment of conversion occurred long before the moment of telling the story, in the book from five to more than twenty years previously. The biography is reviewed from the perspective of the moment of conversion, making the experience of conversion the structuring element in the life-story. At first sight, involuntary aspects seem to prevail, as would be expected in the Pauline paradigm: you do not do it yourself, but God comes into your life from the outside. At the same time, however, choice, responsibility and quest are emphasised: you have to 'will' your conversion, although surrender remains decisive. A characteristically paradoxical utterance in this respect is: '1 decided to devote myself completely to God,.59 This shows potential converts that conversion demands hard work. In order to become converted you have to surrender, but you need to have the will to surrender as well. The conversion moment itself is described as a deeply emotional and individual experience. Yet, in each case, divine intervention is mediated by an advocate who is miraculously present at the moment of crisis. The role of this intermediary and the later assistance of fellow Christians is emphasised. Thus the importance of a supportive network and the convert's own activity are both stressed. This is illustrated in a programme from 27 February 2003, in which 45year-old Marianne Willems is interviewed about her conversion more than ten years previously. We hear about her endless quest for meaning and faith, her severe depression and divorce, and that the first moment of conversion radically changed her life. We are also told that what happened next Wisse, De Verandering. Of the interviewees presented in the book, five are in their thirties, while the other ten are in their forties or even fifties. 59 Wisse, De Verandering, p. 32.

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was she remarried her ex-husband, divorced him again later, and that other new problems arose. The conversion moment is clearly the organising principle of her life-story and the programme shows how the conversion helped her in the course of her life. Thus it is suggested that conversion is a lifelong process, playing a role along the way throughout life, in the vicissitudes of one's biography. The crises Marianne Willems encounters in her life are coped with by way of a symbolic tradition: a conversion script. The prevalent model of conversion in this evangelical (sub)culture the Pauline paradigm - is adapted to modem attitudes and requirements, and evolves into a model more appropriate for contemporary people. This new model, therefore, reflects socio-cultural changes and changes in religious life (the nature, function, expression and types of conversion), and in its turn influences both conversion accounts and scientific paradigms of conversion. My thesis is that the more people in a pluralistic context become religious shoppers, the more important personal choice and biographical appropriation of conversion will become. Even traditional church members are becoming increasingly eclectic in their religious choices. In the Netherlands, it is no longer a problem to be a member of an established Protestant church and believe in reincarnation at the same time. It is true that the important role of socialisation and intergenerational transmission in religiosis must still not be underestimated but, with the waning of traditional churches, transitions between religious groups will become more frequent, and religious commitment - even to one of the traditional religious groups - will become increasingly a matter of conscious, personal choice and active appropriation against the background of identity construction. The changing religious landscape and the emerging biographical paradigm are, therefore, closely interwoven. Psychological conversion research in a biographical-narrative manner shows that, in the actual scientific paradigm, social science and literary analysis need not be combative opponents, but can fruitfully co-operate.

WOLVES BECOME LAMBS THE CONVERSION OF LUKEWARM RELIGIOUS AND WORLDLY CLERICS IN DEVOTJO MODERNA

Mathilde van Dijk Devotio Moderna began with someone's conversion - at least that is the way later adherents told the movement's history. It started with the radical change of heart of the Deventer canon Geert Grote (1340-1384). According to Devotio Moderna historiographers, his conversion was the first stirring of a refornl movement that was to dominate religious life in the Low Countries and the Rhineland from the end of the fourteenth century until the advent of the Refornlation. The centrality of this event in Devotio Moderna collective memory highlights the importance that Grote's followers attached to it. In their eyes, conversion was an essential feature of the religious life - it was what the religious life was all about, and indispensable in view of humankind's depravity after the Fall. God had created man perfect in his own image and likeness but, in the Fall, Adam had diverted his will from God to camality and consequently contaminated all his progeny with desire for things other than God. Humankind's mission was to refocus the will in the original direction and, according to the adherents of Devotio Moderna, this could be achieved only by a complete reconstruction of the inner self from a worldly to a religious personality. Such a conversion was the only way to achieve a pure heart, a heart free from all camality, focused entirely on the Lord. Ideally, everybody should embark on such a project. l In these respects, as in much else, the adherents of Devotio Moderna agreed with tradition from Late Antiquity throughout the Middle Ages. 2 The purpose of this article is to look at Devotio Moderna constructions of conversion with regard to two special categories of people: worldly clerics and lukewarm religious. This subject will be studied through three connecting sets of biographies of exemplary adherents of the movement: a. The Scriptum by Rudolf Dier of Muiden and its Continuatio, about the brothers at the Master Florens' house at Deventer

1 2

Weiler, 'Over de geestelijke praktijk van de Moderne Devotie', pp. 32-33. Morrison, Understanding conversion, pp. ix-xi.

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b. De viris illustribus by Johannes Busch, about the regular canons at Windesheim c. The two versions of the sisterbook of the regular canonesses at Diepenveen. The sisterbook survives in two versions from the sixteenth century. Both were based on the original which is now lost. Sister Griet Esschinges wrote the extensive version of 1524 but the author of the later version of 1534 is unknown. This latter independent copy contains a small selection of the lives, included in Esschinges' book. 3 I shall work from two examples: Dier's account of the conversion of Grote, as a representative of the worldly cleric, and the sisterbook's tale about the aristocratic secular canoness Jutte of Ahaus (d. 1408), who eventually became an exemplary sister in the community of regular canonesses at Diepenveen. It is highly significant that among the many stories of successful conversions in the Scriptum, De viris illustribus and the Diepenveen sisterbook, the categories of the ex-worldly cleric and religious are very small indeed. As we will presently see, conversion was considered extremely difficult for such wolves dressed up as lambs. I will explore the following questions: How did the adherents of Devatio Maderna describe conversion with regard to these categories? How and why did the subjects' change of heart come about? What did it entail? What was its effect? To what extent was conversion constructed differently for different kinds of converts, for instance according to gender or status in life? How do these factors interact? Before considering these questions, I will give a brief introduction to the Devotio Moderna and the sources being used.

Devotio Moderna Devotio Moderna was a typical medieval reform movement along the lines of the Poverty Movement. Based in the city, its adherents began by creating communities of semi-religious women and men, the Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life, and later expanded to found and establish monasteries. Like Saint Francis, Saint Dominic and the Beguines, Grate's followers aimed to recreate the piety of the early church, an imitation of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Besides these, their primary examples were the Desert

Joharmes Busch, 'Liber de viris illustribus'; Rudolf Dier of Muiden, 'Scriptum de magistro Gherardo Grote'; Brinckerinck, Van den doechden der vuriger ende stichtiger susteren van Diepen Veen (Manuscript D, Leiden, 1904) and the manuscript DV. I am grateful to W.F. Scheepsma for allowing me to work with his transcription of this manuscript. See the bibliography for more details. 3

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Fathers. The adherents of Devotio Moderna felt that these fourth-century hermits, monks and nuns had invented the best way to imitate Christ after persecution ended and therefore copied many of the Desert Fathers' practices and ideas. For example they collected the aphorisms of exemplary brothers and sisters, including direct quotations of the famous Desert Fathers. 4 This points to the fact that according to Devotio Moderna authors, the content of true piety had not changed over the centuries - at least that is the message that they want to get across. The adherents of the movement felt called upon to spread conversion in as wide a circle as possible. After his change of heart, Grote started a new career as an itinerant preacher. The Brothers of the Common Life also took in schoolboys, who came to study at the local grammar schools. Pastoral care was not strictly a male preserve and several Devotio Moderna sisters were praised for exerting a good influence on lay people. 5 In addition, Grote's followers, both male and female, were ardent producers of religious literature in the vernacular. They felt that reading was an excellent tool for the reconstruction of the inner self. 6 It is commonly supposed that Grote' s sermon Contra focaristas, against priests who lived with women, cost him his license to preach, 7 and his followers were equally critical of the clerics in their day. Next to this, the adherents of the Devotio Moderna were disgusted with the behaviour of many religious people, particularly those belonging to the orders created by adherents of the Poverty Movement. Johannes Busch gives an appalling list of abuses: drunkenness, consorting with prostitutes, and so on. Though he acknowledges that the intentions of the creators of certain orders were good, he bemoans the decline of the original high standards. 8 Other adherents of Devotio Moderna shared his opinion. According to them, the Carthusians were the only order up to standard. 9 However, it may be suspected that the adherents of Devotio Moderna felt that they were even better at conversion than the Carthusians, and Dier relates a tale about a Carthusian who transferred to a Devotio Moderna community .10

See for instance: De Vregt, 'Eenige ascetische tractaten' and Staubach , 'Pragmatische Schriftlichkeit', p. 445. 5 See De Man, Hier beginnen sommige stichtige punten, fo1. lr. 6 For instance Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen, a brother of the Father Florens' House, wrote De libris teutonicalibus, in which he defended the use of vernacular literature in the education. See Hyma, 'The "De libris teutonicalibus", . 7 De Bruin, Persoons and Weiler, Geert Grote, p. 44-45. 8 lohannes Busch, De viris illustribus, chapt. 3. 9 De Bruin, Persoons and Weiler, Geert Grote, p. 19. 10 RudolfDier, 'Scriptum', p. 27. 4

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The adherents of Devotio Moderna felt that religious people and clerics should confonn to the highest standards and, for this reason, many of them were shy of taking religious orders or of having themselves ordained. They simply did not feel worthy. A priest, in fact any member of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, should be an example of the conversion that he preached to his parishioners. He should be what he preached, 11 and in practice this meant that he had to live like a monk. This had been an ideal ever since the Church Fathers but, in the eyes of Devotio Moderna, it had little effect on their contemporaries. 12 As for religious people, they should live up to what they were supposed to be and accounts concerning Jutte of Ahaus and other religious people make clear what this actually meant for Grote and his followers. Illustrious men and old sisters

The biographies of exemplary fellow brothers and sisters were an important genre in Devotio Moderna reading matter. After the Bible, the lives of the saints, the works of the Church Fathers, meditation handbooks and manuals on how to become a good religious person, the biographies served to train present and future members of the communities in proper piety. They are, therefore, an excellent source for the study of their concept of conversion and provide an insight into what constituted a truly religious life according to Devotio Moderna. In writing biographies of exemplary people, authors conformed to an ancient tradition in Christianity, which started when the scribes of the lists of martyrs began to add more extensive sketches about their subjects' lives. The biographies are clearly modelled on the lives of the saints, even if the authors have different perceptions of the sanctity of their subjects. 13 Ultimately, like the vitae, they imitate the life of Christ, who was the model of the 'new Adam' that they strove to become. 14 Usually the biographies are part of a collection of writings by one or more fellow members of their own communities. This does not mean that the subject matter is restricted to the sisters or brothers in the author's house. Some biographies include tales about the characters' relations or associates and occasionally brothers or sisters from other communities appear, for instance, in a vision by the subject of a biography. Besides these inhouse writings, some sisters and brothers produced books that exclusively Compare Frederik of Heilo, Tractatus, fo1. 65 r • 12 St Jerome, Epistolae, 52. 13 See for the relationship of the lives of the adherents of Devotio Moderna and the lives of the saints: Scheepsma, 'Illustere voorbeelden', pp. 266-272. 14 Scheepsma and Jongen, 'Wachten', pp. 300-301. II

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deal with exemplary members of other communities. 15 The appearance of several brothers and sisters in the sets of biographies of other houses shows that the members of the communities felt close to each other and saw themselves as part of one great project. This is certainly true for the three collections that are discussed here. It is obvious that the sisters and brothers at Diepenveen, Deventer and Windesheim were close, both formally and in other respects. The convent of Saint Agnes and Mary at Diepenveen was created in 1400 from the community of the Sisters of the Common Life that Grote had founded in his own home, the Master Geert's house. Zweder of Richteren, an aristocratic widow, and 10hannes Brinckerinck, originally a brother from the Father Florens' house and rector of the Master Geert's house, took the initiative of recruiting the fIrst sisters from Grote' s original foundation. After Brinckerinck's demise, Diepenveen was served by regular canons from Windesheim. 16 Windesheim, which had been created in 1387 from the Master Florens' house,17 was the leading monastery of a congregation, the Chapter of Windesheim. Diepenveen was one of the few female members of the congregation and the prior of Windesheim was its overlord. Apart from these formal ties, several of the sisters and brothers from the different houses were related to each other. The Diepenveen sisterbook gives an example of a married couple who, after conversion, withdrew into Windesheim and Diepenveen respectively. 19 Furthermore, some sisters from Diepenveen appear in the sets of biographies of the communities of the brothers and vice versa. The vision of the Windesheim brother Hendrik Mande is the most spectacular example. At a certain point, he had a vision of heaven in which he saw several deceased brothers and sisters among the saints.20 The sets of biographies from Deventer, Windesheim and Diepenveen are different in format and in the views that the authors had of their subjects. Furthermore the lives can be divided into types. Dier's writings start with a biography of Geert Grote, followed by a collective biography of Florens Radewijns and other brothers interspersed with stories about the general history of the community. The Continuatio contains extensive biographies similar to Grate's and shorter biographical sketches. In general, the stories from Diepenveen and Windesheim are much more extensive, 15 For instance a sister of the Master Geerts' house wrote a set of biographies that deal with male adherents exclusively: Brinkerink, 'Biografieen'. 16 Scheepsma, Deemoed en devotie, pp. 17-18. 17 De Bruin, Persoons and Weiler, Geert Grote, p. 79. v V v 19 Brinkerink, Van den doechden, fols. 90 -97v and DV, fols. 1555 -160 • 20 lohannes Busch, De viris ilIustribus, chapt. 24.

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with some of the Diepenveen authors giving full biographies of their subjects, from birth to death. Their Windesheim counterparts start with events shortly before arrival in the monastery. Several general chapters on the virtues and good practices of the brothers precede Busch's set of biographies, and compared to the other biographers, he places the brothers and other adherents of Devotio Moderna more explicitly in a historical perspective. At the start of De viris illustribus he complains extensively about the decline of the religious life, but adds that the purity of the Desert Fathers has now been reborn, putting the Devotio Moderna of his own time on the same level as their Devotio Antiqua?1 Busch differs from the other biographers in his perception of his subjects. In the final chapter of De viris illustribus, he argues that they were saints. 22 The other authors are more cautious, portraying their subjects as struggling mortals aiming for perfection and seen as exemplary not because they are perfect, but because of their perseverance in trying to reach this goal. The Diepenveen sisterbook is most vocal in its descriptions of the agonising struggles that some sisters had to engage in to overcome their depraved natures. Comparatively, the Scriptum and its Continuatio occupy the middle ground in this respect. Despite the fact that the brothers from the Father Florens' house and the sisters from Diepenveen are not portrayed as holy men and women, in some cases a vague odour of sanctity lingers?3 In their day, some sisters and brothers may indeed have been regarded as saints by some members of their communities. 24 As we wit presently see, the authors' differing views of their subjects have some impact on the way their conversions are described. The accounts of conversion can be divided into four types, according to the converts' status in life: a. Young people, who entered a religious community at an early age b. Secular people, who entered after a career as a merchant, administrator, wife to a wealthy husband, and so on c. Worldly clerics d. Religious men and women from other houses. All individuals in all the categories needed a conversion because of the innate depravity of humankind. However, some had to work harder at it 21 22

Ibidem, chapt. 3. Ibidem, chapt. 72.

See for a discussion of this matter Mertens, 'Het zusterboek', pp. 89-92. At least, the sisterbook from the sisters of the Common Life at Deventer gives an anecdote about a sister who was buried at Diepenveen. A sister stole her head from the grave, apparently believing it to be a relic. De Man, Hier beginnen sommige stichtige punten, chapt. 18. 23

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than others, and consequently their successful conversion is considered a huge feat. A worldly canon In his youth, Grote had been an example of the kind of cleric that he later despised. Paraphrased, Dier gives the following account: Grote was the scion of a wealthy and powerful family in the city of Deventer. He was raised by an uncle as both his parents died of the plague at an early age. The uncle sent him to Paris in order to study canon law. Grote was an excellent student. After graduation, he became a canon in two churches. He was thoroughly into the vanities of this world. Dier dwells extensively on Grote's love of fine clothes. Among his other vices, Dier mentions a fondness for throwing dinner parties, though Grote was never a big eater and drinker himself as he preferred to serve others. Furthennore, he was proud of his collection of scientific books about such subjects as magic. The young lawyer seemed destined for a brilliant career in ecclesiastical administration. However, God had other plans for him. In Dier's words: 'God sent him a serious illness, as He had decided to draw him (Geert) towards loving Him (God).,25 As Grote lay ill in a friend's house in Deventer, the parish priest refused to administer the sacraments. He demanded that Grote burn his books on magic and astronomy first. Grote refused. After a few days, he examined his own urine. He knew what he was doing because, when in Paris, he had studied a smattering of medicine as well. Grote blanched at the sight. He was sure that he was going to die. Instantly, he had the priest called in. He recanted his evil ways and had his books burnt in public on Deventer's central square, the Brink. He recovered a changed man. He renounced his prebends and his worldly possessions. He started to live as an ascetic. He dispensed with good food, even though he continued to serve it to others out of charity. He cooked his own meagre meals. He, the lover of luxurious fabrics, made a special point of wearing threadbare clothes. When a friend asked him why he wore a shrunken tunic, he answered: 'I am not wearing this because I cannot afford a new one, but in order to break myself down. ,26 After a period of study and meditation, he started a new career as a travelling preacher. Thus he brought about the conversion of many others and started a major reform movement, Devotio Moderna. 27 25 RudolfDier, 'Scriptum', p. 2. Ibidem, p. 4. 27 Paraphrase based on RudolfDier, 'Scriptum', pp. ]-7.

26

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In many respects, Dier's account is typical of all Devotio Moderna tales of conversion. In other ways, it is characteristic of male converts and of converts of Grote' s distinct category, worldly clerics. There are also basic simi1arities with other biographers. First of all, the account is modelled on the archetypal Christian conversion story of Saint Paul's experience on the road to Damascus. Like Paul, Grote is thoroughly on the wrong track when sudden experiences - his illness and the refusal of the priest to administer the sacraments - change his heart. Of course, an illness is different from a vision but the significant aspect here is that both were supposed to have been caused by an act of divine grace. This is the first important feature of conversion: one cannot convert oneself, one needs God's help because of the depraved nature of the human race. The second feature is that conversion does not stop at one dramatic event. The event is only the start of the real work. In the Acts, Paul is blinded by the vision and regains sight only after he has been enlightened about Christianity by a certain Ananias. 28 Afterwards Saint Paul spends fourteen years in the Arabian Desert studying the Christian faith. 29 In Grote's story, too, it is clear that his illness is only the start of the actual conversion. Third, there is a sense of urgency in that Grote converts when facing death. Conversion means life, whereas not to convert means death. If one converts and starts to reshape oneself, one becomes a candidate for eternal life. If not, one faces eternal death in hell. Fourth, conversion means a radical change of heart, of the inner self, which is shown by outward behaviour. After his conversion, Grote demonstrates his lack of interest in worldly matters by publicly burning his magic books, wearing rags and eating simple food that he cooks for himself. Grote's actions following his conversion are not only signs of a changed heart, they are also training devices: after conversion Grote spends his life in trying to eradicate his former evil nature. The answer that he gives to the friend who wants to give him new clothes speaks volumes. To be sure, none of this is new. Grote's biography follows the tradition of conversion that has been dominant in lives of religious people from the Desert Fathers onwards. 30 The same is true for the lives of Grote' s male and female supporters. The most important notion expressed in such texts is the idea that true conversion is a life-long effort. This is why many Devotio Moderna biographies do not need a Damascus episode. All the events in the

28 29 30

Acts 9: 10-22 Morrison, Understanding conversion, p. 11. Ibidem, p. xiii and following.

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person's life are constructed as episodes in his or her conversion, or rather, as an account of his or her diligent work at it. At first sight, Grote appears to conform to the model of male conversion that the American medievalist Bynum sketches in her pioneering article '.. . And woman his humanity'. Studying a wide range of biographical material, she concludes that conversion for men involves a sudden change, whereas women's lives favour a gradual process. 3l This does not hold true for Devotio Moderna. Comparing the accounts from Deventer, Diepenveen and Windesheim, it is striking that the Diepenveen women, i.e. as opposed to young girls who entered the convent at an early age, experienced the worst shocks before achieving conversion. Furthermore, throughout their lives, they had to work as hard as Grote to counter their sinful natures. Comparatively, the young girls in the sisterbook, the virgins, faced outside threats, for instance parental opposition. With the women, the enemy was inside. This was only logical as women were supposed to be much more inclined to sin than men were and, therefore, had to work harder to reach perfection. 32 Generally, men's conversions proceeded more gradually, even when the story concerned an extremely depraved person like a worldly priest. The conversion of Father Hendrik Clingebijl was brought about by a concerted effort on the part of his brother and Geert Grote, who both assailed him with letters begging him to save his soul. Eventually he was touched by the grace of God and converted. 33 Among Devotio Moderna men, Grote was an exception in the violence of his conversion, at least in the way that Dier describes it. Grote's other biographers give a much quieter picture?4 There is a difference here between Dier and his continuators on the one hand and Iohannes Busch on the other hand. The brothers of the Father Florens' house had to work much harder at countering their sinful selves than the brothers at Windesheim. This is probably because of Busch's optimistic view that his brothers, as saints, were perfect to begin with and therefore did not need such agonising struggles. From a gender point of view, it is striking that Dier makes so much of Grote's love of fine clothes. Before conversion Grote is forever occupied with his clothes. Afterwards he changes to rags. The same motif is present in the lives of many male and female followers. Simple dress is the sign that

Bynum, "' ... And woman his humanity''', p. 176. This was due to their physical natures. For an analysis of the nature of male and female bodies and the consequences for the state of the soul, see Cadden, Meanings. 33 10hannes Busch, De viris illustribus, chapt. 30. 34 See for instance Grote's biography by Thomas a Kempis, 'Dialogus noviciorum', chapts. 3-7. 31

32

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the converts belong to a new spiritual order, which is the reverse of their previous situation. Dressed in rags, Grote conforms to the practice of the apostles and Saint John the Baptist. As such he is an embodied rebuke to his former colleagues. With women, the change from riches to rags has a slightly different flavour. Traditionally, if a woman occupies herself with her appearance, this is a sure sign of her being bad. 35 When she dresses nicely, her sole purpose is to seduce as many men as possible, thus she not only damns herself, but others as wel1. 36 Her change in clothing shows that she has reformed herself and that she is also striving to help others in their conversion. Grote's choice between science and piety is another gendered feature. Many male adherents of Devotio Moderna and early church saints also face such a decision. For women, it does not apply as much because they do not have the same access to education. 37 The choice of piety, however, does not mean that one has to dispense with learning altogether. After conversion, Grote studies extensively, but now for the right reason, which is to help himself along the path to perfection. Finally, among Devotio Moderna men, Grote is special in the kind of manual labour that he performs. Generally, all brothers and sisters are supposed to work with their hands. The predilection for this kind of work is one of the features derived from the Desert Fathers. Like these fIrst religious people, most Devotio Moderna brothers and sisters come from well-to-do families. In the ordinary scheme of things, they would never have to perform such humiliating tasks, which is why it is such an effective tool for recasting carnal men and women as religious people. It is an excellent training in humility. According to our sources, men usually limited themselves to copying books, whereas the stories about women give detailed accounts of their activities in cooking, carrying bricks, cleaning the stables and so on. Furthermore, the stories go on and on about the humiliating nature of such tasks in order to highlight the exemplary perseverance of the sister who engages in them. Grote is special because he does housework as if he were a woman. He shares this feature with other converted clerics and with some secular males. 38 Thus they become paragons of humility, Coon, Sacred fictions, pp. 36-37. De Man, Hier beginnen sommige stichtige punten, fols 4Sr-v. 37 For instance, the Desert Father Saint Anthony refused to learn to read in his youth. See Athanasius of Alexandria, Vita Beati Antonii abbatis, chapt. 1. 38 See the life of Hendrik Clingebijl as an example ofa converting priest in Johannes Busch, De viris illustribus, chapt. 31. For an example of a secular convert in the life of Johan Kessel, see Rudolf Dier, 'Scriptum', pp. 34-42. See for an analysis of manual labour in Devotio Moderna: Bollmann, '''Mijt dijt spynnen soe suldi den hemel gewinnen'" and Van Dijk, "'The pearl lay hidden in the dung'''.

35

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especially in view of their point of departure as the embodiment of everything that is wrong according to Devotio Moderna. An ambitious canoness

The life of the secular canoness Jutte of Ahaus is a good example of how conversion came about in an unsatisfactory religious person. The sisterbook of Diepenveen tells the following tale: Jutte of Ahaus had been a secular canoness in a convent at Vreden from an early age. The sisters all descended from very high-ranking aristocracy. Their lives were not very different from noble ladies in the world. They were free to do as they pleased. They could leave the convent to get married. They could have pets. Jutte owned two lapdogs that she was very fond of. She was an ambitious woman. First she became the supervisor of the convent's supplies; later on she was a prioress. When the old abbess died, Jutte wanted to succeed her. Some sisters voted for her, but it was a contested election. Thus she litigated for seven years. At last she succeeded, but this was to be the start of her conversion. When Jutte drove into the convent to accept her new rank, God caused her driver to have an accident and die. She was very upset. Someone had died suddenly because of her ambition. On top of this, the Lord gave her a serious illness. Her doctor happened to be an adherent of Grote. He told his patient that she should not concern herself with her body, as the illness of her soul was much worse. She began to correspond with Johannes Brinckerinck. As training in humility, she started to learn how to spin, which was considered menial work. Her fellow sisters, who stuck to the noble work of embroidery, were very embarrassed about such lower class leanings. Their abbess also trained herself in obedience. When Brinckerinck ordered her to drown her lapdogs, she complied at once. Eventually, she left Vreden and moved in with Zweder of Richteren, who was to be the founder of the convent of Saint Agnes and Mary. At Diepenveen, the previously proud canoness became exemplary for her humility and obedience. She wore threadbare clothes. She never prided herself on her former position. In fact, she made as though she were deaf when the other sisters attempted to address her as 'milady of V reden '. Furthermore she was always available for the heaviest and most menial kinds of manual labour. The sisterbook gives detailed accounts of how she cleaned piss pots, helped with the laundry, cooked meals for the builders of the convent and served these men whose social status was far below her own. Throughout the tale, it is

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obvious that she has a hard time sticking to her purpose of becoming a truly religious woman. However, she perseveres. 39

This story clearly contains many elements present in the conversions of Grote and Devotio Moderna people. Conversion is caused by an act of God - the death of Jutte's driver and her own illness. Conversion may be started by such shocks but it is a lifetime project. There is a sense of urgency Jutte being confronted by somebody else's sudden death. Finally there is the changed behaviour both as a sign of a converting heart and as a training device. Before conversion, Jutte is shown as the type of lukewarm religious criticised by the adherents of Devotio Moderna. The main objection to such men and women is that they do not do what they should. Instead of focusing on God, such pseudo-religious are carnal beings. Before her change, Jutte and her fellow sisters follow their own wills all the time. 40 In view of humankind's depravity this can only lead to disaster, as is shown by Jutte. She slides into camality. Striving for high office in the convent stems from nothing but vanity. Furthermore, her love for creatures such as her lapdogs diverts her from GOd. 41 Similar motifs appear in the biographies of other converting religious of both sexes. How bad she is supposed to have been is obvious from the fact that she has to work hard as a woman to overcome her inner flaws. As a secular canoness from an early age, she is presumably a virgo intacta, yet the advantages of other Diepenveen virgins do not apply to her. She is as bad as a woman can be. Her biographer follows the tradition drawn from the Church Fathers who argue that virginity is first and foremost a matter of the heart rather than the body. A virgo intacta who, like Jutte, pines for all things carnal is not a 'real' virgin.42 For the likes of Jutte, the goal is to become a 'real' virgin. The challenge is to reconstruct oneself from someone who is entirely in the grip of carnality into a truly religious person who desires nothing but God. 43 For someone as bad as she is, this is a huge accomplishment indeed.

This is a paraphrase after DV, fols 128 r -13 P. 40 The same motif is present in the lives of the former Beguine Liesbeth Giesbers and the life of the brother of Sister Salome van der Wiel the elder, who was a Premonstratensian, DV resp. fo1. 291 v and fols. 30Sr-307V. 41 10hannes Cassianus, Collationes patrum, collatio 1. 42 Augustine, De virginitate, cols. 397-428, 401, cited by Salih, Versions o/virginity, p. 1. 43 Augustine, De Genesi contra Manicheos, chapt. 23. 39

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Conclusion The accounts of conversion in Devotio Moderna all give the same basic ideas about conversion: it comes about by grace, is a lifetime project, shows in outward behaviour, and is very urgent as death can happen any day. Moreover, it is considered a matter of course that all human beings need a conversion because of their depravity since the Fall. In these respects the biographies of exemplary brothers and sisters follow tradition from the Desert Fathers onwards. According to Devotio Moderna, it is obvious who needs conversion most. Worldly clerics and the pseudo-religious are the worst sinners, so both have to work extremely hard at conversion. Clearly, the lukewarm religious is the most depraved kind of convert and this is especially obvious as far as women are concerned. Though presumably virgins, they have to work as hard as any woman to counter their evil natures. This is another example of how Devotio Moderna follows the traditions of the early church, with virginity being seen as a matter of the soul rather than the body. Devotio Moderna conversions do not conform to the gendered patterns that Bynum establishes for her material. Contrary to her fmdings, a Devotio Moderna woman's conversion is brought about by a sudden nasty shock. The same is true for converting religious, especially if female. That they need such a shock to encompass the idea of conversion implies the level of their depravity. Devotio Moderna men, on the other hand, convert gradually, even if they are worldly priests. Grote is an exception in this respect. Another cause of disparity between the conversion stories is the different views of their subjects taken by the biographers. Busch's stories are much 'quieter' than both Dier's and the sisterbook's because he is convinced that his subjects are saints and perfect already. His characters need neither shocking experiences to start their conversions nor particularly hard work to persevere. Dier's biographies and the Diepenveen sisterbook, on the other hand, describe ordinary men and women, who are exemplary because of their perseverance in striving for perfection. In their view, women's greater camality makes it logical that they have to slave more than men, but if a woman succeeds in reaching perfection, she accomplishes a greater feat. This idea of a greater challenge for the more depraved also applies to conversions by worldly priests and lukewarm religious.

CONVERSION AND CIVIL SOCIETY YSBRANDUS TRABIUS'S SERMON HETCLEYN MOSTERTZAET(1590)

Frank van der Pol

Introduction: a time ofpolitical and religious differences The sermon Het Cleyn Mostertzaet is connected with the turbulent years of the Dutch reformation. The refonned preacher Ysbrandus Trabius, I who undertook his ministry shortly after the outbreak of iconoclasm in Antwerp, first preached this farewell sermon on the mustard seed when he was forced into exile by the Spanish Duke of AJva' s conquest of the city. The sermon was delivered when the course of events prevented the preacher from practising his vocation. He could no longer mount pulpits and preach sermons as he had done before or, at least, was no longer free to do so in Antwerp. Trabius informed his audience that it was uncertain whether he would be able to preach the next Tuesday because a large number of the enemy forces were already in town. Awareness of this fact gave his message a characteristic shape. After eleven years abroad, Trabius returned to Antwerp only to go back into exile seven years later; this time because the city fell to the Spanish Duke of Parma. Just before his second involuntary departure, Trabius again delivered a sennon on the mustard seed. Five years later he published the written reworking of the twice-given farewell sermon, 2 under the title Het Cleyn Mostertzaet. I On Ysbrandus Trabius (Balkius Reynhardus Frisius, c.1530 - c.1600), see Van der Pol, 'Ysbrandus Balkius'; Nijenhuis, 'Balck'. 2 The preacher received the order to leave the city on 10 April 1567. The day before, he delivered his farewell sermon on the mustard seed (Mark 4: 30-32). In the same year, the sermon was published on the basis of annotations made by one of the attending parishioners. There is no known preserved copy of this 1567 publication. A second edition of this sermon appeared in 1579 as an audience member's version. Trabius himself later issued an authorised, greatly expanded edition under the title of Het Cleyn Mostertzaet (Amsterdam, 1590: Barendt Adriaensz) (= HCM). This edition, divided into 22 chapters, is the text for this study. In the following, the title is

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In this problematic pluralistic religious context, Trabius confronted the citizens of Antwerp with the parable of the mustard seed, which was a symbol for the disseminated practices required for entry into the kingdom of God. He stressed the radical claims of this kingdom on personal, ecclesiastical and civic life. His sermon was a critical attack, rooted in the tradition of prophecy. Trabius saw himself as a representative of this tradition reaching back in an unbroken line to men like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah and John the Baptist. 3 He indicated the nature of his task and authority, a powerful sense of vocation to speak the word of God in a time of rapid social, political and religious changes. 4 The conceptual framework of conversion Terms

The aim of this article is to consider the phenomenon of conversion in the sermon and to provide an answer to the question: What did conversion mean to Trabius in the context of the civic culture of Antwerp in the sixteenth century? The question derives from the fact that the preacher used the term 'application' explicitly to connect the sermon of the mustard seed with the events happening in Antwerp.s Trabius describes conversion in a variety of ways. He uses the noun 'conversion' and the verb 'to convert' to distinguish those who belong to the kingdom of God from those who belong to the world. He uses the nouns 'turning', 'change' and 'repentance', and employs the verbs 'to turn from', 'to repent' and 'to change one's mind'. He also frequently uses words associated with conversion, for example, the expression 'new life' or 'new birth,.6 Conversion requires a spiritual birth, a movement from darkness to

abbreviated as HeM. Because the work has no page numbering I make use of my own numbering: Roman numerals for the prologue (pp. i-xiv) and Arabic ones for the sermon (pp. 1-167). 3 A separate page after the title page displays a characteristic passage from Scripture, Ezekiel 33: 2-5 describing the call to prophecy. Other places in HeM, pp. viii and ix (Isaiah, Ezekiel), 7 (John the Baptist), 31 (Micah), 77 (Isaiah), 83 (Elijah, Micah, Elisha). 4 Immediately on the title page Trabius typified himself as a 'servant of God's Word'. It is a special undertaking, legitimated by a divine calling. He identified himself as an 'ambassador of Christ'; 'Knowing that we must exercise our office, with which the Lord has charged us' (HeM, pp. ix, 80). 5 Ibidem, pp. v, 62, 67, 75, 76, 118, 128. 6 An example of the expression 'new life' in the citation with reference note 9. 'New birth' for instance at the beginning of the prologue (HeM, p. i).

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light. In fact, this metaphorical, biblical image is the culmination of his understanding of conversion. 7 Personal conversion

Admission to the kingdom of heaven involves a personal change from the sinful past, which is rejected, to the new reality of God's forgiveness and grace in Christ. This idea is the basis of the preacher's concept of conversion. 8 The concept includes the personal embracing of a new identity, a total reorientation: We attack and condemn the devil of hell; we punish the world with all its children and company; with all its atrocities, evil, sin, shame and slander; with all its lusts and temptations. We teach the lazy, delicious, lubricious, comfortable and voluptuous flesh; through the power of the death and cross of Christ we put down, crucify, kill and bury the sinful flesh; and with Christ we rise from the dead in a new life. 9

Trabius characterises the evangelical doctrine as 'the doctrine of conversion of life'. to This shift from death to (new) life is seen as a profoundly inward experience, II and the preacher uses plenty of expressions which reflect a deep relationship with God and a genuine spirituality touching the heart, the inner centre of the human being. 12 Without conversion, the inner centre is considered corrupt (cold, foolish, envious, zealous, sinful, and unbelieving).13

HeM, p. i and 19. The metaphor is based on a biblical image (Acts 26: 18; I Pet. 2: 9; 2 Cor. 4: 6). 8 HeM, pp. 32, 39, 40. To convert is to reject sinful life and to belong to Christ. HeM, pp. i, 7,15,88. 9 Ibidem, p. 65. 10 'The Evangelical doctrine is the simple doctrine of contrition and conversion of life' (ibidem, p. 56). 11 Ibidem, pp. 39, 62, 98, 100. He is deeply moved in his heart. HeM, pp. 37, 61. His prayer comes from the bottom of his heart. Ibidem, 100. The sermon appeals to the emotive centre (the mustard seed must grow and be fruitful in the heart: pp. 37, 61, 63, 90, 148. Man needs to undertake an inquiry into the heart (p. 63). The heart should be broken, penitent and contrite (pp. 16, 59). 12 'The Son of God ... requires sincere conversion in his heart to God ... in order that this be followed by penitence and a Christian way of life'. HeM, pp. 73, 74. 13 HeM, pp. 62, 80, 121, 142. 7

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Conversion as a change in ecclesiastical perception

Conversion is, according to Trabius, not an individualistic, private experience because the convert is integrated into a community of believers; the church as the body of Christ. The preacher explicitly refers to the parable of the lost sheep, Luke 15: 3-7. The sheep is sought by the Shepherd in the desert, raised on his shoulders and returned to the sheep's pen, the kingdom of heaven. Trabius also refers to Ezekiel34: 22-29, where the prophet describes the Lord gathering his flock and becoming their faithful Shepherd, messianically fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 14 Trabius stresses the importance of this corporate dimension. For example, he condemns the opinions of religious teachers who are more preoccupied with status and pedantic learning than with strengthening Christ's church. IS A major point in his prophetic criticism concerns the worship of false religion. This criticism is especially directed against the false doctrines and practices of the so-called antichrist of Rome; This reformed variant of the traditional antichrist theme emerges· several times in the sermon. 16 Throughout the text, the false religion and the reformed Christian religion are diametrically opposed to each other. 17 Taken together, these references 14 HeM, pp. 9, 10, 109. Trabius also cited Luther on Matthew 10: 14-15, who mentioned Christ 'the Son of God, our great Shepherd' (HeM, p. 163) and he spoke of the members of the congregation as the 'sheep of Christ' (HeM, pp. 67, 135). 15 HeM, pp. 28-30. The preacher opposed any tendency to establish an aristocratic pastoral elite. Academically educated predecessors were allotted the status of scholars, but church ministers do not only come from the higher social classes in the community. Even simple people are capable of becoming pastors. Although he admitted that God is certainly associated with schooling, he opposed the caricature of the preacher always being an unschooled man. He refuted slander that paints all preachers with the same brush by accusing them of being unschooled in the following way: 'Indeed, it is said, what are these ministers and preachers? They are not any sort of learned men. They have no ability in the Latin, Greek or Hebrew languages. They are weavers, furriers, shoemakers and simple tradesmen. Would I want to listen to them? Of course not! They should all be highly educated doctors from prominent and noble families; then I would listen to them' (HCM, pp. 26-31). All preachers need not be scholars such as the ones in Paris, Louvain and Cologne, but a good education is, as far as possible, a requirement for a pastor. In fact, Trabius himself had a licentiate in law along with a doctorate. He could refer to contemporaneous and classical theologians in an effortless manner. He also appears to have been in touch with developments in the church and theology and knew about the contemporary political and social issues of his time. In the registers of the University of Leiden (1585), the licentiate degree is indicated after his name. In V[ellens], Antwerpsch Chrony!g'e, p. 120, he is listed in 1567 as 'doctor Y senbrant. ' 16 HCM, pp. 1,53, 114-115. 17 For example HeM, pp. 73-74, 116.

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describe Roman Catholicism as a false religion, terrible darkness and shameful idolatry. Trabius accuses the Roman cult of being a religious system of slavery. To describe conversion from Catholicism he uses the well-known metaphor of a char:tge from darkness to light. 18 Trabius refers to Aquinas, Dura..ndus and Scotus, whose complex systems are labyrinthine and whose doctrines, along with those belonging to other so-called sophists, are placed in opposition to the reformed doctrine. 19 The result of conversion from a church dominated by such theology is one of the motivated attractions of a new ecclesiastical perception, the reformed one. Conversion of Roman Catholics into reformed Protestants meant a shift in their religious cognition and ecclesiastical participation. It meant a fundamental change in their understanding of the biblical message, and a change in confessional doctrines, especially in the central theme of justification by faith alone. In their conversion to reformed believers, they rejected their former life in Roman Catholicism by renouncing service to idle 'gods' for the true service of the Lord. They stopped worshipping antichrist Rome. Trabius describes their conversion as a process of liberation from enslavement. Standing in the freedom of Christ and forgiveness, the convert fmds rest for his tempted sou1. 20 Another important point of Trabius's prophetic criticism is aimed at the so-called false brotherhood. Trabius realised that pastors and other believers were frequently slung back and forth between worldly accommodation and the exigencies of God's vocation. To the extent that the reformed faith in Antwerp lost its place in the civic community and the parameters governing office and church were no longer certain, it was difficult to maintain the 18 HeM, p. i. In Trabius's opinion Rome had too many human traditions and ceremonies: the manifold forms of penance, the extreme unction, pilgrimage, purgatory, the soul mass, the power ascribed to indulgences; the invocation of saints, the yearly mass for the deceased, the lighting of candles, holy water and the impanated God of the mass (the so called 'bread-God', a reference to the concept of transubstantiation, the belief that the bread in the mass becomes the actual body of Christ). Cf. HCM, pp. 104-IOS as well as pp. vii, 63, 67, 74, 91, 104-IOS, IIS-117. 19 HeM, pp. 102-103. 20 He declared that, in the throes of death, no rest for the conscience is obtained by means of all this liturgical finery. After all, confession is never sufficient. A pilgrimage does not pacify the conscience. The poor human confronted with the devil, hell and eternal damnation does not attain peace through all these pious fabrications. Until anyone in dire need says: 'None of that can help me. But I confess and admit that I alone through the blood of Jesus Christ can be purified of all my sins. Trusting in that, I can take heart and be consoled. On that basis, I can depart this life. In the name of the Lord' (HeM, pp. i, 104-IOS, 114-117). 'The evangelical doctrine instructs us clearly that we and all believers only become just and true through our faith in Jesus Christ' (HCM, p. S6).

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right balance. Some were too eager to obtain social legitimacy and were oversensitive about the extent to which the social environment valued their vocation. Trabius formulated a sharply opposing view. He disavowed all the members of such a brotherhood and denounced them for consorting with politicians who attempt to fit the message of God into a particular form of governmental policy.21 The central point is, does one persevere against great political and social uncertainty or does one get annoyed with the smallness of the mustard seed? A true pastor must not succumb to the attractions of accommodation and concession. If the gospel is faithfully translated, then it continues to work as a two-edged sword?2 The gospel freely invades the existing culture and questions it concerning the attitudes, values and expectations of Antwerp inner-city circles. Conversion and its impact on culture

As already indicated, for Trabius, conversion was individual but not an individualistic issue. Without conversion, a person's heart remained cold to his neighbours/3 while on the other hand, 'If the power of the Gospel enlightens us, then the ardent fire of the kingdom of heaven incites us to spread our arms and branches wide open to our neighbours' .24 Conversion has ethical as well as social implications and the sermon clearly articulates the Christian's attitude towards the world. A Christian may not leave society behind because belief in the kingdom of God is demonstrated by deeds

HCM, pp. 141; see also ibidem,70, 79, 153-156. Trabius's sharply opposing view: After the title page of Het Cleyn Mostertzaet he used a separate page to indicate a number of characteristic passages in Scripture, including three from Ezekiel. The first, Ezekiel 33: 2-5, describes the call to prophetic revelation. A second and a third reference to Ezekiel 13: 11 and 18-21 indicate that the lies of the accommodating prophets will be exposed. In supplementing Ezekiel, Trabius employed in his sermon literary images of natural calamities such as cloud banks that are driven along by storm winds. The rain pours down. Hail falls and demolishes everything. A wall of clay with a lime plaster cannot stand up to such an onslaught. The message of the figurative language suggests that the lies involved in accommodating prophecy cannot stand up to judgement. The central question of the sermon asks whether one should stand up, as a prophet, against great political and social turmoil or merely become annoyed with the smallness of the mustard seed. See also HCM, pp. 70, 79, 153-156. The Word of God as a two-edged sword (HCM, pp. 59, 60 and 62). 23 'How would love reach out to our neighbours? ... If this love-giving power and force of the little mustard seed is not embraced in one's heart and mind, in one's life and conduct, then one's heart will always remain cold and unresponsive to God and to one's neighbours' (HCM, pp. 61-62). 24 HCM, p. 134.

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that help others to see the light. In effect, every Christian is sent as a light, a torch, a lamp and a grain of salt among the people and should act appropriately in public life?5 The author of the sermon Het Cleyn Mostertzaet uncovers the significance of conversion and locates its meaning in a specific historical context. Trabius stresses that the King of heaven demands righteous behaviour and acceptance of his kingship, as well as complete renunciation of sinful powers. He imposes his demands like a level on the city of Antwerp, a commercial metropolis and, except for Paris, the only town north of the Alps with more than a hundred thousand inhabitants. 26 As Trabius himself admits, he addresses people bluntly about their sins, a point to which the entire city of Antwerp could testify?7 He declares that he spares no one, not great Hans, not little Hans, not prince or nobleman, not the simple people, not gentlemen and the rich in town, not the poor. He frankly punishes everyone's mistakes and failings in order to convert them. 28 Trabius criticises the adultery in the city, along with the prostitution, the excessive eating and drinking, and the splendour and pomp of the clothing, all of which are signs of excessive pride. He raises critical issues about the turning of a blind eye to bordellos, gambling and gaming, drunkenness and, in one phrase, living in unbounded excess?9 Trabius especially urges civil authorities, captains and soldiers, schoolmasters, family men and matrons to do their duty as the guardians of society in these matters. 30 The sermon is a devastating attack on the social evils of the day, particularly on immorality and the careless pursuit of luxury,31 which Trabius views as sins that should be punished by God. To his mind, those evils undennined civic character. For anyone, the only hope is sincere repentance and conversion, and if the city will not adopt rightful action, a message of judgement will be issued. The Spanish will take away Antwerp's busy trade, property and money as a result of God's righteous judgement. Everyone has to rectify his relationship with God in the active manner conveyed by the verbs 'to convert', 'to turn from' and 'to repent'. If the signs of such redress are missing, the preacher declares, Antwerp will have

Light, lamp and torch (HeM, pp. xiv, 53, 60), with reference to Phil. 2: 14-16 and 2 Pet. 1: 19. The image of the salt (HeM, pp. 60,133), with reference to Matt. 5: 13, Mark 9: 49, 50, Luke. 14: 34, Col. 4: 6. 26 Marnef, Antwerp, pp. 5-6. Trabius rightly typified the city as 'the great commercial town of Antwerp' (HeM, pp. viii, 149). 27 HeM, pp. ix, 66, 71-72, 75-76. 28 Ibidem, pp. 66- 67. 29 Ibidem, pp. ix, 42 (with reference to 1 Cor. 6: 10),60,66,67,71-72,89-90,143. 30 Ibidem, pp. 135-138. 31 Ibidem, p. 72. 25

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no future and will meet with utter ruin at the hands of the murderous Spaniards. 32 In discussing conversion, Trabius turns to the examples of recent converts. He characterises the sinfulness of their former way of life and uses their own statements to support his views. He says that after his open warning, immodest women, who had been living an evil, sinful and shameful life, thanked him wholeheartedly for his instruction. 33 They viewed their former lives and social environment as worthless. 34 The preacher analyses the conversion stories of harlots, drunkards, libertines, fighters, brawlers, misers, usurious men, dandies and braggarts. He lists the consequences for keepers, owners of public-houses and innkeepers, saying, for example, that all of them had grumbled that their income had diminished and their business deteriorated, that customers were staying away and that their beer and wine had not been drunk. According to Trabius, conversion requires the convert to reject the old social values, and daily life in Antwerp is replete with instances that demonstrate the social impact of this power of conversion. 35 In his dramatic narrative, the preacher touches on the important social issue that even harlots and publicans can be granted entry to heaven. By the power of conversion, sinners are made pious, and the possibility of their conversion establishes the fact that conversion is not an issue of status or wealth. By welcoming poor sinners, God sets a precedent for the Antwerp cultural elite, so that they have no basis for excluding the poor. Trabius's concept of conversion includes community welfare, Christian support for the vulnerable and social practices which radiate belief, hope and love. The community relief work in the city of Antwerp was very complex, a point made clear in a letter Trabius wrote in 1585 to the church council in London. The letter reports dire poverty and great social tension in the face of war: Due to the war, the members involved in commercial enterprises are forced to leave, and all trade and handiwork have ground to a halt. The war taxes are unbelievable ... The river is closed because of a blockade. All necessities for life become every day more expensive. 36

Ibidem, pp. 77, 100. Ibidem, p. ix. 34 Ibidem, p. 40. 35 Ibidem, pp. 38-39,90, 138-139. 36 For more about the actual context in which Trabius was concerned with social welfare see Hessels, Ecclesiae Londino-Batavae Archivum, no. 963, pp.786-787. 32

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The sermon demonstrates extreme tension between Trabius and an important group of Antwerp citizens. 37 The tone of his sermon fluctuates, depending on whom the pastor has in mind. He sees Antwerp as a political and religious system in which the Reformed Church is a threatened subsystem. When he expresses this view in his sermon, his tone changes. His awareness that the reformed religion is being marginalised, and that the reformed pastors' position in the city is becoming untenable, shapes the sermon. The preacher refutes accusations that he and his colleagues are troublemakers, proclaims his innocence and insists that the real reason for the accusations is the rejection, especially by the cultural elite of Antwerp, of the divine calling to the kingdom of God. 38 Trabius appeals to the citizens of Antwerp because all those remaining unconverted are enemies of the kingdom and have no future. 39 The central line of the sermon reiterates the point that anyone who rejects the kingdom is guilty, no matter who they are. 40 Trabius mentions a wide range of social classes, not only the upper and middle-class citizens, but also the lower echelons, the weavers, shoemakers and labourers, every man and wife, the ragtag and bobtail, little Hans of Cripplestreet (who is referred to throughout the sermon), the poor and ignoble rabble of the town, and the scum of the street. 41 However, because they have a particular responsibility in urban culture, he especially appeals to the higher classes and the upper elite including high officials, government authorities, councillors, clerics, 37 The prologue of the sermon points to 'envious and jealous minds' (HeM, p. xi). In the sermon Trabius also spoke of 'devilish anger', 'offence', 'hatred and rancour' (HeM, pp. 44-46). 38 Trabius argued: '0 mustard seed, mustard seed, if you were not so sharp and bitter, we would still be allowed to remain here ... [and] therefore not to be expelled, driven away, and many of us murdered. Those who do not rub this mustard seed under the nose of great Hans and little Hans are left in peace; they are the good men, they should be allowed rest and peace' (HCM, p. 67). Adding a statement especially aimed at the social elite, he wrote: 'Therefore let all tyrants, kings, princes, rulers, and lords of the world prepare to attack the little mustard seed with their weapons, guns, rifles, horsemen and servants; and to throw out this little mustard seed, that here (especially here in Antwerp) has been so powerfully sown by the grace of God. Ah, it will not be in their power!' (HeM, p. 94). 39 'Where the little mustard seed is accepted, there we see God's blessing. And where the Gospel is expelled and pushed out, there comes nothing but curse and malediction' (HCM, p. 96). See also ibidem, title page (Matt 10, 14, 15). Trabius applied this to the city of Antwerp (HeM, pp. 100, 141-142, 168) a poem on Antwerp to accept the little mustard seed. 40 'to call to penance, without distinguishing what social qualities they have' (HeM, p.40). 41 He addressed citizens of the middle class throughout the whole sermon, but the lower classes are also mentioned. For example HeM, pp. 27, 34, 37.

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barristers, counsels and attorneys, captains, learned doctors, Lords of the High Court, nobility, burgomasters and magistrates, regents, magistri nostri, philosophers, rich and wealthy, shipping traders, stately and excellent civilians, high ladies, and fur-wearing cats.42 From the preacher's point of view, the civil authorities have a duty as the guardians of society and the government must maintain a biblical frame of values that support a Christian society. Given the problematic situation of religious pluralism in the city, Trabius says that the authorities are obliged to protect and promote the prosperity of the Reformed Church. 43 In the pluralistic context, this viewpoint has to be connected with the policy of Religious Peace, the freedom of religion for both the Reformed and Roman religions: 'I pray to the Lord from the depth of my heart that they [the Roman Catholics] with us, and we with them, may lead an undisturbed life in all godliness and gravity' .44 Trabius complains about the injustice arising in that people converted to the reformed religion do not enjoy equal rights, remaining second-class citizens and even having to go into exile. Trabius' s interest in the affairs of religion, peace and justice in urban society is not that of a detached observer, but that of a spiritual watchman. 45 He condemns the demonstrated lack of justice, law and the necessary instruments to uphold freedom and unity in the city, and to maintain peace between churches and within the nation. 46 Trabius reminds believers that they have a communal identity, because the mustard seed is an image of God's kingdom. The glory of this kingdom does not lie in status, wealth or power but in the edifying power of conversion illustrated by the growth of the mustard seed. He indicates that the word of God is being spread to England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Denmark, France and Switzerland, practically all of Europe. The mustard seed has produced wondrous fruit in Flanders, Brabant, especially in Antwerp, and subsequently in Zealand, Holland and Friesland.47 This power shows the dynamism of the kingdom and a solid promise for the future: God has granted conversion to life!48 Consequently, the preacher says people should sacrifice HCM, pp. 26-28,34,36-37,41,71-72,135,137-138,155,165-166. Trabius' view on government and religion was as follows: 'If we are magistrates and governors, we have to seek and to promote the growth and development of the church of Jesus Christ, and to look more for the glory and honour of God than the glory and honour of the people' (HCM, pp. 135-136). 44 Ibidem, pp. 96, 100. 45 For example HCM, pp. 127-129. 46 Ibidem, pp. 72, 126. 47 Ibidem, pp. 93-94, 99-100. 48 'Let them cut down, slash, carve, strike, rob and steal our goods, they never can rob and steal or take away these eternal and indefilable treasures and goods. Our 42 43

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their honour, wealth, goods and homeland for God's truth, even their lives. 49 Converted from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ, Trabius tells the believers they will meet 'all kind of indignity, mockery, shame, persecution, cross, suffering, exclusion, and expulsion, such as is now forthcoming' but they should not succumb to 'spite, or scorn; nor to loss of goods, property, house, garden, land, inheritance, honour, name and reputation, repose, friendship, trade, or even sympathy of the world. Against all these they will gain the victory in Christ, culminating in God's glorious kingdom' .50 Trabius describes the existing social pressure and the subsequent persecution of believers. He declares that people who believe the gospel are subject to all kinds of misery, persecution, pressure, suffering, and are even put to death by hanging, strangulation or fire, murdered, broken on the wheel, or destined for the halter or gallows. 51 A lengthy period of exile threatens to turn them into strangers, homeless people who are geographically and socially displaced. In the elaborate prologue, Trabius addresses the members of his congregation, most of whom had, in the meantime, left Antwerp and found themselves dispersed in all directions: 'into Holland, Zealand, into England, France, into Gennany, to the East, South, West or North, wherever they were scattered, driven, pursued and, under the cross, were moaning, complaining, lamenting and trembling' .52 Although the reformed believers encounter opposition from the urban authorities, the sermon is dominated by invocations of divine protection. Conclusion This article has explored Trabius's understanding of conversion and its impact on society. What conclusions can be drawn from the variety of passages from the sermon presented here? First, the examination makes clear

death ... is a lovely and fast release from sorrow into joy, from misery and distress into the heavenly, eternal and blissful life, as Christ has promised us. Should we then fear the torments of our enemies?' (HCM, pp. 146-147). See also ibidem, p. 118 (with reference to Rom. 8: 38, 39) and p. 135. 49 Ibidem, pp. 98-99. 50 Ibidem, pp. 53-54 as well as pp. 34,37, 95, 118. 51 Ibidem, p. 34 and pp. 53,62, 140-149. 52 Ibidem, p. i. The title page displays the situation of dispersion in a characteristic passage, whereas the sermon Het Cleyn Mostertzaet has been written: 'For the consolation, education, and exhortation of the dear brothers and sisters of the dispersed Church of Christ in Antwerp. Furthermore also to all the dear members of Christ, who are in and outside the Netherlands hither and thither, persecuted and expelled by the Spanish tyranny, because of the confession of Christ and His Holy Truth and Words'.

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that the motif of conversion is an explicit feature of the sermon. This motif should not be viewed simply as a part of the preacher's speech but rather should be regarded as an important aspect. Het Cleyn Mostertzaet was not only written to edify believers, but also to convert readers and listeners who might in the moment of exile be hesitating or even refusing. Second, conversion signals the power of the kingdom of heaven, initiated by God, and validates a statement of hope. It means a total reorientation, a profoundly inward experience with a vertical dimension, which reflects a deep relationship with God. Third, conversion is not a goal in itself. It has an ethical and social dimension. It defmes a Christian way of life that unifies people of different social classes in the same Christian identity and also incorporates individuals into a good relationship with civil society. As a consequence conversion changes the social pattern of civil society. The sermon criticises the tendency to exclude people of lower social, educational or economic status. To sum up the essentials: in the midst of a dramatic crisis, the preacher Ysbrandus Trabius characterised the problems in which the various stakeholders of the city of Antwerp were implicated. He provided both positive and negative feedback on the situation. His sermon proclaimed conversion to be essential. Emerging from a complex background, the preacher described conversion as an entry into new life, as a radical change of mind and belief, as an alteration of church membership, and as a new ethical and social perspective within civil society. The sermon connected conversion with civil and social life and culture, the developments involved in these, and any consequences that they might have on Christian life in general and the Christian community in particular.

'RETURN UNTO ME!' LITERATURE AND CONVERSION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND

Helen Wilcox

I did flee from his face, that is, my mind and spirit fled before him; by reason of his highness, I could not endure; then would the text cry, Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. John Bunyan, Grace Abounding (1666)'

In a recent interview, the retired Anglican Bishop of Binningham, Hugh Montefiore, spoke of his experience of conversion to Christianity as a young man. He described three stages which he labelled the 'hall-marks' of a conversion: contact with something external or other than oneself (in his case a 'figure in white' whom he 'knew' to be Jesus); a clear command to change or take action ('Follow me'); and a resulting sense of 'extreme exultation' His account conforms to perhaps the simplest of all possible defmitions of conversion; that is, a turnmg-point in an individual life stemming from a sudden, often inexplicable, experience and leading to a newly positive conviction. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Bishop admits to regarding conversion as 'the easiest way' to fmd faith. While others have to 'fight and struggle' to establish their beliefs and commitment, he was - as he expressed it in a significantly passive construction - simply 'made' a Christian. Unlike Bishop Montefiore's immediate change of direction, many of the conversions recounted in early modem English texts were longer-term processes, beginning with disturbance and unease, repentance and vocation, and leading to extended periods of both dreading and longing for the moment of commitment. The path to conversion was a winding way with many obstacles, entailing repeated phases of turning, backsliding and re-turning, and rarely, if ever, achieving a plateau of assurance. The very act of writing about the journey to conversion, so frequently undertaken in the early mod-

.z

, John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief o/Sinners (ed. Sharrock), p. 54. Mary Wakefield, 'Who's Hugh?', p. 16, recounting an interview in which the bishop describes his conversion from Judaism to Christianity.

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em period, in itself formed an integral part of the conversion process. For, as Geoffrey G. Harpham has noted, a confessional text 'enacts', as well as confrrms, conversion? My purpose in this paper is to examine the presence of conversion as an intense experience and creative stimulus in a wide range of early modem English texts, from the work of William Shakespeare in the 1590s to that of Hannah Allen in the 1680s. The works chosen represent a variety of genres, moods, subjects and attitudes towards conversion, the earliest being secular drama texts from the Elizabethan age and the latest being religious autobiography of the Restoration period. However, rather than exploring the texts in chronological sequence or in terms of their contemporary controversies, I shall approach them primarily by means of a series of thematic questions. My aim in so doing is to stimulate further reflection on the process of conversion itself, by viewing it through the imaginative lens of those in early modem England who responded to the idea of spiritual and personal metamorphosis, or heard the call to 'Return unto me'. Why early modern England?

The late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England were times of intense conversion activity. 4 Many factors contributed to the complexity of the process in this period, whereby it often became more of a 'fight and struggle' than an 'easy way' to confident faith.s The Renaissance and Refonnation periods were characterised by fundamental changes in the way in which knowledge - whether of God, the world or the self - was discovered and verified. Humanist scholarship, biblical translation, empirical science and philosophical questioning, to mention but a few significant developments, mark this period out as one of historical and epistemological conversion. 6 By the end of the sixteenth century, the English were just emerging from a destructively painful series of enforced collective conversions, from Roman Catholicism to a national church (under Henry VIII in the 1530s), to Calvinism (during the brief reign of his son Edward VI) and back to Catholicism again (under Mary Tudor), and fmally to a reformed Church of England (established in the 1560s during the reign of Elizabeth I). Despite the apparent settlement of doctrine and church practice in the Elizabethan era, political and religious instability persisted at all levels under the early Harpham, 'Conversion', p. 45. See Questier, Conversion. S This reverses the contrast suggested above by Bishop Montefiore. 6 See, for example, Burke, A Social History; Jardine, Worldly Goods.

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Stuart monarchs, and the fault-lines of division became all too evident in the mid-seventeenth century Civil War. In the aftermath of this revolution, the structure and government of Britain underwent a startlingly complete conversion, from a kingdom to a commonwealth, though within a decade the process had been reversed as the monarchy was restored. Even the historical labels for this troubled period stress recurrent conversion: being reborn (Renaissance), turning (Revolution) and reinstating (Restoration). During this unsettled period of cultural history, it is not surprising that claims to divine calling and signs of conversion became the contested evidence of true faith. In the early and mid-seventeenth century, for instance, the dominance of Calvinism led to intense scrutiny of the evidence of individual salvation, driven by the example of CaIv in's own emphasis on repentance as 'the true turning (conversionem) of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of him' .7 Meanwhile, those who clung to the less Calvinist traditions of the Church of England were necessarily forced into a kind of internal exile during which private conversion to 'Holy Living', as advised by Jeremy Taylor and his contemporaries, became a substitute for ecclesiastical structures. 8 The prevailing discourse of trials and changes was well matched in the confessional autobiographical records of spiritual rebirth that emerged at the time and grew to be one of the most popular narrative genres of the seventeenth century.9 Early modem thinking was framed and coloured by textual and lived conversion, whether past, present or future. Its language and motifs spread across all forms of literature, secular as well as sacred, spurred on by a sense of spiritual imminence and a previously unequalled level of biblical familiarity. The speaker in Andrew Marvell's mid-seventeenth century lyric of sexual coercion, 'To His Coy Mistress', for example, imagines a perfect scenario in which he has 'World enough, and Time' to flatter his lady at length, and envisages allowing her to 'refuse' him coyly, if she should so choose, until the end of the world. The expected evidence of the Last Days is 'the Conversion of the Jews'; 10 from love poetry to eschatology, conversion was the mood of the moment. The spiritual autobiography of John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666), brings together some of the most important aspects of this early modem English preoccupation with change and transformation. The context in which Bunyan' s work was written - while imprisoned for illegal preaching - is a chastening reminder that conversion rarely takes place

Jean Calvin, Institutes (transl. Battles), Ill, iii, 5. Jeremy Taylor, The Rules. 9 See, for example, Mascuch, Origins, and two earlier studies: Delaney, British Autobiography, and Bottrall, Every Man a Phoenix. 10 Andrew Marvell, Complete Poetry (ed. Lord), p. 23. 7 8

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in a holy vacuum away from the pressure and muddle of material existence. Urging conversion by the example of his own narrative, ironically while being prohibited from doing so by means of sermons, Bunyan conveys the essence of his experience in a distinctive mixture of blunt plainness and almost surrealistic detail. As the epigraph to this essay indicates, his conversion began with fear - the dread of divine judgment and authority, which he 'could not endure'. This terror could, and often did, lead to a turning in the 'wrong' direction, a phenomenon that we might term an anti-conversion: he chose to 'flee' from the 'face' of God. ll Bunyan's narrative specifies that his 'mind and spirit' fled, a revealing choice of phrase asserting that resistance to conversion comes from the rational, cognitive self as well as the anxious and vulnerable spirit. The biblical words which haunt Bunyan - and form the title of this essayl2 - have an almost physical presence, as do texts throughout Grace Abounding. 13 They assault him with their urgency and materiality, reminding us that the propensity to conversion in this post-Reformation period was intensely textual. As the passage continues, it is clear that a 'sentence' means both a biblical text and a judgment: Indeed, this [cry] would make me a little stop, and, as it were, look over my shoulder behind me, to see if I could discern that the God of grace did follow me with a pardon in his hand, but I could no sooner do that, but all would be clouded and darkened again by that sentence, For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Wherefore I could not return, but fled, though at some times it cried, Return, return, as if it did hollow after me. 14

Bunyan's writing attests vividly to the dramatic moments preceding conversion, when the speaker hopes for an appearance of God himself 'with a pardon in his hand'. Although he is disappointed in this longing for reassurance, he still hears the text calling out 'as if it did hollow after me'. The cry 11 In Augustinian terms, this is aversio (the opposite principle to conversio) which works against the fulfilment of creation; see Sherwood" 'Conversion Psychology', p. 121. 12 Isaiah 44:22: 'I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and, as a cloud thy sins: Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee'. The same command is repeated in Jeremiah 4: 1 and Hosea 6: 1. \3 See, for example, 'every sentence in that book ... was as knives and daggers in my Soul', and 'the word' that 'fell with power ... upon me' (Bunyan, Grace Abounding, pp. 51, 55). 14 Ibidem, p. 54.

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of 'Return unto me', indeed, may be heard loudly echoing, or 'hollowing', through the literature of early modem England as individuals and groups wrestled with the many modes of conversion - personal, denominational, political, social, visionary - prevalent in the age. Why convert? The fundamental cause of conversion is the deep-seated sense that things could be better - that we are living in the space outside Paradise and the time after Eden. As C.S. Lewis observed, 'knowledge of broken law precedes all other religious experiences'. 15 Without the fall there would be no call to conversion and none of Bunyan's tantalising awareness of another, better world full of promise: 'the blessed things of heaven were set within my view'. 16 A prerequisite to conversion is not only a sense of loss, but also a profound desire to regain those 'things of heaven' by means of a change of direction. The fIrst converts, in this sense, were Adam and Eve, who towards the end of Milton's Paradise Lost (1674) are shown on the painful path of return to God. Adam commends the repentant Eve for her fervent 'contempt' of life in the aftermath of the fall, but points out that, although self-denial seems 'sublime', nevertheless self-destruction therefore sought, refutes That excellence thought in thee, and implies, Not thy contempt, but anguish and regret For loss of life and pleasure overlov'd. 17

Adam suspects that Eve is motivated primarily by 'regret' for the lost joys of paradise; 'anguish' may precede conversion but a change of attitude is needed to release her from this 'self-destruction'. Adam thus puts forward a rational argument in favour of action rather than self-punishment. Despite the blatant gender stereotypes here - he for reason only, she for emotional vulnerability18 - Milton brilliantly depicts the stages of conversion in Adam and Eve together, almost as though they were a composite human being. After Eve's initial sorrowful realisation of error, the next step is Adam's plan to put things right:

Lewis, The Pilgrim's Regress, p. 3. Bunyan, Grace Abounding, p. 84. 17 John Milton, Paradise Lost (ed. Ricks), X:IOI6-1019. 18 Compare Milton's infamous description of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost, IV:299, 'Hee for God only, shee for God in him'. 15

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What better can we do, than to the place Repairing where he judg' d us, prostrate fall Before him reverent, and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg '" (H. 1086-9)

Milton's diction here captures the action of conversion in one word: 'repairing' , meaning both the movement of turning back, and the process of mending or restoring. The disastrous fall from grace is also poignantly mirrored in Adam's proposal to "prostrate fair' before God, this time not as a result of disobedience but in order to seek pardon. In addition to repentance and confession, however, there is a third factor in Milton's account, a vital prerequisite for conversion: the perceived movement of God towards the penitent. The fallen Adam is confident that God, like the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32), will set out to welcome his returning child: Undoubtedly he will relent and turn From his displeasure; in whose look serene, When angry most he seem' d and most severe, What else but favour, grace and mercy shone? (H. 1093-6)

In Adam's view, the one who will 'turn' is not so much the sinner as God, whose righteous anger will give way to 'mercy'. In many accounts of conversion, though the believers appear to make the change, they discover that the real action has been that of God. As Donne preached, 'this Returning of the Lord, is an Operative, an Effectual returning, that turnes our hearts, and eyes, and hands, and feet to the wayes of God' . 19 Milton's Adam turns back to 'the wayes of God', confident that God has already been 'Effectual' with the incarnation, passion and resurrection of Christ. The events and language of New Testament 'grace' have been superimposed by Milton onto his narrative of Genesis?O Here, then, is the second major reason for conversion: the promise of redemption. The convert changes direction when hope takes the place of despair. It is no coincidence, for instance, that John Donne's extended poetic meditation on 'turning' to God, 'Goodfriday, 1613. Riding Westward', is focused on the crucifixion, source of the 'endless day' of salvation? 1 In a

John Donne, Sermons (ed. Potter and Simpson), V:369. Milton's typological interpretations of the Old Testament, and his humanist reworking of epic poetic modes for Christian purposes, were themselves forms of conversion; see Guibbory, Ceremony, p. 34. 21 John Donne, Complete English Poems (ed. Patrides), pp. 454-6. Donne himself 19

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metaphysically witty attempt to explain why he is riding towards the west on Good Friday when he should be facing eastward to the site (and sight) of Christ's crucifixion, the speaker imagines the soul as a 'sphere', being 'whirled' around in circular movements by forces greater than itself, such as 'Pleasure or business', just as the planets are 'subject to foreign motions'. The passivity of individual existence, a basic premise of the trope of conversion, is emphasised in Donne's account of being 'carried towards the West', a movement symbolic of mortality itself. In a poem full of turning objects - spheres, the earth, the soul - the persona at the centre turns away from the crucifixion. However, in the closing lines he claims that this anticonversion is only in preparation for the eventual conversion: Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye, They' are present yet unto my memory, For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee, o Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree; I tume my backe to thee, but to receive Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave. D thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee, Bume off my rusts, and my defonnity, Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace, That thou may'st know mee, and I'll tume my face. (11. 33-42) The dramatic twist of the last half-line is typical of Donne's deferred sense of security; only at the very last moment, when assured that he will be reflect God's 'image' and receive 'grace', will the speaker cease to turn his back on the crucifixion, and turn instead to face God?2 It is evident that these two major reasons for conversion - a sense of loss _and the scent of hope - cannot easily be separated from one another. Milton's Adam, expelled from Paradise, sees the promise of grace in God's anger, while Donne's speaker, hopeful of 'restoration', hardly dares to see God. The sorrow of abandonment and the delight of recognition - of love, by God - go hand in hand as motives of conversion. As Donne's contem-

was no stranger to conversion, being born into a Catholic family but later in his life becoming not only a member of the Church of England but also one of its most prominent preachers as Dean of st. Paul's Cathedral in London. Indeed, many commentators would see his conversion - or as some call it, apostasy - as one of the defining features of his personality; see, for example, Carey, John Donne. 22 For a fine account of the metaphors of turning and converting in this poem, see Sherwood, 'Conversion Psychology'.

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porary, George Herbert, wrote succinctly in his poem 'Affliction (V)', 'There is but joy and grief; / If either will convert us, we are thine' ?3 How is early modern conversion expressed?

It is already becoming evident that English literature of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is rich in textual records of conversion, whether in confessional autobiography, epic poetry or meditative verse. As we proceed to examine the textual representation of conversion, the focus will be on a devotional lyric and part of a secular history play, thus further extending the range of genres witnessing to these moments of transformation. George Herbert's brief lyric, 'The Glance', from his posthumous collection of devotional poems, The Temple (1633), strikes the reader with the parallel between conversion to the love of God and the familiar first signs of earthly passion: When first thy sweet and gracious eye Vouchsaf'd ev'n in the midst of youth and night To look upon me, who before did lie Welt'ring in sinne; I felt a sugred strange delight, Passing all cordials made by any art, Bedew, embalme, and overrunne my heart, And take it in?4

These opening words echo many an early modem secular love poem or madrigaf 5 as the speaker is transfixed by the glance of a 'sweet and gracious eye'. The 'sugred strange delight' which begins to 'Bedew, embalme, and overrunne' the speaker's heart is an intensely sensual phenomenon, embodying the thrill of attraction as the heart is 'taken in' by an external force. The unexpectedness of the experience - its strangeness - is also important to its impact, and recurs in numerous accounts of what it feels like to undergo conversion. Compare, for instance, the words of the founder of the English Methodists, John Wesley, describing his conversion a century after

George Herbert, Works (ed. Hutchinson), p. 97. Ibidem, p. 171. 25 See, for example, the anonymous madrigal verse 'When first I saw your face', set by Thomas Ford in Music of Sundrie Kindes (1607). However, the passivity of Herbert's speaker is in marked contrast to the secular lover in the madrigal, who looks and sees for himself. In religious conversion, it is almost always God who takes the initiative. 23

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Herbert: 'my heart felt strangely warmed,?6 However, the convert's 'sweet originall joy', as Herbert calls it (1. 13), is hardly ever permanently or consistently felt. His lyric goes on to confess that the soul suffers 'many a bitter storm' even after the fIrst delightful contact with God. But the conversion process has begun, and a hint of salvation, the 'mirth' to come, has been given: If thy first glance so powerfull be, A mirth but open' d and seal' d up again; What wonders shall we feel, when we shall see Thy full-ey'd love! When thou shalt look us out of pain, And one aspect of thine spend in delight More then a thousand sunnes disburse in light, In heav'n above. (ll. 17-24)

In this last stanza we realise that the 'glance' of the poem's title is not only God's saving attention given to humankind, but also the speaker's own brief glimpse ('but open'd and seal'd up again') of the heaven to which conversion leads. The concluding lines of the lyric, filled with metaphors of light and sight, stress that the action of looking works in both directions: the speaker will fmally 'see' God's love, while that love, significantly described as 'full-ey'd', is a healing glance that will 'look us out of pain' . Whereas Herbert's poem celebrates the 'wonders' of conversion, both immediate and promised, many texts of the period speak of the discomfort associated with the conversion process. For most spiritual autobiographers, such as Bunyan, the pain lay in the realisation of their sinfulness and in an unfulfilled longing for salvation. In some cases, however, the results of conversion could also be disturbing and disorienting, particularly for those associated with the convert in the period prior to the change. Consider, for example, the moral (and not specifically spiritual) metamorphosis of Henry V as depicted by Shakespeare at the end of 2 Henry IV, when the formerly riotous prince, now king, publicly rejects his earlier behaviour. He describes his conversion as emergence from a bad 'dream'. Being now awake, he learns to 'despise' that hazy past experience as epitomised in the person of Falstaff, the 'tutor and feeder of my riots': I know thee not, old man, fall to thy prayers. Presume not that I am the thing I was, 26

John Wesley, Journal (ed. Curmock), I: 475 (my italics).

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For God doth know, so shall the world perceive, That I have turn' d away my former self; So will I those that kept me company. 27

As Shakespeare's severe Henry V demonstrates, conversion can be as much a turning away as a turning towards. Though not recounting a conventionally religious transformation, the speech is nevertheless a rejection of what the king calls a 'profane' past (1. 50) in favour of 'prayers' and the perceived sacred vocation of kingship. Henry's 'former self has been banished along with Falstaff; his changed character - no longer 'the thing I was' thus represents a double disencumbrance, the letting go of a past personality and his closest friend. This painful moment at the end of Shakespeare's historical drama draws our attention to conversion as a process of rejection and loss as well as of acceptance and gain. How are conversions brought about?

The literature of the early modem period is a fme source of accounts of the experience of conversion, not only from the point of view of its physical or emotional impact on converts and those close to them (as in the case of Herbert's 'The Glance' and Shakespeare's Henry V), but also in the detail of the mechanisms by which it takes place. In a memorable image of her own conversion through sorrow and sickness, the devotional poet An Collins, for example, suggests the fundamentally humble and hidden quality of the process of spiritual change. Her prefatory poem to Divine Songs and Meditacions (1653) imagines conversion as the work of bees, who 'by natures secret act / Convert to sweetnesse'. Their starting point is 'small things' but, symbolically, what they extract from these modest beginnings is made worthy and 'fit for some good end,?8 The bees' quiet, even secret, diligence transforms apparently insignificant or everyday matters into profound 'sweetnesse'. Almost unnoticed, the miracle of conversion goes on. One source of conversions in the early modem period was, of course, the sort of texts to which this essay is referring. An Collins, and Herbert before her, wrote autobiographical lyrics so that others might be inspired by the example of the grace of God at work in their lines and lives. In fact, Collins considered her own poems as among those 'small things' which might lead to a 'good end'; conversion was to be described and achieved 27 William Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV, in: The Riverside Shakespeare (ed. Evans et al.), V.v.47, 56-9. 28 An Collins, from 'The Preface', Divine Songs and Meditacions (1653) (ed. Gottlieb), p. 7.

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through her modest text driven by a 'good intent,.29 Herbert, too, hoped that his lyrics would be to the 'advantage' of potential readers - indeed, that was the only reason given for not burning his manuscripts. 30 Further, in the preface to Grace Abounding, Bunyan rejects a high style and promises to be 'plain and simple', since he is not writing of playful trifles but hopes to be 'profitable' to his readers and encourage them to be mindful of 'the very beginnings of Grace within their Souls' .31 In the mercantile early modem era of trading and exploring, the exchange of conversion experiences and the telling of travellers' tales about the spiritual pilgrimage were indeed seen to be 'profitable'. Among the most outspoken of these purposeful early modem texts were the writings of the extreme protestant sect known as the Ranters, for whom conversion signified not only spiritual justification but also the licensing of sexual indulgence and 'ranting' language. Typical of the almost hallucinatory style of the Ranters is the treatise entitled A Second Fiery Flying Roule, published in 1649 by Abiezer Coppe. Claiming be true 'in the history' and 'also in the mystery', the passage relates how Coppe met a beggar - a 'most strange deformed man, clad with patcht clouts' - but did not give him any money because the beggar could not change the shilling that Coppe had in his pocket. 32 Like Donne's 'Goodfriday 1613' (despite their enormous differences of style and doctrine), Coppe's subsequent narrative consists of a series of turnings: ... with much reluctancy ... I turned my horse head from him, riding away. But a while after I was turned back ... And behold the plague of God fell into my pocket; and the rust of my silver rose up in judgement against me, and consumed my flesh as with fire: so that I, and my money perisht with me ... I being cast into that lake of fire and brimstone ... Wet! To return - after I had thrown my rusty canker'd money into the poor wretches hands, I rode away from him, being filled with trembling, joy and amazement, feeling the sparkles of a great glory rising up from under these ashes. After this, I was made (by that divine power which dwelleth in this Ark, or chest) to turn my horse head - whereupon I beheld this poor deformed wretch, looking earnestly after me: and upon that, was made to put off my hat, and bow

Ibidem. Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George Herbert, p. 74. 31 Bunyan, Grace Abounding, pp. 5 and 4. 32 Abiezer Coppe, A Second Fiery Flying Roule, pp. 101-103. 29

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to him seven times, and was (at that strange posture) filled with trembling and amazement. 33

In this fascinating passage, the narrator's many physical changes of direction - first turning his horse's head to ride away from the beggar, then back towards the 'poor wretch' after being shocked into throwing him some money, then riding away from him in 'joy and amazement', and [mally turning to bow to him - represent the stages of his spiritual transformation, from pride through reluctant generosity to humility. Even the interjection, 'Well to return', contributes to the incessant shifting of position as the encounter with the 'deformed wretch' works on Coppe's conscience. The language is violent in its impact - plague, fire, canker, trembling - and the transformation of the base earthly 'ashes' into upward-moving 'sparkles of a great glory' is as immediate and material as the 'plague of God' in his own 'pocket'. This conversion is brought about by an identifiable external event felt with urgency and directness, combined with the protagonist's extraordinary sense of the inner significance of the encounter. Abiezer Coppe's transformation through the 'judgement' meted out by the silver in his pocket is an indication of the importance of social factors in the conversions of early modem England. Coppe wrote his Fiery Flying Roule for' All the Inhabitants of the earth' but' specially' the 'rich ones', as the title-page proclaimed,34 and it should not go unnoticed that his encounter with the beggar took place on September 30, 1649, exactly eight months after the execution of Charles I at the end of the Civil War. At a time of uncertainty and opportunity, spiritual and political conversions sprang from the clash of old ways and new, of rich and poor, of established views and new prophecies. The unstable social conditions in mid-seventeenth century England provided what Steve Bruce refers to as the 'predisposition' to conversion. 35 The nation itself, and not just the individual, was called upon to convert. As Lady Eleanor Davies wrote to the British in 1649, 'these [are] no times to sleep in' .36 In her zealous prophetic tracts, Davies eschewed the use of a 'flattering Pensil, or falsifying Pen', abandoning all inhibitions to 'unsheath that two edged Sword' of truth?7 She felt 'commanded' to tell the 33

Ibidem, pp. 102-103.

34 The main title is A Second Fiery Flying Roule: To All the Inhabitants of the earth; specially to the rich ones (Abiezer Coppe, ibidem, p. 98). 35 See Bruce's essay elsewhere in this volume. 36 Lady Eleanor Davies, Bill ofExcommunication (ed. Cope), p. 304. 37 Ibidem. The result of Davies' vocation to convert others was imprisonment, as well as temporary confinement to Bedlam for lunacy. Many of our early modern writers of conversion texts ended up in prison: Coppe (for blasphemy), Bunyan (for

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people of England to 'redeem the time, spurring on to repentance'; the country, and the age, were in need of conversion. In metaphors of violent cleansing, Davies chastised the church and the government, urging upon them the 'scouring' of their Lodgings, those Common Sewers or Stews', and the expulsion of all moral 'pollution' from the centre of national government and faith, 'White-Hall Chappel' itself. 38 All religious groups in England also felt the responsibility to convert those outside their fold, whether fellow-Christians or followers of other faiths. The Quakers Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, for example, travelled widely with 'the Lord on their side', with the aim of gaining converts for the Friends; but while in Malta in 1659 they were imprisoned by the Inquisition that was at work stamping out what it regarded as heresy and endeavouring to win back the lost faithful to the Catholic church. 39 The attempted conversion of others was a major early modem activity and, by nature, a source of conflict and contradiction as well as of increased selfrighteousness. Where missionary activity was extended to include nonChristians, the combination of eagerness and repugnance may be heard in the words of the prayer prescribed to be said in churches every Good Friday: Merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather than he should be converted and live: Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word: And so fetch them home blessed Lord, to thy flock .... 40

However, the qualities of 'ignorance' and 'hardness of heart' attributed here to 'Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics' are shown in some imaginative texts to be as much a feature of the contemptuous Christians as the heathen. In Shakespeare's late romance, The Tempest, the savage Caliban may be 'a strange thing as e'er I look'd on', but in the end it is he who follows the path to conversion - 'I'll be wise hereafter, / And seek for grace' - while the apparently civilised and Christian intruders on his island remain un-

preaching) and Evans and Cheevers for their missionary work (see below). Eleanor Davies, Prophetic Writings (ed. Cope), p. 306. 39 Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, A Short Relation of Some of the Cruel SuIferings, for the Truth's Sake (1662), in: Graham, E., et aI, eds., Her Own Life: Autobiographical Writings by Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen (London, 1989), p. 122. 40 The third 'Collect' for Good Friday, The Book of Common Prayer, 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book (ed. Booty), p. 144. See also Targoff, Common Prayer. 38

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reconciled with one another and, by implication, with their God. 41 The superiority implied in the missionary or imperial crusade is a dangerous threat to converted and unconverted alike.

What are the rhetorical tropes of early modern conversion?

The works so far cited in this essay have demonstrated a great variety of metaphors for conversion, from the enticement of a lover, through the working of bees and dreams, to turning spheres, echoing texts and scorching money. There are, however, two archetypal tropes for conversion which recur throughout this period: birth and marriage. When Bunyan describes the most decisive moment of the long process of his conversion in Grace Abounding, he conveys a terrifying sense of exclusion from the company of the saved, whom he sees in a 'dream or vision', as if they were set on the Sunny side of some high Mountain, there refreshing themselves with the pleasant beams of the Sun, while I was shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds. 42

The frozen and afflicted soul is unable to feel the 'heat of their Sun' because of a 'wall' surrounding the mountain, which he surveys restlessly, trying to fmd a 'way or passage' through which to enter paradise: at the last I saw as it were, a narrow gap, like a little door-way in the wall, thorow which I attempted to pass: but the passage being very straight, and narrow, I made many offers to get in, but all in vain, even untill I was well nigh quite beat out by striving to get in: at last, with great striving, me thought I at first did get in my head, and after that, by a side-ling striving, my shoulders, and my whole body; then was I exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so was comforted with the light and heat of their Sun. 43

What Bunyan describes here, in a most powerful metaphor of conversion, is the struggle to be born: the effort to pass through the 'narrow' passage, the exhaustion ('well nigh quite beat out'), the head-first entry into a new world of light, and fmally, with a 'side-ling striving', the release of his shoulders and the rest of his body into warmth and comfort. Although the trope of reShakespeare, The Tempest, V.i.290, 295-296. Bunyan, Grace Abounding, p. 21. 43 Ibidem, pp. 21-22. 41

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birth is biblical in origin - Christians are to be reborn in the spirit of Christ (l Peter 1:23) - it has rarely been given such fleshly detail as in Bunyan's dream of delivery into the company of the just on that sunny mountainside. However, as GeoffreyHarpham has observed, conversion narratives do not primarily seek originality; they aim to inspire by example, taking their place and function in what he calls a 'chain of imitable texts' .44 For this reason, archetypal representations such as new birth tend to recur in texts of conversion, marking a new beginning and yet providing reassurance to writers and readers of each generation. The baptism that follows and confirms the birth of a Christian is equally associated with a fresh start, celebrating the cleansing and dedicating of a soul. In Henry Vaughan's poem 'Regeneration', written a decade earlier than Bunyan's narrative but again from personal isolation,45 a 'little fountain' stands at the centre of the visionary grove that the speaker enters when unknown voices have cried' Away' and led him to turn from his weary path. 46 After conversion - the call, the change of direction - comes the discovery of mystic waters, offering refreshment and inspiration. As Vaughan comments in 'The Water-fall', water is a 'useful element and clear': My sacred wash and cleanser here, My first consigner unto those Fountains of life, where the Lamb goes? What sublime truths, and wholesome themes, Lodge in thy mystical, deep streams!47

To Vaughan, water is a source not only of baptism and spiritual cleanliness but also of truth; its 'murmurs' have meaning in 'The Water-fall', while in 'Regeneration' the fountain lent Some use for ears, And on the dumb shades language spent The music of her tears. 48

Harpham, 'Conversion', p. 45. Vaughan was one of those who went into exile in his own country, as Anglican and Royalist, during the Civil War and Commonwealth period of the mid-seventeenth century. See above, p. 87. 46 Henry Vaughan, Complete Poems (ed. Rudrum), p. 148. 47 Ibidem, p. 307. 48 Ibidem, p. 148. 44 4S

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The sound of the falling water suggests repentance beyond words. However, for those who wish to make use of language in the process of forgiveness and new devotion, words themselves have to be converted and baptised. As George Herbert wrote in 'The Forerunners', the 'sweet phrases' and 'lovely metaphors' of his spiritual lyrics had once been thoroughly profane but he had put them to God's service instead: when ye before Of stews and brothels onely knew the do ores, Then did I wash you with my tears, and more, Brought you to Church well drest and clad: My God must have my best, ev'n all I had. 49

Converted poets must baptise the company they keep; metaphorical new birth, and new purposes, lead to transformation in the mode of writing itself. If (re)birth and baptism are fundamental metaphors of the new life of a convert, then marriage - suggesting mutual love, intimacy and security - is a comparably significant trope in conversion texts. Again, this idea is nothing new: the image of a spiritual marriage between the soul and Christ stems from the biblical Song of Songs and evokes a harmonious commitment to one another. However, some seventeenth-century English texts make distinctive and creative use of the rhetoric of marriage in their narratives of conversion. The anonymous poet known as Eliza, for instance, defies any earthly husband to come between her and the divine spouse to whom she is already married; indeed, their betrothal is the sign of her salvation. In 'The Gift' (1652), she advises Christ that if she marries during her earthly life, it will be only in a material sense: My body here he may retain, My heart in heaven with thee must reign. so

She goes on to assert that the 'glory' of her conversion was the freedom to be espoused only to Christ and 'subject here to none but thee'. The potential of a conversion claim to undermine the social order is very clear in this defiant lyric. In the spiritual autobiography of Hannah Allen, by contrast, it is an earthly marriage, not a heavenly betrothal, that functions as the confrrmation of her conversion. Her disturbing narrative of suicidal despair and, ultimately, redemptive calm is entitled Satan his Methods and Malice Baffled George Herbert, Works (ed. Hutchinson), p. 176. so Eliza 's Babes, p. 42.

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(1683), with an elaborate subtitle which refers to the 'great advantages the Devil made of her deep melancholy' before God could triumph with 'rich and sovereign graces'. 51 These graces appear to take the form of the social and physical security of marriage. Hannah AlIen's problems begin when her fIrst husband dies; her subsequent depression and self-doubt ('I now believed myself to be the vilest creature upon earth') recall those of Eve after the fall from grace. 52 In a scene reminiscent of the lives of modem anorexic women, AlIen ceases to eat, tries to hide herself away under the floorboards, and is said to have' death in her face'. This image of mortality is poignantly reflected in Allen' s response when an old friend tries to visit her, and she asserts, weeping, that she 'cannot see his face' .53 However, the only remedy for her melancholy is to 'see his face', to resume social 'discourse' and gradually re-enter society: And the next summer was much after the same manner, but grew still something better, and the next winter likewise still mending, though but slowly, till the spring began and then I changed much from my retiredness and delighted to walk with friends abroad. 54

The ultimate seal on AlIen's recovery is for her to remarry: And this spring it pleased God to provide a very suitable match for me, one Mr. Charles Hatt, a widower living in Warwickshire, with whom I live very comfortably both as to my inward and outward man, my husband being one that truly fears GOd. 55

It is diffIcult to discern here which is the metaphor and which the history of

Hannah Allen's conversion. In this retrospective account of despair and recovery, the layers of spiritual, psychological and socio-physical experience are inseparable. Conversion functions here as both metaphysical transfor-

SI The full title of Hannah Allen's work is Satan his Methods and Malice Baffled. A Narrative of God's gracious dealings with that choice Christian, Mrs Hannah Alien (afterwards married to Mr Halt) reciting the great advantages the Devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices (p. 197). 52 Hannah Allen, Satan his Methods, p. 207. Compare Eve's 'vehement despair' in Milton, Paradise Lost, X :1007, and above, p. 89. 53 Hannah Allen, Satan his Methods, p. 207. 54 Ibidem, pp. 208-209. ~ ss Ibidem, p. 209. For a perceptive account of Allen's narrative in comparison with Bunyan's, see Graham, 'Authority, Resistance and Loss'.

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mation and worldly reintegration, flexibly combined in the trope of marriage. Conclusion: conversion as resolution?

In many ways, conversion represents a beginning. We have observed it as, metaphorically, the start of life (in Bunyan and Vaughan), of love (in Herbert), of renewed selves (in Shakespeare and Coppe), and of marriage (in 'Eliza' and AlIen). In all these ways it implies metamorphosis into a new being, 'something rich and strange' .56 Calvin defmed conversion, in an echo of Ezekiel 18:31, as the 'creation of a new spirit and a new heart' .57 The difficulty for many converts, however, is to maintain this new identity or course of life, and to avoid backsliding once the drama of the conversion itself has passed by. It is not surprising, therefore, that conversion itself became a metaphor in early modem writing, signifying commitment to a cause but also, used satirically, highlighting the vulnerability of the newly converted. In The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed (1611), John Fletcher's comic sequel to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, two of the female characters, Byancha and Maria, have committed themselves to 'despise base men,.58 A third woman, Livia, joins their barricade, but her friends are not convinced that she has been 'converted' to their cause, since she appears to be in love with one of the enemy. The questioning of Livia is a mockery of the conventions of religious conversion. She is asked, 'How long have you been thus?' and 'Came this wholesome motion / ... from your own opinion, / Or some suggestion of the Foe?' (11. 40, 72-4), recalling conversion narratives such as Bunyan's and Allen's in which the converts anxiously check whether their confidence in salvation is not a trick of the devil. Fletcher's dialogue proceeds in the familiar vocabulary of conversion and apostasy: Livia:

Maria:

Nev'r feare me, For by that little faith I have in husbands, And the great zeale I beare your cause, I come Full of that liberty, you stand for, Sister. Ifwe beleeve, and you prove recreant Livia, Think what a maym you give the noble Cause We now stand up for ...

56 Shakespeare, The Tempest, I.ii.402; Ariel sings of a 'sea-change', suggesting the moral as well as physical conversion of those on the island. 57 Calvin, Institutes, n, iii, 8. 58 John Fletcher, The Woman's Prize or The Tamer Tamed (ed. Ferguson), lI.ii.39.

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If you be false, repent, goe home, and pray, And to the serious women of the City Confesse your selfe; bring not a sinne so heynous, To load thy soule, to this place: mark me, Livia, If thou bee'st double and betray'st our honours, And we fail in our purpose: get thee where There is no women living, nor no hope There ever shall be. (II.ii.74-80, 84-91)

Fletcher delights in the playful use of the language of conversion - faith, zeal, belief, recreants, penitents, sin, soul - but startles his audience by transferring it into the context of an embryonic, early modem, feminism. It is clear that conversion and its aftermath offered early modem writers a malleable rhetorical framework. The trope of conversion, across the spectrum from fiction to fact, features in comic drama (Fletcher), love poetry (Marvell), history plays (Shakespeare) and other secular genres such as madrigal verse and romance, as well as in confessional narratives (Bunyan, AlIen), eye-witness accounts (Evans and Cheevers), prophecy (Davies), visionary tracts (Coppe), devotional poetry (Herbert, Collins, Vaughan, 'Eliza'), verse meditation (Donne) and epic (Milton). The struggle to keep on the right track after conversion provided narrative tension and the excitement of repeated divine interventions. George Herbert wrote in his verse paraphrase of Psalm 23 that, 'if I stray, [God] doth convert / And bring my minde in frame'. 59 The moment of conversion itself was pivotal to the construction of many a narrative or argument. As Henry James was later to observe, 'every man's life' has its 'momentous junctures', and in many cases the accounts of the 'turning-point' with 'what had turned on it, and how and why the turn had come, couldn't fail to be interesting' .60 Early modem England, with its multiplicity of historical turning-points, whether personal or national, spiritual or secular, resulted in countless such 'interesting' and imaginative textual uses of the tropes of conversion. These took a splendid variety of forms, as we have noted, including the dramatic impact of an intervening force (Coppe's encounter with the beggar), the birth of a transformed identity (Bunyan's dream), commitment and betrothal to a new vision (Donne' s verse and AlIen's prose), and the tension and thrill of change and discovery (as in works by Davies, Herbert and Shakespeare). The experience of conversion rarely lacks excitement. This is particularly true since, despite being marked by familiar patterns and archetypal George Herbert, Works (ed. Hutchinson), p. 172. Henry lames, 'The Turning Point of My Life', c. 1901, in: Complete Notebooks (ed. Edel and Powers), p. 437. 59

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metaphors, its timing is totally unpredictable. George Herbert commented in his prose handbook, A Priest to the Temple, that the hour of the Last Judgment is unknown, and so is the moment of any individual conversion; therefore a priest should never abandon hope for the conversion of a parishioner, knowing, that some are called at the eleventh houre, and therefore he still expects, and waits, least hee should detennine Gods houre of coming; which as hee cannot, touching the last day, so neither touching the intermediate days of 61 Conversion.

In fact, although conversion may represent a beginning, it can also function as a climax or conclusion, just like the salvation 'at the eleventh houre' predicted by Herbert. Preceded by sin, suffering and isolation, conversion classically leads to redemption, joy and fellowship. In this sense, it is in literary terms a movement from tragedy to comedy - the 'divine comedy' that leads to heaven, as well as the less perfect human comedies with their conventionally festive endings. Shakespeare, as always, knew better than most writers how the transformation of weak and sinful human characters into the hopeful company in the last act of a comedy was a form of conversion. In his comedy As You Like It, one of the villains of the piece, Oliver, undergoes an almost magical change of character towards the end of the play, a stage shorthand for improvement. Confronted by perplexed onlookers, he tries to explain his relationship to the wicked Oliver of the preceding acts: 'Twas I; but 'tis not I. I do not shame To tell you what I was, since my conversion So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am. 62

In three lines, Shakespeare encapsulates the experience of conversion. Something old is replaced by something new, which is yet, in some sense, the same as that which went before (it is still'!'). There is continuity as well as metamorphosis. 63 The delight of change and improvement tastes 'sweetly', and the convert desires to recount the process of change and confirm 'the thing I am'. Since the narrative of transformation is positive, there

George Herbert, Works (ed. Hutchinson), p. 250. William Shakespeare, As You Like It, IV.iii.135-7. 63 Continuity could also have negative implications: as Zagorin points out in Ways of Lying, pp. 38-62: converts were often suspected of not completely abandoning their old ways or their former faith. 61

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is no 'shame' involved in the telling of it - only triumph and example. With these lines, the 'happy ending' of the comedy is assured. This Shakespearian cameo of conversion - the climax of his generous comic vision - forms an apt summary of our exploration of this process of 'Recovery and Discovery', as Coppe sums up the effects of conversion. 64 We may conclude, then, that conversion is a resolution, in both senses of that word. First, it represents a purposeful attitude towards the future, a decision or resolve to start again; in Henry James's terms, conversion is a 'true vocation or the right opportunity recognised' .65 Second, it is a conclusion or rounding off, a (re)solution of the challenges that preceded it. In secular terms, conversion is what James referred to as the achievement of 'a sharper and fmer consciousness' ,66 while spiritually it offers the resolution which is salvation itself. It is no coincidence that the speaker in Donne's 'Goodfriday 1613' waits until the very last words of the poem before declaring, 'I'll turn my face'. In many cases, it takes a whole lifetime or multiple texts to answer the divine call to 'Return unto me' .67 Appropriately for this study of the literature of conversion, the focus on the end of things is not just central to the theological aspect of conversion, with its anticipation and mirroring of the Last Judgment itself. The sense of conversion as an ending or resolution was also part of its linguistic function in early modem texts. For 'conversion' was, to early modem writers, primarily a rhetorical technique. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the term referred to a stylistic feature which, rather like a personal or spiritual conversion, reverses the meaning of that which went before it. As specifically defmed by the sixteenth-century rhetorical theorist Thomas Wilson, conversion in rhetoric is 'an ofte repeating of the last worde' .68 And in order not to fall into that trap myself, I shall end here.

Abiezer Coppe, A Second Fiery Flying Roule, p. 98. Henry James, Complete Notebooks (ed. Edel and Powers), p. 437. 66 Ibidem. 67 Isaiah 44:22; Bunyan, Grace Abounding, p. 54. See above, pp. 85-89. 68 Thomas Wilson, The Arte ofRhetoricke, p. 107b. 64

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THE TRANSVALUATION OF BODY AND SOUL IN THE SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF ANNA TRAPNEL Hilary Hinds

On 1 January 1643, a Sunday, after many years of fear and uncertainty about her spiritual condition and prospect of salvation, Anna Trapnel felt fully, for the first time, the power of God's grace. Listening to the Independent minister John Simpson preaching on the text of Romans 8: 9, 'Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his', her spirit was 'trembling, for fear it should still be said that 1 had none of the Spirit'. Suddenly, she writes, 'I found a witness within me'. She describes the transformation effected by this moment of conversion in vivid and expansive detail: I said, Lord I have the Spirit ... and suddenly my soul was filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory in believing, the spirit witnessing in that word, Christ is thy wel-beloved, and thou art his; my soul was now full of joy as it could hold, now I saw all my sins laid upon Jesus Christ, and when he was sacrificed, all my sins were sacrificed with him; oh what triumphing and songs of Hallelujah were in my spirit, I knew not where I was, nor how to get out of the place where I sat, I apprehended nothing but a clothing of glory over my whole man ... Earth was gone, and heaven come; the unclean spirit dispossessed, the pure spirit now possesst, taking my soul from the dunghill, and setting it upon the throne, my naturall food I tasted not till now, it was bitter to my taste; but oh now, every bit of bread I eat, how sweet was it to my taste! Christ sweetned every creature to me, oh how sweet was the feasts of love, that my soul was made partaker of in every creature! oh what a rebound doth Divine love make in the soul! I could not keep love in, it would flame forth into a declaration ... [F]or a whole year after, I was sealed up to the day of Redemption, I had exceeding raptures of joy very frequent, little or no intermissions .... I

Trapnel's style is not uncharacteristic of many conversion narratives of this period? It is a loosely structured combination of personal experience and Trapnel, A Legacy, pp. 9-10. On seventeenth-century conversion narrative, see Caldwell, The Puritan Conversion; Smith, Perfection Proclaimed; Watkins, The Puritan Experience. I

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biblical allusion, generally cumulative and associative in its narrative method, rather than linear or progressive. Most striking, however, is its attempt to communicate the ecstasy that becomes the defining feature of her experience of the state of grace. She writes of being filled with 'joy unspeakable', of 'triumphing and songs of Hallelujah', of her inability to 'keep love in, it would flame forth in a declaration'. Theologically, this is the moment at which she first receives the Holy Spirit, and apprehends the meaning of the imputation of Christ's righteousness: her sins die with Christ, and she finds herself the recipient of his sinlessness. Nor is this experience transitory. Just as her prose seeks repeatedly to articulate this 'joy unspeakable', this 'thing impossible to be published', so her narrative records that she herself was returned repeatedly to the ecstasy of that assurance of God's grace. 3 Following her conversion, during 'this year in which I was new-born', she writes that 'some days and nights I had feasts full of marrow, and visions full of glory'; '[i]n the night before sleep had seized upon me, a bright light shined round my head visible and in the midst of that light stood one all in white, in the likeness of a creature all covered with brightness,.4 Her capacity to prophesy - Anna Trapnel was one of many radical sectarians who reported and published their prophecies during the period of the English civil war and republic - followed as a consequence of this experience. 5 Her access to the divine Word through prophecies, dreams, visions and trances is dependent upon her conversion experience, her new-found assurance of dwelling in a state of grace. Such accounts of conversion and transformation were a characteristic feature of much radical religious discourse at the time. Religious sects, such as the Independents and Baptists, discontent with the incomplete reformation of the Church of England and what they saw as the oppressive power of the church's structures and hierarchies, were rapidly growing in size and political importance at this time of civil war and consequent social flux. Anna Trapnellived and wrote within this context. She was a Particular Baptist, with a strongly Calvinist belief in the absolute determinism of election and reprobation, but also a Fifth Monarchist, a member of a millenarian group that rose to prominence in the early 1650s, its members believing they were living through the last days of the corrupt Fourth Monarchy, as prophesied in the book of Daniel, and that King Jesus would shortly return in person to establish and rule over the fifth and final monarchy.6 Fifth

Ibidem, p. 11. Ibidem, pp. 12-14. 5 On seventeenth-century prophecy, see Smith, Perfection Proclaimed; Hobby, 'Prophecy'. 6 The best study of Fifth Monarchism remains Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men; see

3

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Monarchists are usually spoken of as comprising a 'sect', and thus defined by their religious ideas, but, like all sectaries of the time, they also had an explicit political agenda, built on the premise that, in preparation for the millennium, political authority would be vested in the saints, the elect few chosen by God to prepare for the return of King Jesus. Anna Trapnel was, at the time she wrote this account of her conversion, an active and prominent Fifth Monarchist. In January of that year, 1654, she had risen to public notice when, at a large gathering in Whitehall, she fell into a trance which lasted eleven days. During this time she prophesied for long periods, in a manner highly critical of Oliver Cromwell, who had just taken on what Trapnel saw as the dangerously king-like position and powers of Lord Protector. Many of her prophecies were recorded and published shortly afterwards. 7 She also published two other texts, that same year, both of them broadly classifiable as spiritual autobiographies; in one, A Legacy for Saints, she gives the above account of her 'conversion' some eleven years earlier. s If, as Trapnel's account suggests, this accession to grace is transformative, opening the saint both to ecstasy and to the power of prophecy, then what, we might ask, is the nature of this transformation? What changes are wrought upon the unconverted 'matter', the sinner under the law, as a consequence of being acted upon by grace? In particular, how does a language of transformation through grace serve, in Trapnel's writing, as a matrix for the forging of a new and distinctive kind of 'self? In this essay I shall track these changes by examining the impact of this transformation on the body and the soul of the prophetic subject who, in her writing, seeks to articulate her understanding of the processes of her own self-constitution. In so doing, I shall examine not only the staging of the prophetic self, but also analyse the significance of the troping of this figure for the contentious political programme of the Fifth Monarchists. The foundational discursive move by which a radical sectarian prophet such as Trapnel seeks to authorise her speech involves an emphasis on the erasure of the self through direct and transfonnative divine intervention. 9 Repeatedly, Trapnel's writing reminds us that everything that she says or does emanates not from herself, but from God through her: 'in all that was said by me, I was nothing, the Lord put all in my mouth, and told me what I

also idem, 'The Fifth Monarchists and Popular Millenarianism'; Woolrych, Commonwealth. 7 See Trapnel, The Cry and Strange and Wonderful Newes. 8 Her other autobiographical text is Anna Trapnel's Report. !) For a fuller discussion of this point, see Hinds, God's Englishwomen.

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should say'. 10 In her Whitehall· prophecies, she makes even clearer her status as a conduit for God's words: 'thy servant is made a voice, a sound, it is a voice within a voice, another's voice, even thy voice through her ... Oh Lord thy servant knows there is no self in this thing'. 11 Alongside this loss of self is a concomitant loss, or relinquishing, of the power to act as an autonomous, conscious or self-governing human agent. As Trapnel writes in her conversion account, 'I knew not where I was, nor how to get out of the place where I sat, I apprehended nothing', and these words are indicative of a fundamental tenet of sectarian self-understanding. The self, human and hence failen, and its corollary, the will, are the first casualties of this transformation, dissolving to make way for divine grace to act, and in the case of the prophet, for the divine voice to speak. Indeed, this dissolution of the self is itself a necessary (if not sufficient) indicator of the authenticity of that transformation and of the words that are subsequently uttered. This textual move of self-denial through self-erasure has been linked by critics with broader discourses of feminine weakness which figure in writings by women in the radical sects ('I am a very weak and unworthy instrument', as Trapnel's fellow Fifth Monarchist Mary Cary put it).12 The commonplace social designation of femininity as dependent on, and obedient to, others (principally fathers and husbands) was, paradoxically, available to women writers as a way to underpin and justify their act of writing: for, if the impetus to write or prophesy was an act of God, rather than an act of self-will, then it was less vulnerable to condemnation by religious and political opponents as the work of immodest and ungodly women speaking out of turn. These denials of any self-will or agency in the production of their own writings are frequently articulated through an ultra-Calvinist (or 'antinomian') stress on the utter inability of the believer to participate in matters relating to their own salvation. 13 This offered a clear and important doctrinal underpinning to such discourses of feminine incapacity. In these repeated assertions of a lack of 'self, a Calvinist emphasis on the inability of the Christian subject to be an actor in the processes of their own salva10 Ibidem, p. 28. The pagination is faulty in this volume, there being two sets of pages numbered 25-28; this quotation is from the first p. 28. 11 Trapnel, The Cry, p. 45. 12 Cary, The Little Horns, 'To the Reader', n.p. 13 Antinomianism forcefully reasserted the primacy of faith over works, in opposition not only to Arminianism but also to a sense that, in the 1640s, more orthodox Calvinism was retreating from a full reliance on faith alone, diluting it with notions of piety and hence of 'will' and 'works', The term 'antinomian' ('against law') indicates the absolute character of the state of grace in which the elect dwelt, a state that supersedes life under the Law. See Von Rohr, The Covenant; Solt, Saints; Wall ace, Puritans.

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tion, the sense that he or she 'fetcheth nothing from its own free will, or from any work of his own, but all from Christ', combines with widely circulating discourses of feminine dependence and inferiority .14 Assertions of feminine incapacity, usually indicative of an inferior social position, are deployed here as the counterpart of a doctrinally specific and theologically powerful subject-position. The dissolution of the social self becomes the basis of the presence of an overriding spiritual self. The self thus erased is not, however, as abstract or insubstantial as the discussion thus far might suggest. If the self is itself a sign of corrupt postlapsarian humanity, its status and progress are registered in the most material dimension of that fallen human subject, the body. Diane Purkiss has offered a compelling analysis of the discursive moves by which Trapnel anchors her self-representation as a divinely authorised prophet in an invocation of this most tangible, and most socially marked, indicator of the self. She suggests that the authoritative positions from which Trapnel's prophecies are spoken are produced by mobilising a range of gendered discourses of specifically bodily self-denial. Thus, she suggests, 'the female body is a sign from which female agency is evacuated,' with the effect that, at least momentarily, 'gendered SUbjection was confmed to the disavowed flesh, while the escaped spirit had freedom', a freedom which authorised the prophecies that follow. 15 The body, without doubt, is a key signifier in Trapnel's writing, and Purkiss is right to emphasise the way in which it becomes a concrete marker of the more abstract' self. Through her writings, we find the body (not just the self) repeatedly abased or denied, so as to make way for the divinely originating words that can then follow: Vision! The body crumbles before it, and becomes weak ... they that have the flowings of thee, are self-denying ... They say these are convulsion-fits, and sickness, and diseases that make thy handmaid to be in weakness. But oh they know not the pouring forth of thy spirit, for that makes the body to crumble, and weakens nature ... Oh what is the carcass, the vessel? They are nothing, but when these are gone, then where am I, but there where I am made perfect in thy self. 16

As the fallen body crumbles, so the elect spirit soars. The crumbling body and soaring spirit do not, however, straightforwardly signal the elevation of the spiritual at the expense of the bodily. The discourse of free grace, repeatedly invoked as the transforming agent in the Trapnel, A Legacy, p. 16. Purkiss, 'Producing the Voice', pp. 149, 158. 16 Trapnel, The Cry, pp. 77,29,48

14 15

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life of the elect prophet, not only emphasises the spiritual dimension of the believer's sanctification, but also effects the revaluation, rather than the abasement, of the believer's body. 17 A state of grace, for Trapnel, is not a disembodied one, nor is it one that effaces the saint's humanity; the flesh is not, finally, disavowed, but recast and reinterpreted. First, she suggests, the body under grace sheds its bonds of corruption. When she longs 'to be dissolved', to be released from bodily suffering, during her illness of 1646, 'lest continuing in the body, I should act in the flesh, and so dishonour my loving father', God corrects her misplaced desire: 'art thou afraid to live in the body for fear of the strength of corruptions? Sin shall not have dominion over thee, for thou art not under the Law but under Grace' .18 Grace not only eliminates the body's corruption, but thereby transforms its affective and sensuous capacities, bringing it to a newly sensitised and more perfect bodily state, freeing her 'from as stony, as seared, benummed, sensless a condition, as any could or can be in; hearing or reading, or Saints speaking to me, was as to one deaf .19 Moreover, Trapnel makes clear that this remaking and remarking of the body is not something apparent only to the elect believer, but also forcibly strikes those that witness her: my outward man hath been so altered on a sudden, to the view of those that hath been in the house, which have found me alone, and not able to speak to them for a season, so that they have been frighted ... and they beholding the tears falling from my eyes, have wondred what I ailed; but it was because the Son of righteousness shone hot upon my spirit, which caused a melting into tears .... 20

There is a remarkable insistence on the literalness, the materiality, of the experience of grace. Other people think she looks different, a change brought about by Christ shining 'hot' upon her spirit, causing a 'melting' into tears. This sense of the materiality of the action of grace is reiterated elsewhere in this text: 'the spirit as fire made my stony spirits pliable for it to leave its mark or impression upon, as fire fits the wax for the seal; a glorious impression and stamp was set on my spirit, now I felt, saw and heard, that I never did before' .21 The transformation effected on the body by grace

17 For a fuller discussion of this point, see Hinds, 'Soul-Ravishing and Sin-Subduing'. 18 Trapnel, A Legacy, pp. 27-28. 19 Ibidem, p. 7. 20 Ibidem, p. 12. 21 Ibidem, p. 11.

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is, Trapnel suggests, as tangible and as incontrovertible as that of the sun on ice or fire on wax. Her tears, by this account, become not merely a correlative of the state of grace, but a direct and material consequence of it. The body is both a sign and a concrete instance of the power of God's grace to transform and transvalue. The body does not, however, only have a textual presence in accounts of illness and recovery. Throughout the detailed exposition in A Legacy of Trapnel's own journey through the order of salvation, we are repeatedly returned to a blissfully corporeal vision of the state of grace, such as the one exemplified in the quotation with which this discussion opened. The joyfulness that characterises the transformation of the old carnal self to the new spiritual being is effected through a transition from living under Old Testament Law to New Testament Gospel or grace. And, as she accedes to grace, the bridegroom Christ displaces the patriarch Moses: the Saint that is throughly spiritual, loves dearly to walk inclosed in the arms of its Saviour, and to be imbraced by him, and kissed with the kisses of his mouth, for his love is better than wine .... 22

Trapnel draws here on the conventional interpretation of the erotic lyric of the Song of Songs as an allegory of Christ's love for his Church to characterise the relationship of the saint in a state of grace with the saviour. By figuring the joy of the saint's union with Christ through the accession to grace as erotic, Trapnel endorses the corporeality of the joy that follows, placing it in comparative relation with other bodily pleasures. As she seeks to convey the raptures of grace, she deploys strikingly carnal imagery; as she notes in the account of her conversion: my natural! food I tasted not til! now, it was bitter to my taste; but oh now, every bit of bread I eat, how sweet was it to my taste! Christ sweetned every creature to me, oh how sweet was the feasts of love, that my soul was made partaker of ... . .. oh how sweet was my sleeping and waking, still I had rest in the bosom of Jesus ... for a year together, my meat was sweet meats from heaven, my drink wine upon the lees, wines well refined, milk and hony was my ordinary dish ... .z3

Free grace first unselves the body, and then remakes it as a composite spiritual-cum-material entity, one whose spiritual appetites are sated by a divine 22 23

Ibidem, p. 16. Ibidem, pp. 9, 13.

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abundance figured through a series of fully material metaphors. 24 Trapnel's spiritual trajectory is not, as we might expect, one in which the body ceases to figure, erased as it is replaced by the transcendent spirit. Instead, the elect body under grace, freed of the impediment of the carnal and wilful self and assured of salvation, becomes an indicator of the believing subject's spiritual accession to grace. The materiality of the spiritual body is thus the ground for the recasting and revaluation of its desires. Such a discursive move, not uncommon within sectarian and nonconformist spirituality at this time, allowed, as Sharon Achinstein has argued, women writers to produce themselves as actively desiring subjects?5 This is undoubtedly the case in Trapnel's work, but, more specifically, it is the bringing together of the spiritualised erotics of the Song of Songs with the discourse of free grace that, in Trapnel' s case, provides her with a dynamic language for rewriting and reclaiming the prophetic body. Through the process of 'conversion' and the accession to grace, the body is transformed, as the fears of the body under Law are replaced by the desires of the body under Grace. The language of the Song of Songs thus allows the rewriting of the divine-human relationship: in Trapnel's case, it transposes it from the rigid hierarchy of a patriarch-subject relationship to the more ambiguous one of the beloved and the bridegroom. The divine satiation of the newly made appetites of the body in grace figured through the imaging of Christ as bridegroom is compounded by a further cluster of images brought into play by Trapnel: '" great was his care for me, no tender mother like to Jesus; the Saints told me when I mourned for the loss of my tender mother, that Christ would be more tender, and would be all to me in the loss of earthly comforts; and he was more to me than they told me, he was double comfort, and a Comforter that hath tarried and abided with me, and will abide with me for ever, a Comforter that was still revealing love, and bringing love tokens to my soul ... 26 ... the deep and more discerning Generation of Christians may discover the beginnings and growings up of the child Jesus in her .... 27

Christ, to the elect believer assured of salvation, is not only bridegroom, 'bringing love tokens', but also mother; he is a 'double comfort'. Furthermore, he is her child: her editors, writing here, refer to the process whereby For discussion of the 'unselving' of the body, see Hinds, 'Anna Trapnel'. Achinstein, 'Romance'. 26 Trapnel, A Legacy, p. 13. 27 Ibidem, p. 21. Original italics. 24 25

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she came to bear witness to Christ within her as the conception and gestation-of a child within her. The believer transformed by an assurance of their elect status thereby accedes to a state of intense and polymorphously heightened satisfaction. The 'joy unspeakable' of grace is spoken by means of comparative or metaphorical reference (it is never entirely clear which) to a range of relationships: those between lovers, and those of the motherchild dyad. The relationship between the elect believer and Christ is thus figured as similar to, but also as transformative of, the familial and social relationships that most clearly register an intensely affective and bodily dimension. In so doing, the gendering of the subject position of the elect believer becomes increasingly ambiguous. As bride to Christ's bridegroom, she is marked as feminine, and this designation, referencing the soci~lly unequal dynamic of the heterosexual relationship, seems to underline the hierarchy of that relationship, and the dependent and inferior status of the believer troped as bride. Contrary to this, however, this designation can arguably also be read as invoking a relationship constituting one of the few culturally endorsed instances of feminine empowerment, namely, the period of courtship and betrothal, when, whilst the object of desire, the woman is also, precisely because of that desirability, in a position of power and influence visa-vis the male. The potentialities of this dynamic are most readily discerned in cultural representations such as Shakespeare's comedies, where the female protagonist enjoys and exploits the energies produced by inhabiting the heterosexual relationship at a point when it is understood to be structured in relation to the woman as both desiring and desired. This is evinced most acutely in instances such as Rosalind's manipulation of Orlando, for example, or in Viola/Cesario's of both Orsino and Olivia. In these comedies, the inversions brought about through the processes of courtship are dependent upon a textual focus on precisely that pre-marital moment. The post-nuptial relationship, when, structurally, that social and cultural power is relocated with the husband, as the empowered feminine subject of romantic love is redefined as the object of masculine exchange, is never reached. Similarly, here, through imaging the believing subject as the beloved of the bridegroom Christ, the newly made self is fixed in the potent position of both desiring and desired, of yearning for satiation and assured of its imminence. The gendering of the subject position of the believer, initially appearing to yoke femininity and dependency, hereby accrues a more ambiguous, and more productive, set of associations. This ambiguity is compounded by the further referencing of the believer/Christ relationship with that of mother and child. Each is positioned, at different moments in the text, as mother, each as child. Neither subject position is autonomous; each is brought into being by their relation with the

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other, and only exists as a part of that relation. Each is simultaneously intensely powerful, producing and defining the other element in the dyad, but also fundamentally dependent, reliant on the existence of the other to maintain its identity. Consequently, neither is ultimately able to be defmed as either fully masculine or fully feminine, but, in the transcending of the usual irreconcilability of power and dependence, inhabits a position both between and beyond them. Bridegroom and bride, mother and child: conventional attributions of gender and their social associations with either power or powerlessness are complicated by this troping of the relationship between Christ and the elect subject. The figuring of the saviour/believer relationship in the terms of these social relations goes beyond the purely metaphorical, however; the text suggests that these constitute more than simply an attempt to articulate a 'joy unspeakable'. The materiality of the action of grace on the believer extends also to these tropes: ... my occasions called me to Stepney, where I lodged at my Uncles all night, and my Aunt coming up into the Chamber to me, she said to me, Cosen, the Lord hath taken your mother from you, now labour to be married to Christ, you have nothing to take up your time, but to labour for Christ .... 28

It is not only that the love of Christ is like that of a mother for a child; for Trapnel's, it is literally to take its place. It comes not as an adjunct to continuing social and familial relationships, but subsumes or replaces them, and thereby has implications for how the social being of the elect believer is to be lived out. 'You have nothing to take up your time, but to labour for Christ': her aunt's words indicate that her mother's death is not only a loss, but also a freeing from certain familial constraints, and into uninterrupted 'labour for Christ'. The recognition that family relationships can run counter to spiritual ones is reminiscent of an incident recounted in her Report and Plea; during her trial in Cornwall, she is asked by one of the JPs, Justice Lobb, why she came into the county: A.T. Why might not 1 come here, as well as into another Country? Lobb. But you have no lands, nor livings, nor acquaintance to come to in this Country. A.T. What though? I had not 1 am a single person, and why 1 not be with my friends anywhere? Lobb. I understand you are not married.

28

TrapneJ, A Legacy, p. 10.

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A.T. Then having no hinderance, why may not 1 go where 1 please, if the Lord so will?29

Here, as in her aunt's comments, the incompatibility of a socially constrained and contained femininity with a spiritually expansive one is apparent. The lack of social 'hinderance' combines with the unanswerability of the Lord's 'will' that she travel, and together produce a version of divinely led, but socially autonomous, femininity that is strikingly at odds with the usual discourses of feminine containment, deference and dependence. Just as the 'hot' action of grace melts Trapnel into tears, so it also makes her into a different kind of social subject - one that inhabits the prevalent structures differently, and that renders her no longer subject to their constraints. Once again, the distinction between the 'spirituality' of grace and the 'materiality' of the social subject is eroded. Such persistent invocation of texts and tropes that erode the distinction between the material and the spiritual also serves to lay bare some of the patterns of thought through which the millenarian Fifth Monarchist movement, of which Trapnel was a part, articulated its religio-political programme. It is a truism that, until the later seventeenth century, there was no real distinction between religion and politics, and that the latter was generally formulated with regard to the former; debate about the proper organisation of society was, more or less explicitly, dependent upon interpretation of the divine plan for humanity. This leaves, nonetheless, a question about radical groups such as the Fifth Monarchists. If millenarians such as Trapnel believed in the imminence and inexorability of the second coming of Christ, and if they also believed in the powerlessness of human subjects to intervene in the unfolding processes leading up to the millennium, how are we to make sense of the explic~t and well-formulated political programme they put forward, advocating law reform, the abolition of tithes, the reformation of the universities, and so on? If the elect are to give up their carnal attachment to human' will' and to embrace their own powerlessness to change the course of events, why do we not see millenarians retreating from the hurlyburly of social and political debate, quietly watching for the fulfilment of the divine plan? Close examination of the discourse of millenarians such as Trapnel reveals, I would argue, the basis on which this apparent contradiction stands. The transvalued body, which I have suggested lies at the heart of Trapnel's conversion narrative, offers an exemplary instance of not only the broader inseparability of the material and spiritual, but also, perhaps more importantly, demonstrates some of the social and political consequences of such an elision. The accession to the state of grace not only re29

TrapneJ, Anna Trapnel's Report, p. 26. Original italics.

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makes the fallen body, but in so doing it reiterates the elision of the human and the divine most completely exemplified in the incarnation of Christ. Just as this relied upon the erasure of the distinction between human and divine, and allowed Christ's intervention into human affairs to be understood as both social/political and divine, so the active and interventionist programme of the saints, including Fifth Monarchists such as Trapnel, could be understood in the same way. Trapnel underlined this crucially important continuity between Christ and saint; 'if I were [elect]', she wrote, 'I should be made conformable to his Image, who is holy,:30 now was I made like my Saviour, a crown given me, not made with pearls or rich diamonds, but far richer, not to be valued; earth cannot wear this crown, its onely the heaven of God that must injoy this prerogative, its those that are made Kings and Priests unto God, that are thus honoured .... 31

The earthly crown is here explicitly denied its capacity to signify a continuity between godliness and human power; instead, this crown is demoted and replaced by a 'far richer' crown given to those 'made like my saviour'. Only five years after the execution of Charles I, and at a time when Fifth Monarchists such as Trapnel were berating Cromwell for his incremental adoption of king-like powers and trappings, it is not hard to see how such a reference might contribute to the popular understanding of Fifth Monarchism as a dangerous seditious movement. 32 The Fifth Monarchist investment in a material, and hence political, future stems from the transfonnation and transvaluation of the body and soul of the elect subject through access to grace, and the new understanding, wrought through grace, of the meaning of sin in the lives and work of the elect: and now I began to hearken to free grace, and I saw nothing else could revive me ... and now, though I could not come unto God as a righteous one, I could come as a sinner, and beg of God to receive me, being such an object that he sent forth his love to, commending it to sinners, and to rebels; and I desired, oh that I might be one of those rebels that might have a pardon .... 33

To be elect is indeed to be one of those rebels that 'might have a pardon'. God's free grace - the unmerited gift of salvation to God's elect - becomes,

Trapnel, A Legacy, p. 5. Ibidem, p. 11. J2 On Trapnel' s condemnation of Cromwell, see Trapnel, The Cry, passim, and especially pp. 72-4. 33 Trapnel, A Legacy, p. 5. 30

31

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in Trapnel's formulation, almost a free pass, a way to justify the otherwise unjustifiable: namely, rebellion. The elision of the political and the religious is taken to audacious extremes through Trapnel's use of the words 'rebel' and 'pardon'. The term 'rebel', used here in relation to theological error, was at this time strongly associated with the anti-monarchists in the civil war of 1642-1649 and the Commonwealth that followed it; 'the Great Rebellion' was already in use as a term to designate these events, this usage most famously exemplified in Clarendon's History of the Rebellion (written 1646-1648). Further, the word 'pardon', although having a clear theological meaning of 'the forgiveness of sins', has an equally clear legalistic sense, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, of 'remission, either free or conditional, of the legal consequences of a crime'. The OED's gloss further emphasises this overlap: 'Pardon is a more formal term than forgive, being that used in legal language; also often used in theology'. Trapnel's suggestion, then, is that God's free grace brings with it a free pardon for a rebel - a dangerously ambiguous claim in the febrile political atmosphere of the 1650s. The refusal of the distinction between body and spirit~ then, is the basis for the discursive insistence on the elision of the religious and the political. Everything, ultimately, shows itself as 'conformable' to pro~esses of divine history. One distinction, however, is manifestly not eroded in this exposition, and that is the one between elect and reprobate. Indeed, all the erosions of other boundaries are dependent upon the insistent reiteration and reinforcement of this one. Trapnel's ecstatic mingling of body and soul, religion and politics, is dependent precisely on a clearly demarcated system of hierarchy and exclusion based on predestination and election. The social binarisms and hierarchies that her text systematically undoes are replaced not by a vision of an egalitarian utopia but by a new, and absolute, spiritual hierarchy, one where the earthly crown 'made with pearls or rich diamonds' is replaced by the 'far richer' heavenly one. Moreover, this hierarchy is founded on the immutable categories of elect and reprobate. Trapnel expatiates on the absolute character of these categories in an extended metaphorical section, in which the elect are tossed on the seas of an ungodly world: if we keep in the ship we are safe, but when winds arise, this calm Sea is troubled, contrary winds makes the smooth Sea full of waves and billows, and it becomes very tempestuous, and the creature is put to some plunges, and tossed up and down, though in the ship, yet many are put to great straits, by reason of such mighty storms which sometimes Sea-men meet withall, yet valiant Sea-mens hearts do not sink without a leak sprung in the ship, then their hearts ake, and the stoutest spirits then begin to dye .. , Oh what pleasure doth the Marryners take, when they get the mastery over the storm, and not it over

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them ... Saints you are a float, keep in your Ark and you are safe, take heed of the blustring winds, which is too much eagerness, extr[e]ams will toss your spirits, they may drown your comfort and joy of union, though nothing can possibly drown your union. 34

Safety is assured - 'nothing can possibly drown your union' - but is also dependent on 'keep[ing] in your Ark', sealed against the threatening elements without. The ecstasy characterising Trapnel's entire discussion is here related precisely to the culture of opposition, the relentless exigencies, experienced by saints: 'Oh what pleasure doth the Marryners take, when they get the mastery over the storm, and not it over them'. The joy of union with Christ, the 'joy unspeakable', is also the exhilaration of life in the turbulent cross-currents of the world, the pleasure of struggle, and the assurance of absolute and unassailable rectitude. Tracing this trajectory suggests that the power of conversion in the context of a radical sectarian grouping such as the Fifth Monarchists is extraordinarily far-reaching. Listening to Simpson's sermon proved to be the catalyst for an extensive range of personal and political transformations, all of them traceable to the terms of that conversion experience itself. The accession to grace was the crucible in which the carnal and corrupt self was dissolved and remade, and this 'remaking' turned specifically on the status and meanings of the believer's body-in-grace, which became a visible sign of the transformation of the believer as she acceded to grace. This bodily transformation extended to, and newly legitimised, that body's desires and appetites, the rehearsal of whose imminent and assured satiation became the key textual indicator of the raptures of this new spiritual state. The corrupt body might fall away at the moment of sanctification, leaving a space to be inhabited by the divine voice, but this also left a space for the newly imagined body, the revived and sanctified body, to fill. Life under the gospel, after conversion, was spiritual, but not disembodied. For Trapnel, God's free grace freed the self from this body, certainly, but not from the impetuses of desire, and these remained imaginable only through a well-established, biblically originating repertoire of images of material abundance and corporeal satisfaction. Furthermore, the figuring of the believer's desire for Christ through reference to the culturally, as well as theologically, highly charged relationships between bridegroom and bride and between mother and child helps clarify Trapnel' s extension of the refusal of boundaries between body and spirit into the domain of the social. The relationship with Christ is described in metaphorical relation to them, but also comes to stand in for them 34

Ibidem, pp. 17-18.

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in the newly integrated spirituaVmaterial life of the believer, such that the elect believer was no longer constrained by the demands and conventions of the social world. The initial dissolution of the boundaries between body and spirit, between the literal and the metaphorical, between desire and satisfaction, became, in Trapnel's account of her spiritual progress, inexorably linked to the characteristic elision of the socio-political and the religious in seventeenth-century millenarian discourse. Each element is elided with, and comes to defme, the others. Such erasures and elisions are all contained, however, behind the rigid boundary maintained by the doctrine of election. It is, perhaps paradoxically, the fortification of this boundary that, on the one hand, permits the revolutionary reversal of social hierarchies advocated by the Fifth Monarchists and, on the other, replaces them with the equally exclusionary hierarchies founded on an assurance of election. Conversion is, for Anna Trapnel, quite literally about transformation. St. Paul suggested in Romans 8: 10 - the verse following the one on which Simpson was preaching on the day of Trapnel's conversion - that 'if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin' . For Trapnel, the body might die, but through grace it is also resurrected and reframed as an active and desiring sign of the transformed subject's spiritual status and consequent social liberation.

THE PENITENTIAL STRUGGLE ('BUSSKAMPF') OF AUGUST HERMANN FRANCKE (1663-1727) A MODEL OF PIETISTIC CONVERSION?

Hans-Martin Kirn

Although conversion is one of the main issues in Pietism, it has not received much attention in recent Jesearch. There is a lack of both biographically orientated and comparative studies that examine the specific elements of pietistic conversion in different movements and social layers in a historical context. I More specific contributions to interdenominational and interfaith research into conversion will be possible only on this basis. In this article, I examine the conversion report of August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), the founder of Pietism and a follower of P.J. Spener, from the time of writing in Halle/Saale in Germany until it achieved worldwide significance. 2 We are thus in the context of German Lutheran Pietism. 3 This conversion report was composed in the context of a biographical description in the year 1690-91. I understand the concept of penitential struggle not simply as a single aspect but as a characteristic element of the conversion report as a whole. The biographical and theological efficiency of the conversion is directly mirrored by the great importance placed on the penitence concept in the history of Halle Pietism. It can generally be said that, on the one hand, Francke's conversion report develops the characteristic features of a Lutheran pietistic conversion,

I For a general orientation, ef. Bisehofsberger, 'Bekehrung/Konversion I. Religionswissensehaftlieh'; Mennecke-Haustein, 'Bekehrung/Konversion IV.2 Kirchengeschichtlich'; Brecht, Deppermann, Gabler and Lehmann, Geschichte,index keyword 'Bekehrung', vols. 1-3. 2 A.H. Franeke's curriculum vitae is available in an exemplary edition in the series Kleine Texte des Pietismus (vo!. 2) in Matthias, Lebenslaufe. Here is also a list of interpretations since A. Ritschl (ibidem, pp. 153-154). 3 Brecht, 'August Hermann Francke', pp. 440-449, with regard to Francke's conversion.

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which is distinguished from both rebirth in baptism and daily penitence. On the other hand, it reflects the early stages of Halle Pietism when a groupspecific type of conversion with a model for biographical reconstruction had not yet been worked out. Francke's conversion story did not influence the development of a specific literary style and thus it is only possible to speak of it as a model of pietistic conversion in a restricted sense. We can recognise, however, the function fulfilled by Francke's conversion - or the report of his conversion - in the context of pietistic piety and group formation. Francke's conversion in Ltineburg retained its significance as the central motivating factor in his global activism and, therefore, his conversion story can be read, at least indirectly, as a history of the genesis of Halle Pietism. Francke's report of his 'Liineburg conversion' points to the following important structural elements of a pietistic reconstruction of a biography in the context of Halle: - practical-theological reconstruction: The conversion legitimised the reorganisation of orthodox spiritual life and orthodox -spiritual knowledge in the horizon of religious subjectivity (praxis pietatis). This reconstruction reflected modern experiences of secularisation and tended to level denominational limits. - ethical reconstruction: The conversion legitimised both the retreat from the sinful world and the new Christian activism aimed at re-Christianising society, e.g. with the help of educational reforms and missionary activities like the mission to the pagans and the Jews. - social reconstruction: The conversion legitimised the gathering of an active, religiously qualified minority from all layers of society in order to form conventicles. The traditional barriers of social status were overcome while, at the same time, new limits were imposed on the majority. To some degree, conversion was an admission ticket to the pietistic community. - communicative reconstruction: The conversion legitimised new ways of exchanging religious experiences at local, regional and supra-regional levels by forming communicative networks. I regard these elements as part of a structural and functional model of pietistic conversion. The development of particular ways to express them, and their trans formation under reformed Pietism and the revival movements, should be investigated more closely. Besides the individual and social meanings, it seems reasonable to interpret Francke's conversion report in two main directions: first, as a processing of modem experiences of secularisation in the medium of religious self-explication, and second, as an identification base of modem mobility which relativised the limits of status, confessionality and locality of religion. Conversion and world-forming actiVism generally remained related to each other in the pietism of Halle.

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Conversion as a form of re-Christianising the individual corresponded to the claim of re-Christianising society and even the world. What concrete steps can we observe in the conversion report of August Hermann Francke?

The biographical and theological context: A.H Francke's conversion according to the 'Lebenslauf' of J690-9 J Francke's first description of his curriculum vitae concentrates on his conversion experience. 4 The curriculum was recorded by Francke in 1690-91 at the age of27 and is an account of the period from his birth in 1663 up to the decisive turning point of the conversion experience in 1687 in Ltineburg. We hear about the penitential struggle (Busskampj), which later became typical of pietistic conversion in the Halle context. Since his death in 1727, Francke's conversion report has been consistently interpreted according to the penitence and conversion theology of Halle. 5 The basic elements of this approach, however, are already present in his first report. Francke wrote his curriculum vitae three years after his conversion. Most likely it belongs to the genre of Puritan conversion stories and spiritual biographies of the seventeenth century.6 Originally it was not intended for a wider public but was, nevertheless, addressed to a specific readership. It was written in the context of the early controversies involving the pietistic movement in the town. 7 Francke, who worked as a pastor in Erfurt from 2 June 1690, had quickly got into difficulties because of the ascetic reform programme he wanted to carry out in line with the ideas of Philipp Jako,b Spener. s Theologically he was accused of perfectionism, politically of separatism. In 1691, Francke was dismissed. The need for self-legitimation had been increasing and led to a creative revision and reconstruction of his biography. The pastor's traditional appeal to ordination and the authority of office no longer sufficed in the face of Francke's orthodox opponents. The conversion experience provided both a new authoritative centre for his lifestory and a subjective justification for his sermons, which aimed at leading people to penitence and conversion. Francke's biography was therefore Matthias, Lebenslaufe, pp. 5-32. The conversion story can be found on pp. 25-31; cf. also ibidem, pp. 133-147. 5 Francke's conversion report became known to a broader public only in 1728 with the so-called Kurtze Nachricht. Cf. Matthias, Lebenslaufe, pp. 72-80. 6 Matthias, Lebenslaufe, pp. 139-141. 7 Francke became a second parish pastor at the Augustiner community in Erfurt in April 1690, against the will of the town's council and the orthodox clergy. 8 For the subsequent period of church reform, see the analysis in Albrecht-Birkner, 'Neue Menschen?'. 4

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meant to legitimise his work and to strengthen those who supported him against orthodox opponents within the church. There is no reason to deny the historical core of the conversion report with regard to the facts of Francke' s life. Even if at first the conversion was particularly important for Francke and those closely associated with him, the conversion only gained its central importance in the form of the conversion story because of the crisis of legitimation experienced by the pietistic movement. 9 It has been correctly pointed out that the biography, transmitted in manuscript, did not exert an extended influence. We are not dealing with one of the many conversion stories that were published in print and widely disseminated. We nevertheless have to reckon with it having exercise.d some style-forming influence. Francke occasionally agreed to the account of his conversion being passed on, and he himself pointed again and again to the significance for 'true Christianity' of analogous experiences. 1O If we look at the contents, structure and function of Francke's conversion story, we find a type of pietistic conversion model. Important changes in the tradition of Lutheran theology and devotion took place in the report. Francke radicalised what orthodox champions opposed to traditional, customary forms of Christianity had earlier demanded. One prominent example of such early orthodox champions was the theologian T. Gro8gebauer (1627-1661) of Rostock, who emphasised the importance of individual conversion 11 and posed a threat to the teaching of sacramental rebirth through baptism. Francke did remain within in the framework of Spener's concept of the ecclesiola in ecclesia, so that the conversion experience was domesticated within the church and an open break with Lutheran tradition was avoided. However, he shifted the balance in favour of subjective appropriation of traditional teaching. Instead of primarily understanding penitence as an integral part of daily experience in Christian life, namely in relation to the experience of temptation, in the penitential struggle 'penitence' became both the experience that initiated the individual into the true Christian life and the foundational motif of an enduring change in the individual's life after baptism. Thus the understanding of conversion approached that of the devotional-monastic image of 'second baptism' .12 How did the reconstruction of the biography take place in Francke's case?

Literarily speaking, Francke combined two genres in his Lebenslauf, the biography of educated men and the confession. With the help of the topics penitence, conversion and 'living under the cross', they were connected to a new unity. 10 Matthias, Lebenslaufe, pp. 79-80. 11 Ohst, 'Bulk n. Kirchengeschichtlich'; Wallmann, 'Gro8gebauer, Theophil'. 12 Bacht, 'Die Monchsprofess'.

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Main moments and structures of the conversion story

The main moments in Francke's conversion story are typical: the crisis experience, the turnaround and the reconstruction of the biography in the light of the new identity. 13. This final aspect contains the deconstruction of the old biography through a radical devaluation of the past (negation), and also its adjustment to the new construction by characterising it as a pre-history (assimilation). I would like to concentrate here on two points: ftrst, the dialectic of devaluation and adjustment, negation and assimilation, and second, the crisis experience and the turnaround. The dialectic of negation and assimilation

Presenting conversion as a dramatic reorientationof the person's complete existence required a radical devaluation of the past. With Francke, this follows the classic conversion scheme 'then'-'now', and the bipartite or tripartite temporal structure of the time 'before' the turn and the time 'after'. To begin with, Francke deconstructed the time before his conversion by means of the dualising theological concept of the world and the Augustinian idea of love of world and love of self.14 In this way he separated himself radically from the lifestyle of the educated middle class of his time. All previous action and inaction now appeared to him as sin, from traditional religious practice to the contemporary ethos of science and education. Everything was interpreted against the background of a basic deftcit, because everything previous was not immediately related to God and his honour. At its core, this points to the pietistic denial of the concept of adiaphora. Thus penitence had to become the central moment of life-conduct. It enabled the penitent to identify the experience of deficit and opened up the possibility of liberation through divine mercy. The antithetical pattern of interpretation that Francke employed refers to four literary contexts in which he was at home: the Bible, Johann Amd's Vom wahren Christentum, the quietist mysticism of Miguel de Molinos and Puritan edifying literature, for example by Emmanuel Thomson. 15 These four sources helped to define Francke's basic understanding of penitence 13 ef. Rambo, Understanding Religious Conversion; Knoblauch, Krech and Wohlrab-Sahr, Religiose Konversionen. 14 The total devaluation of the pre-conversion existence was expressed in the words: 'In Summa: ich war innerlich und auj3erlich ein welt Mensch ... ' (Matthias, Lebensla u/e , pp. 21 and 33ff. The pre- and postconversion existence was related to a polarity scheme, as in the Augustinian concept of existence between 'unrest' and 'rest' (ibidem, p. 22, 31). 15 Matthias, LebenslauJe, pp. 138-139.

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and repentance, and his emphasis on salvation, which became characteristic of the Halle pietistic movement. The personal context forms part of the literary context. Francke was exposed to traditional Lutheran Bible religiousness in his parental home. Francke's older sister Anna (1658-1680) stimulated him to read Amd and impressed him from his early youth with her spiritualised religiousness. Also part of this context is the circle of friends in the academic Collegium philobiblicum, which changed under the influence of Spener into a pietistic conventicle. Thus, the radical act of negation concerned the life of a young man who, by the common criteria of the time, could unquestionably be characterised as religious and devout. 16 Rebirth through baptism lost all concrete meaning during Francke's crisis, replaced by the special religious experience. Only the question raised by Francke about an external cause for the crisis seemed to have no answer. The unspectacular reference to the study of theology opened up the possibility of focusing on the central problem of pietism: the assertion of biblical authority in teaching and tradition by means of the SUbjective experience of certainty. The conversion was given a central place to manifest the reliability and plausibility of the proclamation of the gospel. 17 This confirms the constructive character of the conversion story and its social function in strengthening the concept of the conventicle and its practice of piety. The devaluation of the life led prior to conversion was actually the total symbolic devaluation of the lifestyle of the educated middle class and therefore a form of radical social criticism. On the one hand this enabled social integration within the pietistic group, while on the other hand it confirmed the group's segregation from the main church and mainstream society. Joining the conventicle meant voluntarily joining a group on the edge of society, and accepting social discrimination as a test of faith. The total negation of the life led prior to conversion was only one aspect. The other was adjusting to the new way of life. This happened primarily by reflecting on the continuous working of God in the not-yet-converted. Conversion seemed to be not only a radical break, but also, in the context of divine education, the end-point of a life-long process of divine effort directed towards the person, as reflected in Augustine's classic conversion story. 18

16 Prior to the conversion experience Francke noticed a dramatic increase in his longing for salvation (Matthias, Lebensliillfe, pp. 23 and 1ff. The point was 'auffs ne lie den anfang [zuJ machen ein Christ zu werden' (ibidem, p. 23, 28ft). 17 Matthias, LebenslauJe, p. 23, 5ff. 18 There were incentives to penitence, but penitence with seriousness and thoroughness was lacking, i.e. what was later called the penitential struggle (Buj3kampj).

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One element connecting negation and assimilation was the stylisation of the past according to the typical forms of mourning over sins and penitence. The lack of seriousness in the search for God and the lack of obedience toward God's leading and guidance were, therefore, lamented. These were the central pedagogical moments which determined the pietistic effort to attain sanctification and which had an influence on the concept of perfectibility in the Enlightenment. The imagery of transition was characteristic of the connection between the conflicting moments. The existential 'in between' and the still 'not-yet-decided', like the threshold of the temple, marked the transition between the sacred and the secular. This construction of an 'in between' functioned in other contexts as an appeal to the freedom of the individual to make a decision. Following the common Lutheran teaching regarding man's free will, it was shown here both as an integral part of the crisis and yet, at the same time, as a sign of its already having been overcome through grace.

Crisis and turning point in the penitential struggle The crisis which prepared Francke for conversion occurred at the interface between academic exegesis and homiletic practice. He was instructed to prepare a sermon in Llineburg and feared he would fail. Although he was experienced in the edifying interpretation of biblical passages,19 meditation on the text for the sermon, John 20: 31,20 radicalised the basic pietistic topic of the deep divide between a qualified faith asfiducia or fides qua (creditur) and the common faith as fides historica. This problem was the subject of an early sermon by Spener, which had moved Francke. Instead of dealing with. this difference according to the rules of dogmatic and homiletic art aIld trusting the self-explication of the text, Francke became a despairing exegete of himself. Neither the Bible nor the dogmatic lecture by 1. Musaus (1613-1682) any longer offered a solution to the problem of the assurance of faith. The way was thus open to transform phenomena of the religious crisis of the time into crisis phenomena of the subject. The loss of plausibility affected not only the Christian denominations but also Christianity itself, as one religion alongside other religions. Conversion thus became the focus of unresolved problems concerning the experience of religious pluralism.

19 ef. Matthias, Lebenslaufe, pp. 25-26. In 1687 Francke studied under the Superintendent K.H. Sandhagen (1639-1697) in Liineburg, after again being awarded the Schabbel grant. He was expected to continue his exegetical education there. 20 'Dieses ist geschrieben, dass ihr glaubet, Jesus sey Christ, und daJ3 ihr durch den Glauben das Leben habet in seinem Namen' (Matthias, Lebenslaufe, p. 26, 2-4).

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To Francke's horror, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, with their conflicting claims to the truth, contradicted one another more or less on equal terms. An objective decision based on traditional Christianapologetics, with its proofs based on miracle and prophecy, no longer seemed plausible. Theistic faith by revelation was also drawn into the crisis. Francke was well acquainted with the corresponding scenarios from his study of theology. In Jena, Musaus was regarded as one of the first to appreciate Herbert of Cherbury's (1583-1648) concept of 'natural religion' as a philosophical approach to the Christian conception of God, but as one who also lamented its soteriological deficits. As well as the relativisation of Christianity in the context of the history of religion, Francke was also concerned with the practical-atheistic extreme interpretations with which theological apologetics had again and again found fault. 21 The problems, however, could no longer be convincingly solved on the level of dogmatics. 22 This opened a new path to mystic traditions. Possibilities of articulating and integrating specific experiences of self, world and God into the tradition presented themselves. It is, therefore, only initially surprising that Francke with his' atheistic thinking' persevered in prayer. Prayer was and remained the pre-eminent point of the immediate experience of transcendence in the tradition of mystical piety. This was particularly valid in the conditional, aggressive dealing with the experience of the absence of God in times of mourning and also at night. Epiphany was no longer primarily expected in participation in the sacrament or in the study of the Bible, but in the conflict and struggle of the heart in prayer. This was the locus of the 'penitential struggle' for Francke. He fought it briefly and intensively. He found the main biblical explanation in the wrestling of Jacob at the Jabbok.23 A resolving 'inner word (of God)' was expected in the struggle. Reason had lost its right at that point. 24 As is well known, the teaching of the 'inner word' occupied a strong position, particularly in radical Pietism where the' inner word' in the form of visions and inspirations had an authority of its own. This offered possibilities for its transformation into the creative word of the poet. Francke firmly reattached the' inner word' to the authority of the 'outer word' of the Bible, as was generally done in Lutheran tradition and Matthias, Lebensldufe, pp. 27, 34. All doubts about the divineness of the Holy Scripture were 'atheistic' in strictly orthodox eyes. 22 Francke did not go so far as to complain about God or accuse God. The question of theodicee was suspended through rationalising about divine providence and pedagogy. Matthias, LebenslduJe, p. 25, 11 ff. 23 Gen 32: 25-31. 24 'Meine vernunfft stand nun gleichsam von/erne. der Sieg war ihr aus den hdnden gerissen. denn die krafft Gottes hatte sie dem Glauben unterthdnig gemachet' (Matthias, Lebensldufe, p. 30, 9-11). 21

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developing church Pietism. This authority was admittedly established anew by the subjective experience of certainty?5 Francke emphasised the sudden character of his discovery. In no time at all the existence God as a loving father had become an enduring certainty for him. 26 In this way the concept of the unio mystica, known from Tauler and Arnd, was related to the experience of a subita conversio. An analogy was drawn between this change - in his appreciation of himself and the world - and the radical change in baptism, and thus its value was raised to supreme importance. Francke used the biblical metaphors of reawakening and rebirth, as well as the Augustinian diction of the change of self love to the love of God. 27 Francke did not want to make a rule o!lt of his experience. Nevertheless, a corresponding attitude of expectation referring primarily to the 'penitential struggle' emerged in the Pietist movement that developed in Halle, introducing a Puritan ascetic element into the concept of conversion. For Francke, conversion became a key event in a renewed theological practice. Only those who had experienced a conversion could fully understand the basic Lutheran distinction between 'law' and 'Gospel'. Francke called for an empirical concept of practice in theology, open to experience, which coincided well with the orthodox claim of theology as habitus practicus, but no longer coincided with the orthodox answer. Thus conversion simultaneously became the basis of a new appropriation of tradition, i.e. a new experience of re-reading one's own tradition. Unlike the classic conversion stories of Augustine and Martin Luther, the turnaround was no longer directly connected with a reading experience; it not take place in a confrontation between the seeker and the Bible, but in a confrontation with the seeking self. This had consequences for the understanding of science. The difference between faith and reason was translated by Francke into a separation of religious and unbelieving secular science. 28 As unreasonable as this may appear with regard to the history and theory of science, in the pietistic concept of faith and science, an important protest potential built up against the presCf. Francke's reference to Ps 36: 8-10 and Luther's comment on the living faith in his preface to the Romans, Matthias, Lebenslaufe, p. 30,21-36. ' 26 'Denn wie man eine hand umwendet, so war aUe mein zweifJel hinweg ... aUe Traurigkeit und unruhe des hertzens ward auff einmahl weggenommen, hingegen ward ich als mit einem Strom der Freuden plOtzlich iiberschiittet, daj3 ich aus vollem Muth Gott lobete und preisete ... ' (Matthias, LebenslauJe, p. 29, 15-20). 27 The reference to Luther's preface to the Romans demonstrated the expectation of a renewed Lutheran confession. The conversion story thus can be read as an actualised form of confessionality. 28 Cf. Matthias, Lebenla£ife, p. 30, 9-20. 25

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sure of a universal harmonisation of faith and reason in the Enlightenment. The protest was directed against the optimistic conception of man, which sought to replace repentance and penitence through insight and reason. Francke's conversion story, therefore, also points to the tensions and antagonisms that were to arise in the contrast between Pietism and Enlightenment. We may conclude, therefore, that Francke's conversion story gained its specific character in the context of typical experiences of secularisation in the post-Reformation period of the second half of the seventeenth century. In some ways, for example in the separation of faith and reason, it reflects the problems of reorganising confessional identity. Radical pietistic conversion justified the path of separation. The autobiographical documents of J.F. Rock provide an interesting example for further analysis of conversion in a broader pietistic context. 29 In every case, the pietistic conversion stories reflect a basic trend of the modem age in the more or less consistent submission of religious certainty to subjectivity and the search for new forms of individual and public communication of faith. As an analysis of the content, structure and function of Francke's conversion story shows, the concept of penitential struggle played a crucial role in the individual and social reorganisation of Christian faiths confronted with the experiences of religious pluralism and secularisation. This concept was quite effective in the history of Halle Pietism.

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Schneider, Johann Friedrich Rock.

REFORMED DOCTRINE AND PIETIST CONVERSION THE HISTORICAL INTERPLAY OF THEOLOGY, COMMUNICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Fred van Lieburg

Introduction In 1700, a two-volume Dutch work on Reformed doctrine, paying special attention to the practice of piety, was published under the title Redelijke Godsdienst, which can be translated as 'Reasonable Religion'. Written by the Reverend Wilhelmus it Brakel, the book has become a classic of Reformed Pietism and dozens of editions have appeared during the past three centuries. I During his lifetime, Brakel was called 'the guide of the pious folk', and his manual has served as a spiritual guide for many generations of believers since then. This is true for the Netherlands as well for the Dutch colonies in North America and South Africa, as is shown by recent studies and a complete translation into the English language? Two parts of Brakel's popular work are particularly interesting for the researcher of conversion narratives, with specific regard to the history of Dutch Calvinism from the Reformation to the present. In one chapter Brakel recommends that his readers take note of spiritual biographies as example literature, such as stories about martyrs, godly preachers and pious children dying young. 3 In another chapter he encourages readers to reflect on their own lives, even providing a questionnaire to serve as a guide in reconsidering their own spiritual development and for the edification of other people. 4 Whether or not there was a link with these suggestions in Brakel's bestseller, the writing and publishing of biographies and autobiographies began I

A Brakel, Logike latreia.

The Dutch Reformed Church in New York wanted to have it translated as early as 1800, but eventually the job was done by Elshout, resulting in the publication of The Christian's Reasonable Service, 4 vols. (Morgan, PA, 1992-1995). Cf. note 12. See for the influence in South Africa, Raath, 'The Dutch Second Reformation' . 3 A Brakel mentions two biographical collections, those of Abraham van den Corput, Goddelicke vierschare, and Jacobus Koelman, Twintig zonderlinge exempelen. See on the latter work, Groenendijk, 'Von zwei frommen Kindern'. 4 See the translation by Elshout (vol. 4, p. 48). 2

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to flourish in Dutch Reformed Pietism during the eighteenth century. In fact, we can speak of a specific genre of the pietist conversion narrative, in which people reported either their own experiences or other people's life stories. s There was a widespread practice of narrating such stories in private meetings, but they were also written down and, usually posthumously, published in print. This flood of pietist conversion accounts was especially strong in the second half of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth. Remarkably, many old biographies were still being reprinted during the late 1990s and several new examples of pious lives have been added even more recently to this long tradition. For many years I have been gathering a collection of Dutch-language Protestant spiritual biographies, among which such pietist conversion narratives form the greater part. Since these books usually circulated in a small subculture, public libraries seldom showed interest in acquiring them and they are mainly found in private hands. My own collection already contains four hundred editions of biographies, deathbed stories, diaries, letters, etc. There are texts by Dutch people, as well as translations of foreign, especially English and Scottish, material and, in addition to single publications, there are bundles or calendar books containing short example biographies and other edifying stories. 6 Historical approach

This large collection of life accounts is a treasury for historical research from a diversity of approaches. For instance, they can be explored as sources of knowledge of daily life and religious practice in the past. Whereas theological works are of a normative and prescriptive nature, and church records usually highlight local conflicts, personal documents concerning common men, women and children can immensely enrich the reconstruction of the past, with due attention paid to the common problem of representativity. I have used this biographical narrative approach as a mirror of Dutch Reformed pietist culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 7 Besides the interest in popular culture or popular religion, another approach to spiritual biography has arisen from modem religious historiography - the research of saints and hagiography - in which 'holiness' is no longer defmed by strong ecclesiastical or canonical defmition but under-

5 In general Dutch historiography, only so-called ego documents have been paid much attention to during the last decades, see Dekker, Egodocuments. 6 I am currently preparing the publication of a bibliography, in co-operation with the Study Centre for Protestant Book Culture of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 7 Van Lieburg, Levens van vromen; idem, De stille luyden; idem, Living for God.

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stood as particular piety or daily example. Catholic as well as Protestant 'saints', and 'living saints', as well as the dead, are brought into the picture by means of this anthropological approach. Written biographies were read as models, presenting people with whom many believers could identify, or lives which they could use as an ideal for shaping their personal religious lifestyles. 8 In this contribution I would like to combine both approaches to spiritual biographies in a specific way. On the one hand, I would like to recognise the intentions of the authors, which was to testify to God's intervention in human life. On the other hand, I will try to penetrate the complex world of the production and consumption of these sorts of stories. I will describe this context in terms of a historical interplay of theology, communication and experience, as I tentatively consider the conversion narratives to be an evolved cultural heritage of theological or academic models of God's dealings with people. Put simply, this is a process from study and lectern, through pulpit and press, to conventicle and private room, and thus to the pious man's soul. 9 My approach is concerned with pietist conversion narratives from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. Generally speaking, they show a striking homogeneity. Their main feature is the emphasis on experience (bevinding) rather than knowledge, based on the principle that knowledge should not be found in the head but rather in the heart. In addition, the pietist conversion is characterised by the idea of a 'way' or path, a development in several stages, in time as well as in space. Well-known images for this dynamic include the train (going from station to station) and the stairs (step by step, up and down). There is only one conversion from God's point of view, however, in the subjective perception of God's children, and this conversion needs to be confirmed from time to time. The homogeneity of the pietist experience is compensated by a certain variability. Clearly they do not all follow one fixed pattern that is the benchmark for every pious Reformed conversion story over three centuries. There is a range of different applications of the basic assumption that a Christian becomes personally aware of God's mercy at a certain moment or in a certain period in his life. We may even question whether pietist believers were conscious of the fact that their individual story, as it was shared or authorised by people in the local environment of church and society, was in any

8 See in general Beyer et al., Confessional Sanctity. For Pietism, see Gleixner, 'Wie fromme Helden entstehen'. 9 See for a brief sketch of the historiographical background, Van Lieburg, 'Pietismus',

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way derived from a coherent concept originating from a systematic theology. Let me give an example of a pietist autobiography written by the shipyard worker Egbert de Goede in 1845. This author is an exception in providing a general description of the path of conversion: Where God is most exalted and the sinner is most humbled, there we find the true doctrine of salvation. When a sinner realises his lost state through the light of God's Spirit, then something happens between God and this soul. When he begins to know God in His virtues, holiness and righteousness, he cannot understand why God had not thrown him into hell long ago. Then he learns to approve of His justice: even if He desired to damn him for all eternity, it would have been just, for he has deserved nothing else, and all he can call out then is: Oh God have mercy on me a sinner! By the light of God's Spirit he sees that God is a consuming fire for the sinner and that he ought to be punished because he has trespassed God's law. With this before his eyes the sinner would have fallen down into despair, if no hidden hand had upheld him. Only those who have experienced this will agree with me that this is always how it is, to a greater or a lesser degree. When God saves a sinner, the Lord Jesus reveals Himself to such a soul as having satisfied God's law. That gives the sinner hope knowing that there is a Saviour who has taken his place. If only man could now believe that this applied to him, alas here he stops: he dares not to accept it. This takes as long as God chooses before becoming too strong for him. Then he learns to regard all his best works as dead works. Now that he begins to despair of everything, Jesus reveals Himself closer to him in all His fullness, all-sufficiency and willingness. Then he 'sinks and immerses' into the divine surety. Subsequently, the Lord speaks to him: your sins are forgiven, and now he is at peace with God. Oh, how full of admiration is such a soul then; he calls out: I have deserved eternal death, but now I have received eternal life. Those who have experienced this will understand it, but the natural man cannot understand it, it is foolishness to him.lo

This summary of true conversion, offered by a 67-year-old layman who was a pietist authority in Refonned circles, cannot be traced back directly to any model in Refonned theology. It is a concept containing diverse elements of Refonned thought which Egbert absorbed during his long life - at home from his parents, at school from his teachers, in church from many preachers, in conventicles from fellow believers, from reading the Bible and many edifying books, and from his personal experience. Finally, he combined an 10

De Goede, Eene korte en eenvoudige beschrijving, pp. 73-74.

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this evidence in oral summaries which he wrote down as one version. A reconstruction of any theological model is impossible in such an individual case, let alone collectively for the Reformed people who never wrote a pietist autobiography. We should, therefore, investigate the interplay of theology, communication and experience in a roundabout way. In the next section I will refer to several models that were current in Dutch Reformed preaching and reading, in order to make the assumption that multiple circulating conceptions were spread along many lines of communication and were appropriated in numberless ways by individual believers. I will then focus on one special religious experience, which is strongly allied to the core of Reformed theology and was presented as the culmination of pietist conversion, namely justification in the court of conscience. The order of salvation

Reformed theology was founded by Calvin but its systematic development and detailed elaboration was the work of his orthodox followers in dealing with Protestant scholasticism. Regarding the way in which salvation is applied in the believer's life, Calvin confined himself to simple distinctions such as the double grace of forgiveness and renewal, or justification and sanctification (the latter also understood as rebirth in a wide sense). His Genevan successor, Theodore Beza, needed a special table to map out God's acts concerning the elected and rejected people from eternity past to eternity future. The Puritan divine William Perkins also designed his 'Golden Chain' to bring all the facets of God's dealing with humankind into a complete model, including the byways of doubting believers. Initially, such models were purely theological outlines, showing a strong causal structure but not intended to prescribe all the stages that should be experienced in a chronological order. However, it is obvious that by forwarding such patterns through preaching and religious teaching they could easily be taken normatively. From their early youth, people in the Dutch Refonned Church were told that justification by faith was preceded not only by eternal election, but also by the call of the gospel. This vocation comprised two elements: the external call through hearing and reading God's Word, and the inner call by the Holy Spirit in the heart, with the latter also called rebirth in the narrow sense. The same is true for the well-known division of the Heidelberg Catechism, the German book that was accepted as one of the confessions of the Dutch Reformed Church and served as obligatory preaching material for every Sunday evening church service. In this catechism, the believer is admonished to learn three matters: misery, redemption and gratitude. Whether

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or not the authors of the catechism meant this triplet as a didactic distinction, many believers took it as a prescription of events that had to be experienced successively. The fIrst part - misery - automatically came to the fore: appropriating God's grace should be preceded by the demonstration of clear repentance of sins. The distinctions of faith could serve theological goals but, in practice, shift to chronological rules. From many Reformed instruction books, children and young church members learnt there was a historic faith, a temporary faith, a wonder faith and a sanctifying faith. Only the latter had real value because there was much imaginary faith as well as total absence of faith. As a result, the question was to determine whether you were gifted with true faith. The person who was prepared to assent to this question could further occupy himself with the difference between the habitus and the actus of faith, that is the essence and the welfare, or the minimal condition and the maximal experience of faith. OffIcially such patterns did not play any role in ecclesiastical and spiritual life. Reformed theology was the basis of appropriation of faith normally carried out through baptism, education, profession of faith and participation in the Lord's supper. Most of the ministers did not complicate matters more than was necessary, and most church people were not interested in deep and wide-ranging forms of religious experience, reflection or exercise. Pietist preachers, and hence pietist believers, greatly appreciated manifestations of faith because there were assumed to be many alleged believers or 'nominal Christians' within the public church. This spiritual segregation was also expressed in the pietistic lifestyle, with a visible subculture of pious believers who were depicted as 'puritans' or 'precisians' by outsiders. 11 Brakel's book on Reformed piety has its own place in this socioreligious development occurring in the last decades of the seventeenth century. Somewhat ambiguously, he dedicated his work 'to the congregation of God in the Netherlands'. On the one hand, of course, this referred to all the members of the Reformed Church, but on the other he targeted certain circles of pious readers in the country who were explicitly incited by him to discuss his book in small groups. His work is a practical elaboration of Reformed dogmatics, full of biblical evidence, theological reasoning and pastoral advice. Separate and long chapters were devoted to subjects such as the 'marks of grace' and the 'experience' .12 In this eighteenth-century environment of pietist books, sermons and conversations, many people went one step further. Just as faith or church 11 12

Van Lieburg, 'From pure church to pious culture'. ef. Elshout, The pastoral and practical theology ofWilhelmus aBrakel.

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membership was described in many forms and expressions, believers and members were also divided into various groups. A special investigation has been devoted to the so-called classification method in Dutch RefOlmed pietist preaching. For instance, the unconverted, concerned, faithful and assured people were addressed separately in the 'application' of the sermon.13 Some pietist bestsellers were written as imaginary conversations between different personalities and could be performed in that way in meetings. Johan Verschuir (1680-1737) composed a conversation between four people: an ignorant man, a lettered man, a concerned believer and a strong Christian, while Wilhelmus Schortinghuis (1700-1750) introduced typical names for various groups, such as an unsaved man, a weak believer, a settled believer and an experienced believer. 14 At the same time as this pietist subculture in the Dutch Reformed Church was flourishing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was a growing diversity, if not a confusing multitude, of convictions, theories and experiences of the personal application of faith. People were trying to find their current position within the 'order of salvation'. ,Some exposed their uncertainty about this or that point, while others engendered such confidence that they pretended to be able to pass judgement on I another's 'state'. In addition to ministers, lay preachers or authoritive believers played their role in pietist circles. Since the subculture was divided into numerous small denominations as a result of several secessions of tpe public Reformed church, a labyrinth of theological, sociological and psychological patterns came to exist. In this context we can investigate the communication process. Although common believers did not consume 'high' theological works, they received the transformation of theology in many ways, such as preaching, catechising and personal meetings. It is possible to identify the development of a kind of pietist popular scholastics, which rested on three pillars. The first pillar was the Bible as the basic source and norm for religious life. The second was the church, including pastoral action, as the medium of theological knowledge. The third pillar was the subculture of circulating narratives. On this basis, in which oral and written forms of communication were mixed together, every individual was able to construct and develop a religious identity and life story in an eclectic way. The hundreds of printed conversion narratives are the residue of this historical reality. The pietist communication process shaped a special language, which was the subject of both cultural appropriation and social distinction. Called the 'language of Canaan', it was in fact a mixture of the 1637 Dutch Bible 13 14

Brienen, De prediking van de Nadere Reformatie. Verschuir, Waarheit in het binnenste; Schortinghuis, Het innige christendom.

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translation (the Statenbijbel), Reformed readings and pietist oral culture. A lexicographer has exhaustively described this artificial language, using numerous printed sermons, treatises and conversion narratives. In order to include all the words and expressions, he constructed an ingenious model of pietist conversion, based on the three parts of the Heidelberg Catechism, but elaborated in extensive detail. In a sense, this religious vocabulary can be considered the cumulative product of three centuries of interplay between theology, communication and experience. 15 The tribunal experience: nature and origins From the above, it may be clear that the word 'conversion' developed a rather diffuse meaning in the tradition of Reformed Pietism. Apart from the change from one religion or church to another, it was usually taken to imply a moral and social category. Conversion indicated a remarkable and visible change of conduct. In Pietism, the word was employed in a theological way as equivalent to 'regeneration'. This rebirth was considered to be an inner transformation, which could be expressed in outward appearance but often simply strengthened a serious lifestyle that had been conducted from youth. Within this pietistic interpretation there was a further refinement which understood conversion as a special assurance of faith in the form of the socalled justification in the court of conscience. In the Dutch language this experience is briefly called a vierschaarbeleving. The old-fashioned word vierschaar can be translated as a court or tribunal but refers in fact to vier scharen or a square of four benches, reflecting the four parties in a juridical trial: the defendant, the plaintiff, the barrister and the judge. Such a tribunal has been used by theologians and preachers as a didactic illustration of how the justification of the sinner by the gracious Lord can be understood. However, the court also appears in the collective practice of piety as the mark of a real spiritual or visionary experience, which is considered to be a highpoint and, for some, even the distinguishing mark oftrlfe conversion. A tribunal experience can be typically described as follows. God the Father is the judge. The sinner is brought into the court. The plaintiff is the devil, sometimes also identified as law or conscience. After the defendant is accused of breaking God's commandments, Jesus Christ comes forward as the barrister. He declares he is willing to take the punishment, upon which the acquittal is heard. Then the Holy Spirit, as the clerk, confirms the judgement and announces it to the sinner. Several Bible quotes can play a role in this virtual trial. One stereotype places the words of Job 33: 24 into the 15

Van de Ketterij, De weg in woorden.

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mouth of Christ advocating the sinner: 'Then he is gracious unto him, and saith: Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom'. Where does this courtroom narrative originate? The juridical nature of the Christian doctrine of atonement is developed in early scholastics by Anselm of Canterbury, whereas the Reformation places it in the centre of theology due to Luther's personal experience of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Calvin, a jurist himself, deals extensively with the doctrine of justification in his Institution, sometimes referring to the 'human courts' .16 An extensive comparison of the forgiveness of sins as evidence of God's mercy with what happens in a court, complete with judge, plaintiff, prosecuting witnesses and defence attorney, can be found in the writings of John Owen, the seventeenth-century English Puritan who explains the witnessing and comforting work of the Holy Ghost in the believer's heart, locating the 'inner court' in the sinner's conscience. 17 It is probable that the tribunal narrative derives from a mix of traditions not only older than Protestant orthodoxy but also wider than the theological discourse. Regarding pre-Reformation roots, there is the example of medieval sermons in which God and the devil dispute about a devotee's soul, and Mary intervenes as intercessor to get her worshipper into heaven. IS In culture and society, images of a trial as a metaphor of human conscience or as an allegory of religious and moral issues must have been widespread in the seventeenth century. At least thirty editions of a 'thunder sermon' by Andrew Jones on Revelation 20: 12 appeared between 1658 and 1679, entitled The black book of conscience, or God's high court ofjustice in the soul. 19 Its readers are seriously warned against the last judgment because of their sins, with reference to biblical examples and also the classic example of Francis Spira. 20 In 1626, the Puritan theologian Richard Bemard published an account of the process of regeneration set forth in the terms of a trial scene?1 This book was reprinted many times and translated into Dutch in

Calvin, Institution (ed. Benoit), vol. 3, sections 12, 13, and 14. See Beeke, The quest, pp. 182-183. 18 I have dealt with such an example as a suggested precursor of a Protestant wonder story in which angels intercede between pious figures and wicked offenders in Van Lieburg, 'Sanctifying Pillars'. 19 A microfilm in Early American imprints. Second series, no. 23125, of A. Jones, The black box of conscience. 20 See MacDonald, "The fearfull estate of Franc is Spira". 21 The thirteenth edition is entitled: The Isle of Man, or, The legal proceeding in Man-shire against sinne: wherein, by way of a continued allegory, the chief malefactors disturbing both church and common-wealth, are detected and attached; with their arraignment andjudicial trial, according to the laws of England·: the spiritual use thereof; with an apology for the manner of handling most necessary to be first 16

17

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1658?2 Later, John Bunyan employed this device of 'literary inquisition' in his bestsellers the Pilgrim's Progress and the Holy War?3 The most direct reference to a 'tribunal experience', and at the same time the clearest example of a possible link between English Puritanism and Dutch Pietism, is a text of which the origin, let alone the author, is not yet known. It is a short text Gust six pages in duodecimo), translated by the pietist Reformed publisher Abraham van Laren in Vlissingen, and part of a collection of works printed for the eleventh time in 1675?4 It contains a dialogue between three parties, none of which is God the Father or the devil. Jesus himself is performing as judge against 'God's justice' - which refers to the divine law - as prosecutor. The latter wants to have the captive killed immediately because of his great sins but the defendant is allowed to confess his guilt and plead for grace three times in succession. Then Jesus declares that he perceives 'my Father's image in the poor captive's face' and asks the executioner to thrust his bloodthirsty sword into his side and up his neck. The redeemed sinner has the [mal word in astonishment at this inexpressible love.

read for direction in the right use of the allegory through-out, is added in the end (London, 1658). A photo-reprint of the 1630 edition was published as The Isle of Man in the series The English experience, its record in early printed books published in facsimile, no. 775 (Amsterdam, 1976). Cf. HaIler, The Rise of Puritanism, p. 137. 22 Het menschen-eilandt, ofte reghtsvorderingh tegens de sonde in 't raad-huis van 's menschen herte. Daarin door middel van een geduurige gelijckenis de voornaemsle boosdoenders,die de kerke en '1 gemeene best versloren, worden ontdekt, achlerhaalt ter vierschaar gestelt en geoordeelt, volgens de wetten van Engeland. Door Richard Bernard in 't Engelsch beschreven, en nu na den elfden Engelschen druk vertaalt door Hubertus van der Meer, dienaar des Godlijken Woords tot Wervershove (Amsterdam, 1658). Van der Haar, From Abbadie to Young, dates the first edition to 1670 by mistake. 23 Tindall, John Bunyan Mechanick Preacher, p. 202. 24 The Dutch translation appeared as an appendix to a posthumous work of the Dutch Reformed author Dionysius Spranckhuysen, Een korte ende klare voorstellinge, van de natuere ende pactijcke van het ware salighmakende geloove, resp. a translation of William Cowper's A most comfortable and christian dialogue, betweene the Lord, and the soule (STC 5928.5-5930). Pages 115-122 cover the text, translated from English by Abraham van Laren: Goddelycke vyerschare, op-gericht in 't raedt-huys van s'menschen herte. Voor-gestelt in een t'samen-sprekinge tusschen den Heere Jesus. Gods gerechtigheydt. Ende den gevangenen sondaer. Uyt het Engels vertaelt door Abraham van Laren (Vlissingen, 111675) (collection Dr W.1.. op 't Hof, Nederhemert; no copy in any public library). The original English title may have been: A divine tribunal established in the town hall of the human heart, and portrayed in a dialogue between the Lord Jesus, God's justice and the captive sinner.

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The description of justification as a tribunal appears on several occasions in edifying, instructive or polemical works by authoritative Dutch authors of the eighteenth century. Pastor Bernardus Smytegelt uses it in his catechisms for adults which must have already been in use early in the eighteenth century, although the handwritten notes did not appear in print before the nineteenth century. A guide to experimental theology, written by the pastor 10han Verschuir and first published in Groningen in 1737, also contains a description of the divine lawsuit. 25 In 1744, the tribunal was found in the sermons on the qualities of true faith, spoken and published by Alexander Comrie, a pastor who later dealt with the doctrine of justification as a theologian and philosopher. 26 His colleague and opponent Theodorus van de Groe also included the tribunal experience in his sermons on the Catechism. 27 Nevertheless, it remains difficult to make the link between the tribunal as theological illustration and as a personal experience. Ultimately, no Reformed theologian stated that passive justification was more than the faithful reply to the promise of the gospel or that it required 'a mysterious experience. In his dogmatic guide, Brakel devoted an extensive chapter to this matter, opposing not only Roman Catholicism, but also antinomian groups and sentiments in the Dutch Reformed Church of 1700,zs Against their view that sanctification was the fruit of justification - once justified, always justified, that is, free of the yoke of law - Brakel even stressed the need for 'daily justification' as a repeating subjective appropriation by the believer of what was objectively given only once by God. However, Brakel's view would have increased his readers' preoccupation with the experience of justification and also promoted discussion on the interpretation of this doctrine. It has been noted that Calvinist theology was influenced by Arminianism in the eighteenth century, and that orthodox Reformed preachers tended to minimise human activism in salvation by the sovereign God. All attention was drawn to the so-called justification from eternity, of which the regeneration of the sinner during his life was simply the result. Other strict Calvinists, however, tended to return to Reformation thought by keeping justification, rebirth and faith close together, albeit as an absolute and conscious moment following signs and experiences of 'preparing grace', the divine quality of which could only be resolved afterwards.

10han Verschuir, Waarheit in het binnenste, eightiest dialogue. Alexander Comrie, Verhandeling, sermon on Romans 5: 1. 27 The sermons of both Van der Groe and Smytegelt were not printed before the nineteenth century. See Van der Groe, Des Christens Eenigen Traast, vol. 1, p. 538; Smytegelt, Maandagse katechisatien, pp. 252-258. 28 See for the antinomians, see Wielema, The march a/the libertines. 25

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I do not intend to explain the ins and outs of this debate in this article, but will mention again the two eighteenth-century Reformed authorities who are usually posed against each other, namely Van der Groe and Comrie. They were both country pastors and strongly concerned with the worries of pious believers. Comrie, who was also a doctor of philosophy, took a particularly decisive step at the theological level by dividing divine justification into five moments. Two of these five moments occur during the believer's life, namely rebirth and justification in the court of conscience. 29 Van der Groe rejected this chronological order but his insistence on one moment of justification by faith inevitably resulted in stronger and more exclusive emphasis on an ultimate experience.

The tribunal experience: practical reception My argument is that the rise and spread of the tribunal experience can be explained against the background of these theological debates and its popular reverberations in preaching, reading and discussing the assurance of faith. The earliest manifestation of concrete tensions in the local community that I have found are in a manuscript by a young woman, Maria Bagelaar, the sister of a future Reformed pastor. She visited a conventicle in the village of Woubrugge in 1716 where some pious authorities, representing the sort of people who were called judges in pietist subculture, asked visiting strangers whether they had already experienced justification and would not be easily convinced that a pious lifestyle denoted true sanctification. Another personal document makes it clear that other ideas, also circulating in pietist circles in that period, must be understood as popular transformations of theological considerations. Around 1720, the young 10hannes Wassenaar heard somebody saying that every believer must be in hell at some time or in some way, whether in the soul during life, or with soul and body in eternal punishment. This peculiar assumption can be traced back to the notion developed by the seventeenth-century English Puritans Thomas Hooker and Thomas Sheppard. They stressed that humility before God should reach such a degree that the sinner recognises that he deserves damnation and is willing to go to hell. This idea was adopted by the Labadists and can be sometimes found in Dutch pietist conversion stories. In this context, it may be remarked that a small sectarian Reformed group formed in the city of Rotterdam, around the time of the first appearance of Theodorus van der Groe in the neighbouring village of Kralingen, and that its adherents were told that no one was allowed to resort to Christ before having come to the rope, or in other words, before having wanted to 29

ef. Beeke, The quest for full assurance, pp. 237-241.

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commit suicide. 30 The inclination towards or even attempted suicide is a stereotype in pietist conversion narratives. The same is true with regard to the fear of having committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, or the 'Calvinist' doubt and despair of being elected to salvation. But now we are entering a larger and older domain of religious feeling, in which the tribunal experience must be seen as a special subject, dating from the eighteenth century. 31 The earliest account of a personal tribunal experience in my collection of conversion narratives dates from 1734. Remarkably, it was reported by a pastor, Georgius Alexander Lentfrinck, who encountered critical pious people in his congregation of Ouderkerk aan den IJssel and as a result fell into a religious crisis. One Sunday evening, while resting on his bed after preaching a heavy sermon, he had a vision in which he was brought before the law court of God and acquitted, and the above-mentioned text of Job was quoted. The experience seems to be authentic. Lentfrinck wrote a report in the same week to his colleague in Kampen. Of course he also informed his flock, to the joy of his pietist audience. When the story was finally printed in the late nineteenth century it became a popular example of a minister's conversion. 32 In the course of the eighteenth century, the tribunal experience turned up frequently, reflected by the number of narratives which have been preserved from that period. Around 1750 Andries van Tol saw his redemption in a vision of Jesus who clearly mediated between him and God, saying: 'Father, deliver him from going down the pit: I have found the ransom for him!' Around 1775 the Amsterdam maid Christina van den Brink dreamed about two men negotiating busily. One of them came to her bedside and said: 'See there is a God in heaven ... who wants to take all your sins and make an atonement for them!' Who they were, God the Father and the Son, she only knew after she woke. In 1800 the smith Willem Bij I heard a voice coming from the right hand of God: 'Father, I have accomplished all for him, let this Samaritan fall before My feet' .33 As the flood of printed conversion narratives grew in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, dozens of spiritual tribunal accounts become available for that period. I conclude with the example of Leendert Johannes Potappel, born in 1882 in Stavenisse, a village on the island of Tholen. From early childhood he was occupied with religious inclinations and was assured of

Van Lieburg, 'De gereformeerde sekte der Knabbenhouwers'. Frijhoff, Embodied Belief, pp. 93-110 on an early seventeenth-century farmer who was in despair about his predestination. 32 Van Lieburg, 'De bekering'. 33 See for these examples, Van Lieburg, Levens van vromen, pp. 74-75.

30 31

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his faith at the age of eleven. However, this assurance went through several stages. First, he came to the attention of the second person of the divinity, as pietists like to call Christ. 'The Lord Jesus, as intermediate Person, asserted his intercession to the Judge', we read in Potappel's biography. 'His pack of sins was lost, the load of the unpaid debt had dropped off, he could yet be saved now'. However, the young boy was soon harassed by the question 'where his debt was left' and whether he was really reconciled with God. This struggle went on for three weeks, culminating in the confinnation of the assurance of faith. During this period, on the last day of 1893, a woman died in Stavenisse. She had been looking for the full acquittal of debt and punishment for many years in order to be assured of God's atonement. This desire was fulfilled at her deathbed and so she died in peace with a psalm on her lips. The young Potappel heard stories of this woman's experience in the village community and was deeply impressed. In the evening of the same day he received answers to the questions that had worried him when he was summoned to the court of the Lord. Ten years later he reported his experience as follows: Then I was brought under the holy justice as a injurer of God's Majesty inward and outward. Now God had to maintain his right, because His holy virtues would not allow that only one of them should be violated, as His right is an unimpeachable right. I could do nothing else than to sign my own death-sentence ... Here I was at the end of all and at that moment I was not aware of the second Person, but this lasted a very short time. Then the glorious Immanuel came to reveal Himself in my soul gloriously and lovely. Oh, what a wonder ·of grace, when the debt adopting Bail spoke in my soul with a powerful voice: I, I am the one who wipes out your offences '" I was put into the peace with God and the Father came before me to justify and forgive my debt, willing to be reconciled with me through the security of His own soul.

Leendert Potappel enjoyed this experience along the sea-dyke of Stavenisse for an hour in which time seemed to have stood still. When he arrived there the sun was still shining and when he regained consciousness night had fallen, but his heart was full of' life, light and salvation'. Some days later he walked along the dyke again and related his experience to a man who had been in spiritual prison for 17 years before God released his soul. He was welcomed in the struggle by this man. In other words, he was invited to join the pious culture. Potappel became an elder and served as sermon reader in the Old Reformed Congregation for half a century. He was drowned during

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the flood of 1953 near the dyke where he had once been absolved by heaven for ever.34 Conclusion The justification in the court of conscience seems to have deeply influenced Dutch Reformed Pietism. At the same time, it must be seen as a typically Dutch phenomenon, even outside the Netherlands, among Reformed emigrants and their heirs everywhere in the world. A nice indication of this is the story of the American strict Baptist preacher EJ. Knight in Grand Rapids, a city in West Michigan that has many inhabitants of Dutch origin. Congenial Reformed people talked to him about the tribunal experience, which Knight had never heard of before. After investigation he wrote an instructive and pastoral book on the biblical doctrine of the justification of the ungodly, which in his opinion has nothing to do with any'special or deep experience. 35 Of course, a critical approach can also be found in the Netherlands itself. Theologians and pastors of the orthodox Reformed mainstream reject the phenomenon as an excess of Pietism. A recent -and authoritative summary of Reformed dogmatics, written by rather conservative professors of theology, speaks about 'a certain (way of) experience which IS not normative and has been hindering to the assurance of faith for many people'. 36 Yet the tribunal experience, understood as the summit of the Reformed order of salvation, remains a significant problem of faith and spirituality. For this reason, it is regularly referred to in pastoral addresses, usually to warn against any over-estimation or requirement of particular revelations or other wonderful experiences. 37 The work of Comelis Graafland, emeritus professor of the history of Reformed theology, is interesting in this respect. His pietistic mother had a special experience of justification in 1943, one year before her 16-year-old son was assured of personal faith and decided to become a preacher. During his long career, Graafland wrote many dogma-historical studies on faith, predestination and covenant theology. As a Reformed opinion leader, he also shared his insights with the orthodox people. In 1990, he criticised the strong juridical form of the doctrine of justification in the Reformed tradi34 Smits, Levensbeschrijving, pp. 26-35. Knight, The justification (Dutch translation by De Boer: De rechtvaardiging). A pastoral guide from the denomination of the Neth~r1and Reformed Congregations in North America and Canada in Beeke, Jehovah shepherding his sheep, pp. 90-98, on the justification in the court of conscience. 36 Van Genderen and Velema, Beknopte gereformeerde dogmatiek, p. 567. 37 See Van der Zwaag, Afwachten ofverwachten?, pp. 451-472. 35

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tion, referring to the unfruitful dominance of conversion models in many personal lives. Pleading for a spirituality that is more concerned with sanctification, he made a bridge to the evangelical movement which has had a growing influence in Reformed Protestantism during the past decade. 38 Quite different to the insider Graafland is the outside commentator, Herman 1. Hegger. He is a former Roman Catholic priest who converted to Protestantism and became a pastor in the Dutch Refonned Church fifty years ago. For decades he fought against the doctrine, organisation and practice of his mother church, and for several years he has been eager to criticise 'Roman Catholic' tendencies in the orthodox Reformed world, that is, convictions and customs based on pious tradition rather than on the Bible. On the one hand, he appreciates the general Catholic leanings of pietist spirituality, but on the other hand, he rejects the schematic and compulsive preaching of the gospel in this wing of Christianity. He has devoted an entire book to the justification in the court of conscience, in which he sharply attacks the cultivation of any conversion model in ultra-pietist Dutch Reformed circles. 39 Popular Reformed journals and church magazines publish a multitude of articles that try to indicate the origins of the tribunal experience and contain many references to the history of the church and theology. Among the roots proposed are Greek-Platonic thought, medieval scholastics, mystical and monastic piety, English Puritanism, German Pietism, and Labadism. I would add medieval demonology to this enumeration of options. It seems that much research is yet to be done before the tribunal experience finds its rightful place in religious historiography. I hope this article provides an impetus towards a balanced approach to this phenomenon as the crossingpoint of theology, communication and experience. In conclusion, it may suffice to say that conversion can only be understood in a wide cultural and historical context and thus should be investigated in a truly interdisciplinary way. On the one hand, a sociological or linguistic approach also has to take into account the theological concepts of the origins of religious experiences. On the other hand, a theological or religious approach is deficient if its applications and adaptations in religious practice are not investigated. The Dutch neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck once coined the right words for what I aimed to illustrate in this paper, by saying that pietists are simply fascinated by the reflection of doctrine in the mirror of their own experience. 4o

Graafiand, Gereformeerden. Hegger, Christus mijn Rechter. 40 H. Bavinck, 'Een woord vooraf, in Landwehr, L.G.C Ledeboer, p. 15.

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GERMANISATION OF CHRISTIANITY EARL Y MEDIEVAL CONVERSION HISTORY AND THE SEARCH FOR GERMAN NATIONAL IDENTITY, 1890-1940

Christopher Koenig

Early medieval conversion history has been a subject of wide interest to the German public since the late Wilhelminian empire. It seemed to offer an insight into the religious and cultural roots of modem German history and yet was simultaneously experienced as the cradle of the divergences and aporia in contemporary German society. This article will look at this conversion history from the perspective of modem religious history. It will focus on describing the Protestant reception of volkisch approaches to transforming religious traditions into what was conceived as 'arteigen', racially adapted religion. Predominantly, the article will investigate the mutual influence of the different ideological approaches to Germanic conversion history, from Protestant church historians to radical volkische perspectives. In his Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, Houston Steward Chamberlain (1855-1927) produced a scenario of German culture and politics that culminated in a call for religious renewal on the threshold of the twentieth century: The greatest danger for the German's future can be found in the lack of true religion, which is in accordance with and arises from our own kind. This is his [the German's] Achilles heel (Achillesforse); if you hit him there, he will fall.'

In his magnum opus, this 'evangelist of race' gave a full account of his crude but dramatised philosophy of history, which was based on race as the leading principle, or more precisely, on the 'conviction of superior importance of that kind of man that stems from Northern Europe,.2 Chamberlain I 2

Chamberlain, Die Grundlagen, p. 832ff. Ibidem, p. xv; for his historiographical constructions, see. pp. 765-1116; on Cham-

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wrote this in anticipation of a comprehensive turn in Germanic history that would eventually lead to a cultural and political hegemony of Western and especially German - society. A young, enthusiastic, pure and powerful race was being hampered because, from its beginnings, it had been forcefully subdued by the 'chaos of people' (Volkerchaos) within the later Roman Empire. Now, it was about to be liberated again. This conviction of German cultural superiority was widely held among late Wilhelminian bourgeois elites. They asserted that, after a long period of political dismemberment, the German people had finally regained their appropriate p lace in world history through the unification of the German states in 187l. 3 Chamberlain's book, however, added a racist and religious perspective. He found the reason for the long span of Germanic repression in early medieval conversion to Christianity which he considered an 'imperialistic Roman force,.4 In Chamberlain's anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic polemics, conversion history became a chapter of forced alienation under Roman coercion and Jewish superstition. Conversion to Christianity was an estrangement from what Chamberlain believed to be the original German character, which had endured up to the present: Undoubtedly, we have to confess that there never existed a real harmony between this Christianity that was forced upon us in the chaos of peoples following the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic internal spiritual disposis tion (Seelenglauben) - at no point in time.

Attempts to sound out the Germanic past for a concept of national identity were highly welcome in the Empire's public life at the turn of the century. The idea of the German Volk as an exceptional arid particular bond, running from its prehistoric Teutonic origins to contemporary prosperity, added a historic dimension to the recent past. The original state of Germanic culture appeared to provide patterns that seemed worth applying to the present national renewal. Historians and philologists as well as novelists contributed to a reconstruction of what was assumed to be the original Germanic civilisation, which was increasingly conceived as stemming from the European north. 6 Ex septentrione lux - nationalist ardour and scholarly scrutiny asberlain's definition of racialist terminology, pp. 295-316 and 511-523. See Chatellier, 'Rasse', pp. 188-192; Field, Evangelist, p. 154ff. and 21 J On nationalism in the Second Reich, cf. Dann, Nation, pp. 157-232; Nipperdey, Deutsche Geschichte, pp. 250-265 and 595-660; Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte, pp. 938-961. 4 Chamberlain, Die Grundlagen, p. 700. 5 Ibidem, p. 1048ff. 6 Arvidsson, Ariska idoler; Von See, 'Das 'Nordische'; idem, 'Vom "edlen Wil-

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sembled a whole corpus of texts from medieval Scandinavian literature, which, in their archaic style, seemed to replace the ancient Greek and Roman historians as highly authentic sources. 7 Along these lines, the Gottingen professor of German literature, Gustav Neckel (1878-1940), recalled his. first encounter with old Norse poetry, perceiving it as a testimony to unspoiled Germandom, as 'a clear breath of the Germanic past' that 'is able to strengthen us and fill us with enthusiasm and rub the sleep out of our eyes,.8 The combination of patriotic zeal and a critical attitude to Christianity but not to religion in general - spurred the description of German nationalism as a secularised 'substitute for religion,.9 Under the pressure of intellectualisation and modernity, the 'nation' as a moral category and integral force replaced the 'wholeness' and uniformity that had formerly been provided by the Christian-religious world view. 10 Nationalists referred to the historical consciousness of their compatriots and rearranged common perceptions of a shared past. They constructed an image of an indigenous and wholesome culture and engineered a mythical past out of the symbolic elements provided by history. Recent research, in contrast, points to the prominent role that genuinely religious trends played in the search for a German national identity.)) Many nationalists experienced the quest for a future for German society as fundamentally religious. Religious renewal was seen as indispensable and concomitant to a true and thorough national awakening. Only a 'national religion' - one that could tie together the diverse and conflicting religious attitudes in Germany - seemed to offer a warrant for deeper and lasting unity .12 Adolf Bartels (1862-1945), a prominent literary critic and apologist of a Germanised Christianity,plainly den"'; Wiwjorra, 'Die deutsche Vorgeschichtsforschung'. On the Germanic past in historic fiction, e.g. in the novels by Felix Dahn and Gustav Freytag, cf. Kipper, Der Germanenmythos. 7 Wiwjorra, '''Ex oriente lux' - 'Ex septentrione lux"'. For a thorough study of saga translations and their reception, see Zernack, Geschichten. 8 Neckel, Germanisches Heldentum, p. 16. 9 Cf. Walkenhorst, 'Nationalismus'. 10 On the term 'hunger for wholeness', cf. Gay, Weimar Culture. The formation of modern national consciousness has been explained especially in 'constructivist' and 'post-modern' research on nationalism in what Anthony D. Smith ironically calls 'gastronomic theory', cf.: 'Gastronomy or Geology?' (Myths, p. 165). It seems appropriate, though, to follow Smith's suggestion to envisage nationalism as 'a form of archaeology' ('Gastronomy', p. 175ft). The issue cannot be elaborated here; for further discussion, see Haupt and Langewiesche, Nation; Krumeich and Lehmann, 'Gott mit uns '. 11 Cf. Altgeld, Katholizismus, pp. 10-24; Walser Smith, German Nationalism. 12 On the project ofa 'deutsche Wiedergeburt', see esp. Ulbricht, "'Veni creator spiritus"'.

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marked the difference between a secularised approach to 'volkischem' nationalism and religious renewal. 'For I want real religion, not only ideology (Weltanschauung) with religious elements' .13 As early as 1859, the Gottingen theologian and orientalist Paul de Lagarde (1827-1891) had promulgated an essentially German form of religion as a 'nationale Religion'. This new confession was supposed to 'reflect the German soul' and to create an 'indestructible community of the children of God' .14 Lagarde rejected traditional Christianity due to its theology of sin and redemption and its univers15 alism. 'The essence of the German nation, as wanted by God', was only to be reconceived through a reconsideration of the testimonies handed down by the Germanic past. 16 As a polemicist, Lagarde added that 'we never had a German history, unless German history is in reality the progressive loss of German identity'. 17 The Flensburgian Hauptpastor Friedrich Andersen demanded a religious renewal for which the prerequisites were a return 'to the sources of our own people' and a commitment 'to understand it on grounds of today's language and customs, but also of traditions and legends of old' .18 Likewise, Houston Steward Chamberlain set out to seek: a perfect religion, thoroughly alive, attuned to our nature and our temperament, to our contemporary culture; a religion immediately credible, of striking beauty, immanent (gegenwartig), movable, eternally true yet ever new, so that we have to open ourselves to it like a woman opens herself to her lover. 19

To Chamberlain, '[t]he strange scraps that still stick to Christianity like tokens of hypocrisy and falseness', and. the abstract, dogmatic traditions, characterised as 'Jewish, historical-chronistic beliefs' or 'Roman anti-individualisms' seemed to be religious violation,z° Sifting through Western history, Chamberlain found the single movement that he considered to contain

Bartels, Der deutsche Verfall, p. 37. Lagarde, 'Ueber das Verhaltnis', pp. 37-76: quotes on pp. 62 and 76. Though it had older precedents, late nineteenth-century debate attributed the postulate of a 'national religion' to the works of Lagarde. Cf. Jaeger, P., 'Germanisierung'. On Lagarde, cf. Paul, 'Paul Anton de Lagarde', pp. 35-53. The only extant biography of Lagarde by his ideological disciple Ludwig Schemann (Paul de Lagarde) is an interesting document on how Lagarde's rather un systematic reasoning became structured and a part of cultural discourse after the First World War. IS Lagarde, 'Ueber das Verhaltnis', pp. 52 and 56. 16 Lagarde, 'Diagnose', p. 97. 17 Lagarde, 'Die Religion', p. 239. 18 Andersen, Deutschtum, p. 23. 19 Chamberlain, Die Grundlagen, p. 716. 20 Ibidem, p. 716. 13

14

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the disposition for a genuine, Germanic Christianity in the Gothic Arianism of the conversion period. 'Thanks to the great Wulfila, the Goths possessed the whole bible in their vernacular ... as a source for their beliefs,?1 Discussion on the role of Christianity and religion in German society of that time focused on a description of the conversion history. The changes which primordial Germandom had to undergo after it became part of the Roman world and was Christianised seemed to make it possible to understand its authentic religious character. An adapted (artgemaJ3er) faith that complied with the notion of a Germanic identity seemed to be at hand and easily re-established. Beyond the professional academic circles, research and popular accounts of conversion history were disputed and met with ~e­ sponse in an educated audience. Eugen Diederichs, 'publisher in new religious matters', produced a popular series that was devoted to the changes accompanying such conversions?2 Representative books on the affairs of the German nation, such as the voluminous and pricey essay collection Das deutsche Volkstum, tried to 'portray the German character in context' and redundantly dealt with 'German faith' .23 One selection of contributions to a 'further development of religion' contained an article by the Zwickau superintendent and high-ranking Evangelischer Bund official Friedrich Meyer, who closely followed Chamberlain's argument and saw a 'completion of the reformation' only in a Christianity freed from external influences. 24 Using the full range of pluralised media available at the time, these features of a German religious character were promulgated and visualised in literature and the arts. Protestant circles interested ill visual art debated a 'German Christ' in modern painting, and pastors reflected on the effects a Germanised Jesus, as described by Gustav Frenssen, would have on their preaching. 25 In the historical dimension, the particular focus of discussion was the theory concerning Germanisierung des Christentums during the conversion period. 26 As a historical term, the Germanisation of Christianity

Ibidem, p. 561. Bonus, 'An die Herren Verleger', p. 730ff, a scathing critique of nationalist Amateurreligionsstifterchen, to which Bonus himself belonged. The four-volume series Friihgermanentum was edited by Capelle, Wolff and Timerding, who provided the two volumes on Christianisation (Die christliche Fruhzeit). 23 Meyer, Das deutsche Volkstum; quote in the preface; cf. esp. the contribution by the Bonn Church historian Karl Sell (1845-1914), 'Das deutsche Christentum'. 24 Meyer, 'Christentum'. 25 On iconography of a 'German Christ' cf. Kaffanke, Der deutsche Heiland. The contemporary discussion in PreuB (Christus). On Frenssen, cf. Crystall, Gustav Frenssen; Schweitzer, Geschichte, pp. 341-381. 26 For the ideological content of the Germanisation theory, ef. Brenneeke, 'Der sog. germanisehe Arianismus'; Dorries, 'Zur Frage'; Graf, 'Germanisierung'; Uichele,

21

22

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implied the question regarding the interdependence of Germanic conversion with both the character of the church and the early medieval Germanic cultures. Germanisation was conceived as the historical process of the Germanic conflict between accommodation to and reaction against-Christianity?7 Although a wide gulf existed between such literary and dilettante constructions and the sophisticated and learned complexity of contemporary endeavours in liberal Protestant theology, they agreed rather easily on their common expectations of a modem religious attitude. Contemporary religious history lifted the close connection between the two parts of the Christian biblical canon, and introduced Spiitjudentum as a distinct period ofritualisation and decline compared to the period of the Israelite prophets. In his Wesen des Christentums, Adolf von Harnack depicted an internalised and ethic trust in individual belonging to the kingdom of God as the pure message of Jesus, and thus placed Christianity in sharp contrast to contemporary Judaism. 28 A popularised version of Wilhelminian Kulturprotestantismus primarily merged traits of idealistic Weltfrommigkeit with ajlorilegium of liberal religious history and linguistics. 29 On these grounds, the image of a pristine Germanic religious sense as having a creative and emotional quality and an internal, aesthetic contemplation of life - Innerlichkeit - was not too far-fetched. 3D Religious reformers, such as Chamberlain and Diederichs, were assured that their findings would not be refuted as '''wind eggs", laid by the hen of philosophy of history' .31 Emperor Wilhelm 11 appreciated Chamberlain's view on history and, therefore, they were sure of a wide audience: 'By a spell, you brought structure into chaos, light into darlaless .. , explanations for things long suspected,.32 Within the radical Deutsche Christen movement, Houston Steward Chamberlain in particular was respected as a 'precursor of a Germanised Christianity' .33 The energetic Thuringian publisher Rudolf Grabs placed

'Germanisierung'; Maron, 'Luther'. Cf. Jaeger, 'Germanisierung' (1910; idem, 'Gerrnanisierung des Christenturns' (1928); Schmidt, 'Germanisierung'; Angenendt, Geschichte, pp. 1-30; Schaferdiek, 'Bekehrung '; idem, 'Germanisierung des Christentums'; idem, 'Germanisierung des Christentums?'. A recent re-evaluation of the idea can be found in Russel, The Germanization. For a rather problematic use of the Germanisation theory, see Murphy, The Saxon Savior. 28 Von Harnack, Das Wesen, p. 39; Kinzig, 'Harnack heute'. 29 Cf. Muller, 'Frommigkeit', p. 165, note 2. 30 Stern, The Politics, pp. xxiv-xxvi; also Lutgert, Die Religion. 31 Chamberlain, Die Grundlagen, p. 736: 'Windeier, gelegt von der geschichtsphilosophischen Henne'. 32 Chamberlain, Briefe, p. 142. 33 Grabs, Wegbereiter. 27

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him together with the former Lutheran pastor and influential religious writer Arthur Bonus, who was famous among German Christians for having introduced the phrase 'Germanisation of Christianity'. Grabs honoured both Bonus and Chamberlain with a selected reprint of substantial loci drawn from their works. 34 'Germanisation of Christianity' as a phrase and as a concept was established through a series of articles that Bonus published in the liberal Protestant periodical Die Christliche Welt. 35 Far from implying thorough historical analysis, Bonus uses the expression to call for a reassessment of the Christian tradition. As a starting point, Bonus claims that a true conversion of the German people had never been accomplished: The Christian God is a God of churches. Churches are his castles. There is a census every seventh day and an address to his faithful vassals. Then, they return to the emptiness of everyday life. For a while, they grumble, for a while, they laugh about what the tyrant, the feudal lord told them. Soon, it is forgotten. The ancient idols come out of their hidings, the wise woman, the shepherd, who 36 know spells of old magic.

In Bonus's eyes, the conversion of the Germans had been effective in that the church maintained an outer dominion, which he compares to feudal serfdom. An inner conversion, however, had not taken place. Christianity is experienced as an alienation from the Germanic character. This is due to cultural transformations of Christianity, namely 'Hellenisation', the intellectualistic, dogmatic structuring of the patristic church, and 'Romanisation', the juridical, hierarchic organisation of Catholicism. In the encounter between the Germanic world and Christianity, a distinct denomination should have developed. But now, the rationalised and foreign 'God of the German scholars' republic (Gelehrtenrepublik), is burying the natural religiosity that exists in German souls as an internal reality.37 The substance of Bonus's Germanisation thesis is the need for an immediate relation with God, freed from elaborate Christian dogmatics, which have already been shown as stereotypical of liberal religious systems. Bonus, however, goes further and attempts to create what he calls a 'new myth' .38 His critique aims especially at Christian anthropology. He seeks to eliminate the theological theme of human sinfulness, which he sees as a factor that cripples human creativity: Grabs, Arthur Bonus. On Bonus, cf. Uichele, 'Protestantismus', pp. 158-161; idem, 'Germanisierung', pp. 168-175. So far, biographical details of this rather influential personality can only be found in Kroeger, Friedrich Gogarten, p. 77ff. 35 Bonus, 'Zur Germanisierung'. 36 Bonus, Deutscher Glaube, p. 53. 31 All quotes from Bonus, 'Zur Germanisierung', p. 221. 38 Bonus, Vom neuen Mythos. 34

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German faith calls for three things: First, the insight that true religion is of itself creative (schopferisch), spurs creative activity - as much regarding the individual way of life as regarding the religious motivation that strengthens this way of life. Second, the insight that there is no absolute, eternal truth outside of human existence, but that all truth rests in mankind itself. Third, a new will, a new religious mood, i.e., an unshakable will for power and a strength in our souls that enables us to the internal, highest pride and defiance (Stolz und Trotz), to an attitude to encounter God not as an enemy, but as a friend and ally, as an in39 ternal force.

Bonus had obtained his definition of Germanic religious character, by and large, during his work on an edition of a volume of translated Icelandic sagas. 40 In these, he thought he had found 'the original Germanic element of our religion' in his encounter with the idea of 'great-manhood' (Grossmiinn is chke it) , men beyond good and evil (Manner, jenseits von gut und bose), great, dominant, heroic, ready to sacrifice themselves without great words. In this, their ethics accomplish more than that of the moralisers (Tugendbolde) to which the world became accustomed under the ethos of traditional Christianity.41

In retrospect, Bonus himself considered the term, 'Germanisation of Christianity', a misnomer. 42 Ernst Troeltsch, who read Bonus with interest, remarked that Bonus 'actually meant a new formation of religion (Neubildung der Religion) necessary in this situation of religious crisis', whereas Martin Rade, the editor of the Christliche Welt, defended Bonus's regular contributions to the journal as a potential approach to the reappraisal of the Christian tradition within the range of liberal theology.43 Bonus indeed stands out in contemporary Germanism, because 'in a publication on Germanisation of Christianity, [he] ignores all those names, that one would expect to be dealt with on the topic', such as Lagarde, Chamberlain or Friedrich Lange. 44 According to Bonus, Germanic faith was largely an internal, spiritual substra39

Bonus, 'Zur Germanisierung', p. 66ff.

40 Bonus, 'Personliches', p. 79; idem, Islanderbuch. Cf. Zernack, Geschichten, pp. 215-223. Bonus, Islanderbuch, p. 11; Zernack, Geschichten, pp. 221 and 222, note 41. 42 Bonus, 'Personliches " p. 79; idem, 'Zur Germanisierung', p. 2. 4] Troeltsch, Zur religiosen Lage, vol. 2, p. 816, note 95. On Rade and Bonus, see Rathje, Die Welt, p. 88ff. 44 Bonus, [first published anonymously], Von StOcker zu Naumann, p. 84; Lagarde, Lange and Chamberlain are mentioned as typical representatives of Germanisation alongside Bonus in Meyer-Benfey, 'Germanisierung'. 41

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turn that, in spite of conversion, still underlay German identity. It had been covered by the external nomism of church tradition, but was, at the approach of the twentieth century, awakened to self-awareness, progression and ethical strength. The Christian creed could very well be dismissed: the 'new myth' might further appraise the personality of Jesus but would find its relevance by providing an immediate and ethic relation to God without the burden of a church. 45 It is noteworthy that Bonus did not bind this 'new myth' to a concept of German race. It was attached to the kulturprotestantische conviction of the superiority of German culture, which by its advanced level of civilisation was the only context in which the notion of the inappropriateness of church Christianity could have developed. Accordingly, except for the phrase Germanisierung des Christentums, not much of Bonus's religious philosophy survived the First World War. The nationalist characterisation of Germanic identity was also influential in academic research regarding conversion history. In spite of methodological and philological diligence, the description of the enculturation of Christian elements into early medieval society became a gateway for ideological conceptions of Germandom. Naturally, there were also critical restraints on acknowledging the significant break in Christian or Germanic history due to racial influences within the mission period. The traditional Lutheran church historian Heinrich Boehmer (1869-1927), in his analysis of early medieval theological sources, insisted on the 'pre-indisposition' of the Germanic tribes towards Christianity. This reproach was aimed at nationalist claims that Germanic Arianism was a rational and simple belief already outlined in original Germanic paganism. 46 Boehmer's perspective intended to show how endangered antique intellectual Christianity had become superficial and ritualistic in mediaeval Germanic society.47 Franz Overbeck (1837-1905) argued that the conversion of the Germanic tribes should be compared to Christianisation movements in late antiquity in general, without any chauvinistic emotionalism. In his eyes, the conversion had to be interpreted as a cultural process of adaptation and integration into late Roman civilisation, which did not necessarily cover a deeper examination of Christian dogmatic details at all. 48 Adolfvon Harnack (1851-1930) finally denied the possibility of an independent theological structure in the Gentile king-

Bonus, 'Zur Germanisierung', p. 63; idem, 'Personliches', p. 79. Boehmer, 'Das germanische Christentum', p. 165; Maron, 'Luther', p. 315. For a wider audience, the historian and novelist Gustav Freytag argued that there was a certain 'predisposition of the Germans for Christianity', see Freytag, Bilder, p. 209. 47 Boehmer, 'Das germanische Christentum', p. 238. 48 Overbeck, 'Germanen', p. 316.

45

46

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dams and ridiculed the 'chauvinist claim of a German predisposition to Christianity' .49 What Harnack had in mind was the national-Protestant conception of church history, in his view represented especially by his Berlin colleague Reinhold Seeberg (1859-1935). Since national-Protestant approaches to conversion history have been described in detail by Gottfried Maron, it is sufficient to confine this account to a rough sketch. so Seeberg drew a gradually developing line from the medieval imperium to the Lutheran reformation and subsumed in the re-establishment of 'German faith' (deutscher Glaube). Similar to Chamberlain's argumentation - though without an explicit reference to a racial foundation - Seeberg constructed a German Volkscharakter out of elements such as freedom and loyalty to authority. 5 1 He found the explanation for the course of medieval history in the antagonism of the German Volkscharacter and Roman Catholic world domination. As in Chamberlain's Grundlagen, the cause of conflict was to be found in the 'adaptation of Christianity to the Roman national character' leading to a hierarchic religion 'far away from what Jesus taught' .52 It was solved in the uprising against foreign spiritual and political rule, in the reformation as the beginning of self-awareness and self-determination of the Northern Germanic peoples: The German's soul is so different from Roman Christianity that right from the start you can already guess: the Germans could never keep to that kind of Christianity for a longer period of time. 53

Similar reasoning is found in the Geschichte der christlichen Kirche im Fruhmittelalter written by the Heidelberg doyen of church history, Hans von Schubert. s4 In the present context, it is interesting to compare the use of the terms Arianism and Eigenkirche. The 'essence of Arian Germanic churches', Schubert writes, lies in the 'close connection between Germanic

Von Harnack, Lehrbuch, p. 6; Maron, 'Luther', p. 316. Maron, 'Luther', pp. 322-325; Angenendt, Das Friihmittelalter, p. 33. On the underlying historiographic principles, cf. Basse, Die dogmengeschichtlichen Konzeptionen, pp. 94-109. 51 Seeberg, Christentum, pp. 9-17. The main lines of this lecture can also be found in Seeberg, Lehrbuch, pp. 19-25. Seeberg read Chamberlain and quotes lengthy passages from his Grundlagen in 'Semitismus', p. 313ff. 52 Seeberg, Christentum, p. 6. 53 Ibidem, p. 8. 54 Von Schubert, Geschichte; also idem, Das a/teste germanische Christentum; Van Schubert and Kahle, 'Bekehrungsgeschichte'; Van Schubert, 'Zur Germanisierung'.

49

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Volkstum and Christianity' .55 Arianism is the 'Germanic denomination' and thus t,he key factor distinguishing it from Catholicism and Romanitas. As Eigenkirche, the church is one of the possessions of the local king or chieftain, and the clergy are his vassals. Thus, they are the unmediated supporters of the tribal commonwealth. According to Schubert, Germanic Arianism, as a theological term, is characterised by a dogmatic 'renunciation of speculative theology' and 'a turn towards the simpler pre-Nicean creed derived from scripture'. He regards the introduction of a liturgy in the German vernacular and a 'German (deutsche) bible' as highly significant. 56 How the national-Protestant depiction of the first Germanic churches became part of public discourse can be derived from more popular publications such as Schubert's Geschichte des deutschen Glaubens. 57 In this work, Schubert particularly sought to describe 'the internal development of the German faith', in order to join the debate on the restoration of post-war Weimar Germany: Our restoration will take place only if we base it on an ethical and religious attitude. Scholars and academies are to rise in its support. It is not enough to continue with a religious attitude only, a historical basis is required too ... Today there is much ado about protecting the holy goods of our past, as in former times against the Corsican [Le. Napoleon], so now against his epigones: usually this means the support of the German language, German decency or German faith. But what is really our German faith? Is there an inheritance (Erbgut) that we should protect? Indeed, a history of German faith is most urgently needed 58 for the establishing of a German higher education.

Research in the stream of 'German faith' is understood here as supporting the re-establishment of a German identity after the catastrophe of the First World War. Schubert affirmed that a German rebirth was bound to be backed by a spiritual restoration that fastened itself on the characteristics of German faith derived from research on conversion history. Research on Germanic history reached its peak under the impact ofNational Socialism. From the late Weimar years, a flood of contributions were published on conversion history and the relation of Germanic religions with Christianity. Many of these contributions cover little more than twenty ss Von Schubert, Geschichte, pp. 21-22. The Eigenkirche as a significant Germanic feature was described first by the - at that time - Basel professor for legal history Ulrich Stutz (Die Eigenkirche). On the ideological interpretation of Arianism, cf. Brennecke, 'Der sog. Germanische Arianismus'. 56 Von Schubert, Geschichte, pp. 22-23. 57 Von Schubert, Die Geschichte des deutschen Glaubens. 58 Ibidem, p. 4.

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pages and give a pointed statement without scientific apparatus or bibliography.59 National Socialism was appraised by some Germano-enthusiasts as the culmination of a long evolution and as the substantial realisation of Germanic identity. The Geistesrevolution of National Socialism could be described as the outcome of a long sequence of unsuccessful precursors that had tried to maintain their Germanic identity in times of severe conflicts. The links in this chain were Germanic Arianism, medieval mysticism, Gothic architecture, the Lutheran reformation, the poetry of Goethe's Sturm und Drang, and the Romantic attitude to individualism and history.6o National Socialist historians demanded a categorical redefinition of the purpose of their research. A 'political interpretation of history that is aware of the present situation' was promulgated as the new hermeneutical guideline. 61 The historian Wilhelm Grau, who in 1939 became director of the newly founded Frankfurtian lnstitut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage, outlined a 'true conception of history' that should be developed on the basis of 'documents of active racial consciousness' .62 In the context of conversionhistorical studies, Germanischer Kult und Glaube in den letzten heidnischen Jahrhunderten, the dissertation by the religion-historian Bernhard Kummer (1897-1962) serves as one example of the clearly anti-Semitic and racist agenda. 63 Kummer was part of the 'Nordic Movement' and had close contacts with the racist anthropologist Hans F.K. Gunther. 64 First issued in 1927, Kummer published a second edition of his thesis in 1935 under the speaking title Midgards Untergang. He propagated a neo-pagan belief based on racial Germanic origins and tried to demonstrate that Christianity was a harmful Jewish product. He hoped to win support for the Nordic ideology through wider circulation of his book and intended to provide historical evidence for his religious notions. 65 For Kummer, it was only the decline· of the heroic Germanic religion that - along with sheer force - had made· the conversion possible. 66 Contact with the Jewish character of the Christian

Cf. Brennecke, 'Der sog. germanische Arianismus', p. 312. Jenssen, 'Nordischer Geist', p. 258. 61 Craemer, 'Gedanken', p. 5, quoted in Schonwalder, 'Lehrmeisterin', p. 135. 62 Grau, Die ludenfrage, p. 24. 63 Kummer, Midgards Untergang. On Kummer, cf. Schmidt, Die Bekehrung, pp. 4455; Lutzhoft, Der Nordische Gedanke, pp. 50-51. 64 LutzhOft, Der Nordische Gedanke, p. 50; on their religious ideas, see pp. 128-133. 65 According to Lutzhoft, Der Nordische Gedanke, p. 50, Kummer founded a Arbeitstdtte fur germanische Religionsgeschichte und altnordische Oberlieferung in Berlin that was meant to support and advise people interested in Germanic history. 66 Schmidt, Die Bekehrung, p. 74, note 1, gives some details on the methodological assumptions leading to Kummer's source interpretation: since the number of written 59

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religion had accelerated the decomposition of the former, strictly ethical, world view of the Germans. The Christian gospel, preached by racially degenerate foreigners, had eventually become the last anchor for their shattered minds. Kummer called this the 'single, great theft of their souls' (Entseelung). The closer the contact between German and foreign civilisations, such as that of the Vikings, the more the Germans experienced the collapse of their world view. This was symbolised by the religious-mythological forces of Utgard, the diabolic insecurity of powers that sought to destroy the harmony of civilised mankind. Kummer diagnosed a rupture of Germanic identity caused by the Germans' conversion: the character of faustischen Menschen, torn between God and world, Christ and devil, was 67 born. Fear of God, sorcery and human sacrifice were the consequence. Eyes full of lust, brought by the South - this cannot be found in the sources of original Nordic paganism. Here is the explanation for this painful fact: Christian mission brought prostitution and a swamp of sexual degeneration to the con verts. 68 Utilising the Icelandic sagas, Kummer drew a picture of Northern Germanic rural culture as an advanced and harmonious civilisation. The substance of original Germanic religion, in his eyes, must not be extracted from the syncretistic Eddic reports. Especially Odin, Who according to Kummer's reading of the Edda was portrayed as the supreme deity, was an indicator of religious decay, an 'unfaithful, devious, senile, lascivious lord of sorcery and 69 cunning' who could hardly survive Christian preaching. The original Germans' religious worldview centred on the simple and rational trust in the divine friend (julltrui) as guarantor of personal integrity, prosperity and 70 peace. Kummer contrasted Jewish-Christian rationalistic monotheism with an emotional pagan henotheism. 71 In its unspoiled form, thefulltrui religion,

sources is limited and archaeological evidence seems to be ambiguous, he falls back on the Rassenseelenkunde. He deduces its guidelines from an article by Georg Roller entitled 'Angewandte Rassenkunde' in the Schleswig-Holsteinische Hochschulbliitter, 8/9 (1935): 'If I am told that my blood-brother has committed robbery and sexually motivated murder, I not only do not believe it, I know it is a lie. I know, because I ask myself: what can people of our kind and race really do?' On those principles, Roller proves that a peaceful and internal conversion to Christianity must have been impossible. 67 Kummer, Midgards Untergang, p. 279. 68 Ibidem, p. 315. 69 Ibidem, p. 15. 70 Ibidem, pp. 33-35; on thefulltnti, see Zernack, 'Fulltrui'. 71 Kummer, Midgards Untergang, p. 32ff.

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as the spiritual and intellectual peak of freedom-loving Germanic paganism, expressed an 'upright' and mutual relation without humiliating subordination under a revengeful god, as found in oriental Christianity. Kummer's dissertation caused some stir and attention.72 For example, in several articles the Tiibingen church historian Hanns Rtickert (19011974) tried to combat Kummer's portrayal of a forceful alteration by Christianisation. 73 Riickert's aim was to reconstruct the Germans' inner development towards Christianity.74 He accepted Kummer's depiction of the late Northern pagan cult as a state of decay but argued that the existential experience of the impotence of the ancient gods, the lack of support from the god honoured as 'fulltrui', and the horror of an incomprehensible fate led to the Germans' openness to the Christian gospel of grace and especially to Christian eschatology. Riickert maintained that the Germans chose Jesus Christ as 'fulltriti' ,75 and this enabled him to uphold the idea of Germanic racial and moral integrity, which Kummer in his Midgards Untergang had described as destroyed through the conversion. Ruckert acknowledged 'the importance of race as root of all volkischen and individual life' , and also for historical research. 76 After these preliminaries, he presented the apologetic picture of Christianity as the natural and authentic continuation of Germanic paganism. Riickert's argumentation characterised the position of nationalProtestant clergy towards National Socialism. As a representative of the 'Luther renaissance', Riickert wanted to revalue and deepen reformation theology for the contemporary context. 77 He interpreted the political change in 1933 as an act of divine providence, which could be accompanied by a revival of Christian devoutness. The social relevance of German Protestantism was at stake. Either Protestantism would be able to contribute to 'this great change of German destiny' and join the national 'mobilisation' of German society, or 'its right to take a part in German history would be forfeited' .78 Consequently, Rtickert supported the German Christian movement and its zeal 'not to remain on the sidelines' .79 After the radical anti-Semitic Lutzhoft, Del' Nordische Gedanke, p. 50. Riickert, 'Die kulturelle und nationale Bedeutung '; idem, Die Christianisierung; idem, 'Noch einmal'. Kummer reacted to these articles in Mission and 'Urn unsere lutherischen Entscheidung'. 74 Riickert, Die Christianisierung, p. 8. 75 The same position can be found in Schmidt, Bekehrung, pp. III ff and 147. 76 Riickert, Die Christianisierung, p. 7. Cf. Schmidt, Bekehrung, p. 16: 'We learned that the mental characteristics of mankind are also largely determined by race'. 77 Wallmann, 'Karl Holl'. 78 Riickert, 'Das Wiedererwachen reformatorischer Frommigkeit', p. 48. 79 Hossenfelder, Die Richtlinien, p. 1, paragraph 5. Cf. Scholder, Die Kirchen, pp.

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rally in the Berlin Sportpalast in November 1933, Rtickert withdrew himself from the movement because he ultimately feared a complete loss of Christian religious substance to National Socialist ideology. It is interesting to note that the relation of the ambitious volkisch academic Bemhard Kummer to the Nazi party was also ambivalent. Influential members of the SS Ahnenerbe tried to prevent his installation as a permanent university lecturer because his picture of the Germanic past was considered too 'pacifistic' .80 Kummer's naiVe and anachronistic depiction of the original Icelanders as 'noble savages' in an environment of primitive harmony did not go well with the ideological concept of heroic Aryan Vikings. After the consolidation of National Socialist rule in the second half of the 1930s, several attempts were made to institutionalise research into Germanic religion and conversion at German universities. Under the impact of a racially founded volkische Wissenschaft, not only philosophical but also theological faculties adapted themselves to this ideological matrix. At the university in Berlin, the church historian Erich Seeberg (1888-1945) applied for state funds from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to conduct rigorous research on the history of 'German faith' .81 With the assistance of his colleague, the Berlin classicist Wilhelm Weber (1882-1948), research on Germanic Arianism was put into practice. 82 Generously funded by the Protestant churches governed by the Deutsche Christen, an institute was opened in the Thuringian town Eisenach in 1939 with its stated purpose 'to eradicate Jewish influence on German church life' .83 Heinz Hunger, a member of the institute's staff, had the methodological vision of a 'racial history of religion' that was meant to explore the influence of the Aryan character since the aggressive separation of Christianity from Judaism. 84 In summary, the idea of a Germ an is ierung des Christentums was not only a pattern of historical interpretation limited to a certain period of mutual transformation and exchange between early medieval Christianity and the Germanic tribes. Early medieval conversion history became the focus of public attention as part of the reflection on religious and cultural historical self-awareness. As an 'invention of tradition', it served to categorise Western history and to create the picture of a continuous Germanic struggle for national identity.85 The recollection of an unspoiled Germanic past was constructed mainly to provide patterns for a future religious renewal. It was ex298-303. Mohler, Die Konservative Revolution, p. 382; Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe', p. 125. 81 Kaufmann, "'Anpassung''', p. 185, note 341. 82 Giesecke, Die Ostgermanen. 83 Cf. Heschel, 'Nazifying Christian Theology'. 84 Hunger, 'Wesen', p. 193. 85 Graf, 'Germanisierung', p. 754, using Eric Hobsbawm's well-known phrase.

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pected to establish paradigms for a future revival and deepening of religion in order to maintain its significance in modem pluralism. The topic was immediate and meaningful to the German public, particularly after Kaiser Wilhelm II had declared the task to seek for a Zukunftsreligion and explained his views on biblical revelation and the historic Jesus. 86 Since the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Germanisation thesis has contributed to what has been called, in Max Weber's well-known phrase, the 're-enchantment' of the world, the revival of religious emotions in modem society. 87 An individual, internal faith was promulgated, based on Art or even Rasse, not thoroughly anti-Christian but independent of the churches. Protestantism was highly sensitive to these movements and ,easily assumed a supporting attitude towards an arteigenen Glauben. The apologetic and missionary desire to maintain relevance in society even opened the gates of historical theology to Germanising motivations and, [mally, to race as a methodological criterion. 88 This should not lead to the construction of a determinate development from liberal Protestantism to groups within Christianity that embraced National Socialism, such as the German Christian movement, or even to National Socialism itself. 89 That would ignore the diversity of approaches to an 'alternative modernity' that had existed since the turn of the century.90 The above discussion on the Germanisation of Christianity shows that the process of nationalisation in Germany combined elements of modem nationalism, traditional Christian motives and patterns of a search for a religious future. It is thus an example of the mutual relevance of Christian and volkisch approaches in the radicalisation of German society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In a letter to Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann, cf. Nowak, Geschichte, p. 162ff. Ulbricht, ' ... in einer gottfremden, prophetenlosen Zeit ... ', p. 10. 88 Rendtorff, 'Das Wissenschaftsverstandnis'. 89 In this vein, Richard Steigmann-Gall recently asserted that 'racialist anti-Semitism was born of the theological crisis that liberal Protestantism represented' (The Holy Reich, p. 263). 90 Breuer, Anatornie, p. 5; Ulbricht, "'Veni creator spiritus"', p. 170.

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There has been continuous interest in conversion among social scientists since the now almost classic study published by Lofland. His seven-factor model has been criticised over the years, the main point of criticism being that it did not lend itself sufficiently to generalisation. 1 Lofland himself, in a later article, discussed the limitations of his model and concluded, that it embodied a thoroughly passive protagonist. Following on from this line of argument, he encouraged students to turn the conversion process on its head 'to scrutinise how people go about converting themselves,.2 Two issues have been of central importance in discussions about conversion. Firstly, it has been remarked that most accounts of conversion are given retrospectively and, therefore, the account is conditioned by what the convert experiences, hic et nunc. The account is a biography and, as Billette has shown, a biography will be rewritten as long asa person lives. 3 Secondly, many conversion stories are fashioned according to the way in which a particular religious movement defines conversion or an ideal conversion. For instance, converts to the Jehovah's Witnesses describe their conversion as a progressive enlightenment, an intellectual discovery of the truth. They present themselves as Bible students. Studying the Bible by means of the material produced by the Watchtower Society, they gradually become convinced of the veracity of the explanation given by Witnesses. 4 In other movements the emphasis is more on the mystical experience of sudden enlightenment, 'when everything at once fell into place'. A convert's account, as a consequence of this emphasis, stresses that special moment. s

Snow and Philips, 'The Lofland-Stark conversion'. Lofland, 'Becoming a World-Saver', p. 817; see also Allievi, 'Pour une sociologie'. 3 Billette, 'Se raconter'. See also Snow and Machalek, 'The sociology', pp.167-190; Staples and Mauss, 'Conversion or Commitment?'. 4 Beckford, 'Accounting for conversion'. 5 Jansma and Verhaar, 'Twa religieuzebewegings', pp. 195-231; Rambo, Understanding, p. 118ff; Wohlrab-Sahr, Krech and Knoblauch, 'Religiose Bekehrung', p. 27. I

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These two aspects are theoretical and methodological caveats, advising the researcher to keep in mind that conversion stories have to be considered as subjective reconstructions of biography, highly determined by the current context in which the convert finds himself or herself and, therefore, often rewritten. [n the light of the foregoing remarks this article will discuss conversion in particular relation to a prophetic healing movement that has gathered around the prophetess and healer Sonja de Vries. The discussion will consider how respondents/converts describe and interpret their conversion process. Description will be focused on two central themes: how converts came into contact with the religious movement and what, according to them, were the subsequent steps in their conversion process. Before concentrating on the central theme of this article, attention is first paid to the history, organisation and theology of the movement. History

Many therapeutic and religious movements offering personal growth and healing have emerged in today's marketplace. 6 Even the established churches have tried to join this trend. The charismatic movement in certain churches, although appearing to stem from the practice of the first Christian community, is actually an imitation of practice in new evangelical and other movements. It is therefore also an attempt to bind followers and to compete on the religious market. 7 Nevertheless, healing cults are not a new phenomenon in any country, including the Netherlands, and it is difficult to anticipate whether the movement discussed here is part of the new wave. This question will be assessed later. The movement that has gathered around the prophetess and healer Sonja de Vries has its centre in Oudehome, a small village in the Dutch province of Friesland. According to the movement, its history on this planet began on 12 August 1792 with a message from the Divine cosmos that Mother Earth had, once again, to be stimulated by a heavenly missionary. 8 The reason for this heavenly initiative was to give humanity another chance to obey the God of all times. The heavenly messenger selected was an angel

See for instance Hanegraaff, New Age Religion; Heelas; The New Age Movement; Van Otterloo, 'Selfspirituality'; Aupers, 'De New Age beweging'. 7 See Krol, Aangetrokken; Runia, Op zoek naar de Geest; Blessing, It was a Mracle; Amesz, 'Genezen'. 8 See the brochure De Hemelse inzettingen, p. 2.

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from the 'fifth sphere of Light'. She came to earth on 20 December 1944 and lives here under the name of Sonja de Vries. 9 In 1983 the angels considered Sonja de Vries's capacities sufficiently developed for her to embark on her arduous task. She received the assignment to bring people back to obedience to God. As a reward for turning back to God's law, people may be healed from disease, even from diseases that earthly doctors cannot cure. Sonja de Vries is the instrument through which this healing may take place. She herself cannot cure people; it is the 'angels from heaven' 10 that perform the healing act. These angels use her vocal cords to express their message to the people. The extent of this· angelic influence is almost total and Sonja herself has said that 'the angels have taken over my life and body'. If she wants to go to the right and the ange Is tell her to go to the left, she 'cannot but obey them. ,11 Of the angels who speak through Sonja de Vries, the most frequent is 'Roravyanus', who comes from the 'seventh sphere of Light'. Sonja de Vries's husband Marcus, who has been sent to earth to help her with her difficult task, is also inspired by an angel, though he is not taken over, 'only' his feeling is stimulated. The couple was at first reluctant to fulfil their heavenly assignment but they have now wholeheartedly accepted it. 12 Knowledge of Sonja's healing acts has spread by word of mouth. At first, patients were received and treated in her terraced house in the village of De Rijp in the province of North-Holland where she then lived. The angels gave lectures and a core group of adherents, wishing to assist in spreading the word, frequented the family home. The house soon became too small for all these people and activities, so the followers looked for more suitable accommodation and, after some provisional arrangements, bought a cottage in Oudehorne in 1987. In 1986 and 1987, a number of core adherents who wished to assist the work of the prophetess were appointed 'apostles'. Later, other members of the movement also became apostles though they were no longer given an official appointment. Being a member of an apostle-training group now suffices for an individual to call him or herself an apostle. The increased healing and preaching work led to the establishment, on 4 July 1986, of a Foundation which is responsible for day-to-day organisation. This Apostel Andre-us Stichting uit de Bronvan Christus ['Apostle Andn!i.is Foundation from the Source of Christ'], named after one of the an-

Ibidem, p. 3. Apostles and angels always use this concept in plural. II De Hemelse inzettingen, p. 8. 12 Marcus Dirk de Vries, although he stresses the importance of his wife, has major tasks with regard to the day-to-day organisation of the movement and healing.

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gels that speak through Sonja de Vries, is based in Oudehorne. Since 1990 the Foundation has had a board of seven members, the Council of Seven, which regulates affairs such as publication of a magazine, care of premises, finances, celebrations and gatherings, and contact with the outside world. The message is spread via the magazine, brochures and public lectures. The objective of the movement is to visit the Frisian population seven times, so that everyone knows about the angels' message. As already noted, Sonja de Vries' s husband has assisted in healing since 1987. Inspired by an angel called 'Yoravyanus' (also from the 'seventh sphere of Light'), he carries out initial interviews with patients. Sonja de Vries (i.e. the angel Roravyanus) is involved in training apostles for their prospective tasks.

Organisation and background of the followers As described above, the organisation concerns a religious group of apostles under the leadership of a prophetess and healer inspired by messengers from beyond the earth. The group of apostles has the task of assisting in all work connected with spreading the message of the angels. As group members state, this message is not new. It is none other than the true gospel taught by Christ during his days on earth two thousand years ago and laid down in the New Testament. Regarding formal organisation, mention has already been made of the Board of the Foundation, the Council of Seven, which regulates day-to-day activities. This council conducts its work via workgroups, of which there are again seven (three for external contacts, one for celebrations such as Christmas, Easter and Holy Communion, one for editing the contact magazine, one for overseeing the premises and one for administration and finances).13 Besides the workgroups, there are other subgroups which derive from an important element in the belief of the movement: personal growth and, in connection with this, learning skills. People are brought together, based on their stage of growth or some other shared characteristic, so that they can learn from one another. Further, and to some degree following on from this, movement members are encouraged to develop their artistic talents, for example, by studying music or dramatic art. Four choirs have been formed and have given concerts, including for the general public, and a number of operas have even been performed. The number of apostles is estimated at one hundred and seventy. In addition, there is a group of forty or fifty interested people who follow 13

As in many other religious groups, the number seven has a symbolic meaning.

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monthly gatherings at which Marcus de Vries (Yoravyanus) has the chair. The number of followers is no longer greatly increasing. Some continue to join having first been a patient or a relative or friend of a patient and some new members are the adult children of apostles who now feel· a desire to participate themselves. Besides the apostles, there is a large group of patients, the size of which cannot be given precisely for reasons of privacy. However, information suggests that the number of patients who have personally consulted the angels is around two thousand. A large proportion of the apostles originate from the province of Friesland. North-Holland is the second most significant place of origin, with small numbers coming from other provinces. Many apostles have moved to locations near Oudehorne in order to give more time to the activities of the movement. Most followers come from the middle strata of Dutch society, or just above. It must be borne in mind that this somewhat elevated social position may actually be a consequence of having joined the movement. Because of the angels' insistence on personal growth, many followers have embarked on courses of education and in this way improved their social position. Most apostles have a Protestant background, i.e. Dutch Reformed and Reformed Protestant (neo-Calvinist). A considerable minority is Roman Catholic in origin and a very small number has no religious background at all. Of this latter category, many declare themselves always to have believed in God or been convinced that there was more in heaven and earth than meets the eye. Of the neo-Calvinist group, quite a few individuals describe having experienced the orthodox belief as a dogmatic straitjacket. Others, mostly Dutch Reformed and Roman Catholic, indicate the rather superficial nature of their former religious socialisation. Group members celebrate Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and monthly Holy Communion together. Some apostles have their children baptised by the angels and marriages have also been consecrated. Theology

The religious movement surrounding the De Vries family emphatically presents itself as Christian and, again with some emphasis, insists that what is preached is not new belief but rather the old Biblical truth as it existed in the days of the first apostles. As already described, the movement believes that heaven has given it the task of returning people who over the ages have drifted away from original Christianity to the church as envisioned by God and Christ. 14 14

De Heme/se inzettingen, p. 15.

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In 1992 a confession was published in the Kontaktblad containing the following important aspects. The group believes in an eternal God; all that is comes from him and goes back to him. Christ is the frrstborn from death. He has cleared the road back to God for others and given the new instruction for life (in particular, in the Sermon of the Mount). He has conquered evil and through him people may develop spiritually and return, after many reincarnations, to the Divine Light. The aspect of reincarnation is of central importance to the movement. The concept is that people are originally part of God and are subsequently dispersed as little sparks throughout the universe. These sparks have to move, through a process of learning, back to God. The earth is seen as a training school for the human soul. Heaven has always stimulated man to grow in spirit, as manifested two thousand years ago in the person of Christ. At the time of Christ, man's spiritual development had practically come to a standstill and his sacrifice on the cross once again gave people the opportunity to take the path towards the Light. Today, the heavens, by means of the angels that speak through Sonja de Vries and her husband, reach out anew to mankind, stimulating its spiritual evolution. An angel is a soul that has completed the training school that is earth and has been in the other world for some time. Such souls have attained a certain spiritual level and thus earned the title of angel. They are the servants of Christ and with his permission may use a certain human being as an instrument through which to address people on earth. 15 The evolutionary process of the soul takes millions of years to reach its destination. There are seven cosmic grades, again subdivided into many stages. To complete the training school 'Earth', a human being has, on average, to be reincarnated thirty thousand times. Christ was the frrst to complete the whole course, the first soul that returned to God, and that is why he may rightfully be called the firstborn son of God. Having reached a sufficient level of spiritual maturity, human beings can move on to the next stage, leaving the training school on earth. The soul then passes on to 'heaven', a stage between the third and fourth cosmic grades. Those on the verge of completing their terrestrial training inhabit a land or region called 'an area of discharge'. The NetherlandsIFriesland is at this moment such a region. It is no accident that the message of the angels is now (first) preached in Friesland. When Christ lived on earth the people of Judah failed to acknowledge him, and many souls who lived in the Judea of those days now live, via reincarnation, in Friesland. Hence the Frisians are

15

De'mens en zijn ontplooiing, p. 1.

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being given another chance to recognise and acknowledge a high messenger of heaven. In interviews with apostles (see section below on methods) it becomes apparent that their belief in life after life solves some fundamental religious problems. In th'e acceptance of reincarnation an answer may be found to the old question of whether God is righteous, whether it is possible to accept that one person is healthy while another is ill, one rich and another poor, one life long and another so short. Embracing the idea of reincarnation allows a follower to conclude that, in the course of all of his or her lives, a person will experience illness, poverty, riches, etc. Everyone has to encounter both negative and positive experience and so there is justice after all. Furthermore, the principle of reincarnation is used as an argument against eternal damnation. Reincarnat,ion and spiritual stimulation from heaven allow every soul to return to God in the end. Nobody is excluded and eventually everyone will be saved. This last point of doctrine is characterised by the movement as a 'very Glad Tiding' .16 For the followers, another attractive implication of reincarnation is that it endows everything a person does with meaning, making everything part of God's great plan for mankind. All that an individual does and experiences is connected with developing the capacity of the soul to evolve. This also implies awareness of the follower'S own conduct, especially in relation to others. Thus all kinds of training and instructions on how to organise life in accordance with God's law are given in the apostle groups. Such instruction may also deal with practical issues such as hygiene, choice of profession, nourishment, choice of clothes and car, child rearing, health, etc. Coming back to the question posed at the beginning of this contribution, it can now be affIrmed that the religious movement discussed is in fact part of a wave of newly emergent movements, even though its followers do not support this point of view. They see the theology of their movement as pure Christianity. While it contains some new and non-traditional elements, the movement does not perceive this as syncretism but rather as the fundamental rediscovery of a forgotten, or perhaps hitherto concealed, truth.

Methods I have been studying the movement surrounding Sonja de Vries since the mid-1980s. Up to 1998, information was not gathered systematically. I collected written material (newspaper reports, brochures) and conducted several interviews. From 1998 onwards I intensifIed my research, approaching members of the Council of Seven (the board of the Apostel Andreiis Sticht16

Ibidem, p. 2.

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ing uit de Bran van Christus) and telling them of my research plans. With their permission and that of the angels, I attended monthly lectures, Biblestudy sessions and information evenings held at many locations in Friesland, viewed video footage of religious celebrations and group sessions, and held in-depth interviews with thirty members and ex-members of the movement. I conducted a further forty informal interviews. In addition, I studied brochures published by the movement, as well as their Kontaktblad ['Contact Magazine'], four issues of which appear every year. I interviewed the prophetess once and her husband three times. During these three interviews, Mr de Vries indicated his inspiration by the angel Yoravyanus. Material from the in-depth interviews is the main source for my analysis. When I refer in my description of the theology to information given by angels, my intention is to remain in line with linguistic usage within the movement. It may not be automatically inferred from this that I personally believe in the supernatural origins of such information, but neither does it mean that I reject that possibility. My point of view as a scientist ties in with what Tennekes has called 'ideological agnosticism'. That is to say, I keep my mind open in these matters and respect the religious reality of the subject group under research. 17 The conversion process: the first contact In discussing reasons for joining, it must be kept in mind that we are dealing with a healing movement. Given this fact, it comes as no great surprise that most apostles and those attending monthly lectures are former patients and relatives or acquaintances of former patients. Most patients report having heard from others, such as family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances or neighbours, that there was a healer in De Rijp and later in Oudehorne. They had heard miraculous stories. A substantial number of these (ex)patients has a history of contact with the world of conventional medicine as well as alternative healers. The positive influence of a visit to Sonja or her husband has, for some of these patients and their relatives, provided reason for dedicating themselves to the work of the Foundation. Having witnessed something extraordinary and being filled with gratitude that they themselves or somebody near or well known to them had been healed, they wanted to join the movement. Another group that must be distinguished is the second generation. Among the early followers were couples with young children. These children were brought up in the context of the movement and some are already, 17

Tennekes, Onderzoekers.

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like their parents, active as apostles, while others are members of youth groups. The question of why these two hundred people joined the movement surrounding the prophetess, wqile the great majority of her patients did not, is not easy to answer. I was not able to question the latter because their names and addresses were not disclosed for reasons of privacy. Nevertheless, three factors can be mentioned in this context. Firstly, the prophetess and her husband do not insist upon people joining the movement. Indeed, they do not even exp~ct this. Patients and others consulting the angels are expected simply to leave after treatment. AY: 18 But no; that is not necessary. They do not have to come here regularly. Only those who want to become an apostle are expected to come here more frequently. They make a deliberate move in saying, '[ want to help in spreading the message'. But those who come only for individual help? Why should this count for them?

In fact, a visit to these healers is more or less regarded as a consultation with a doctor. An individual speaks with the healer about his or her illness and the healer, inspired by the angels, makes a diagnosis and either prescribes an appropriate treatment or describes how the angels will effect a cure and the patient then goes her or his way. Secondly, the movement presents itself as Christian but it is not necessary to be a believer in order to receive healing. It is enough that an individual has a positive attitude, that he or she is honest. AY: But you need not be a believer in a life hereafter or in the Christian faith. That is not necessary. Yet you have to have a positive attitude; it may be critical, you may be very critical ... Q: SO you have to have a true and honest attitude towards the instrument of the angels? AY: Indeed; that is the point.

It may be inferred from this quote that patients with no religious background may be reluctant to join the movement. They may feel less at home within a Christian movement than religiously socialised potential converts. Perhaps this is why, as previously remarked, most apostles have a Protestant or Roman Catholic background. Thirdly, not every patient is healed. As explained by the instruments of the angels, there are laws in the universe forbidding them to cure certain 18

AY. is Marcus de Vries, inspired by the Angel Yoravyanus.

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diseases. Furthermore, as may be deduced from the foregoing, those with a negative attitude towards the instruments of the angels are also not healed, or at least not wholly. A.Y: It depends on what has already been started off, on what the laws and prescription are. Sometimes they revert to their original level but mostly they may stay on a somewhat higher level.

We may safely assume that those who do not receive healing or are not healed according to their wishes will not join the movement, due to disappointment or dissatisfaction. Apostles report clear recall of their first face-to-face contact with the angels. Most describe the experience as involving a feeling of 'coming home' or 'being directly at ease'. Others say, 'I felt: this is the truth'. Of Sonja de Vries it was said, 'It was as if I had known her for years', followed by emphasis on how little the speaker had known about either the movement or the message of the angels at that time. Some followers describe how impressed they were on hearing from Sonja and Marcus many intimate details regarding their (the followers') personal life and about which the prophetess and her husband, had they been just ordinary human beings, could not possibly have known. Others say they became convinced of the truth some days after the first visit, when it became evident that healing was underway in themselves or their relatives. All these arguments are quoted by respondents as reasons for their staying on and participating in the movement Material concerning the first contact again shows the limited validity of the proposition of Lofland and others that there has to be a personal crisis In the life of a potential member as a necessary condition for converting. 19 As far as the apostles are concerned, some of them had a long history of suffering from a disease and others were relatives or acquaintances of a patient. For these patients, their 'crisis' was not a sudden, abrupt happening in their life preceding conversion but rather something that had been with them for a long time. As far as relatives and acquaintances are concerned, there is no reason to conclude that a crisis had occurred just prior to their conversion. They were impressed at witnessing a healing and curious to discover what lay behind it.

19

Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming a World-Saver'.

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Becoming an apostle

Several followers, after a period of attending meetings of the movement such as lectures and weekends, expressed a wish to become more active in helping to spread the message. 'In 1986-87, some were asked during weekends at a campsite or at a conference hostel to become an apostle and were subsequently officially declared to be apostles. Many of these were also given a new name as a token of this new stage in their life. In the early days, this rite of passage was in fact called receiving your apostle name. Later, members received new names from the angels because their Christian names were not in keeping with their spiritual development. A. Y: Getting a new name has to do with the way you function. You receive a new name because you have been shown to be worthy of receiving it. People who get a new name radiate joy because they feel the name suits them very well.

In other cases, apostles ask for a new name because they themselves feel their Christian name is no longer appropriate. Choosing a new name is also seen as a token of faith and thankfulness. As one respondent says: At a certain moment you want to make a move. You receive so many things here, so I wanted to show: OK, here I stand and now I would like to have another name. It was a gesture of friendship towards the angels. You show them clearly that you have faith in them.

No further official appointments of apostles have been made from the ranks of the followers since 1987. Since that time, an individual is considered an apostle through participation in an apostle-training group. Followers, mostly people attending monthly lectures or adult children of apostles, are invited to participate in these training groups. Complying with this request is considered a commitment and therefore indicative of being an apostle. Actually, this means that there is a certain ambiguity with regard to being designated an apostle. People in the training groups are considered to be apostles but they are also being trained to become one, that is, to become a full or real apostle. These apostle-training sessions, together with other activities (chores, choirs, organising open evenings, etc.) take many hours per week out of an individual's leisure time. In general, an apostle is considered someone who wants to support the work of the angels by participating in practical activities, but also by spreading the message. Often the concept is expressed in terms of an apostle simply being someone who fully backs the cause of the movement. Not every-

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one is selected to spread the gospel. Special skills are required and not everyone has the capacities for this task. Mr de Vries (inspired by an angel) stated that only one hundred individuals of the entire apostle group would become capable of conveying the message of the angels.

Showing commitment Being an apostle means forfeiting the luxury of non-commitment. Commitment has to be demonstrated both in the training groups and in contact between apostles, and also shown to the outside world. Internally, as previously indicated, commitment means participating in numerous activities such as training sessions, chores, singing in the choirs, preparing and performing celebrations, editing the Contact Magazine, etc. It also means socialisation within the context of the group culture, adhering to its rules and using its vocabulary. Commitment is further demonstrated by asking for a new name more in keeping with the level of development of the soul in question. In general, this name is used only between members. Some apostles go further and use their new name in the outside world, which again is a token of commitment. Commitment is also shown in the way an apostle dresses. Although there is a great deal of variation in dress between individual apostles, their attire has some common characteristics. Apostles do not generally dress conspicuously and the women, in particular, wear subdued colours. Their manner of dressing their hair is simple and make-up is not used. Advice is also given concerning things that should or should not be eaten or drunk and, although this advice differs according to the individual, some proscriptions have a more general reach. For instance, it is considered better to avoid consuming coffee and brown bread. Externally and in contact with the outside world, being an apostle means, in the first place, spreading the message of the angels. This is generally done through open evening sessions held all over Friesland, for which an advance letter is circulated door-to-door throughout the locality. In these sessions, four apostles relate their own individual history of joining the movement, as well as disseminating information about the theology of the movement, the angels and the healing, etc. Apostles frequently told me that they had doubted their ability ever to address a public audience and how proud they had been on fmding that they could now do so. Their explanation for this is that their training as an apostle has made them capable of it, together with the spiritual support of the angels. Many, indeed, feel the presence of angels during these happenings. The aim of the public sessions is not to gain proselytes, and the apostles express great reluctance in this respect. The goal is primarily to inform as

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many as possible that the angels of God are addressing people through Sonja de Vries and her husband. The message itself does the work. A.Y: No, we need not grow. But what you will see happening is that, very slowly, a snowball begins to roll, and it rolls on and then this process can no longer be stopped.

In their daily life and contact with the outside world, for instance in the workplace, apostles are reluctant to bring up the fact that they are committed to the movement in Oudehome. Some describe how, as early recruits, they had been overwhelmed and enthusiastic about everything the prophetess had told them and had wanted to speak about it to everyone they met, particularly family, friends and colleagues, but that the outside world was not as receptive as they thought it would be. In many cases they describe meeting with indifference or even hostility and mockery. Experience, therefore, bred caution, and knowledge or membership of the movement is only confided to people who show a genuine interest in religious subjects. Continuing and intensifying relations within the movement result in diminishing relations with people in the outside world. In their interviews, the apostles stress the importance of their contact amongst themselves which has grown in intensity and quality over the years and is experienced as very rewarding. As one of them says: I had a small circle of friends and some of them I see now and then but I have here (Le. in the movement, LGJ) a circle of friends that is much larger. There are two hundred people here and they know a lot about me and I know a lot about them; also very personal things. This gives a deep feeling of friendship, of being connected.

Many emphasise the sense of being able to speak freely to fellow apostles, without holding back. They experience the same things, pursue the same goal, speak the same language, explain and analyse problems by means of the same concepts. The outside world, their social network of family, friends and acquaintances, in the experience of many apostles, is generally not interested. This lack of interest is indeed evident at the open evening sessions, which few non-members attend. Support for each other in facing these disappointments also enhances the internal bond between members. Common experience is, of course, an important factor in bonding within a group. This is especially the case with regard to experiences in which the 'other world' manifests itself. Apostles give many accounts of miraculous experiences. As mentioned above, many have been healed or have heard about the healing of fellow apostles. Some have seen lights

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around Sonja or around other apostles. Others have felt inspired by an angel. In many instances, angels have permitted apostles to communicate with them for a while through automatic writing, which is a deeply impressive experience for these apostles. Their work for the movement, contact with fellow members and need to be at the Centre in Oudehorne as often as possible, have incited more than a few apostles to move to this village or its surroundings. People from Rotterdam, Nijmegen and other places have sold their houses and quit their jobs in order to move nearer to the centre, in many cases having to fmd new schools for their children. This clearly demonstrates how much less importance their old network of family, friends and acquaintances has for them compared to their newly established relations with fellow apostles and with the prophetess and her husband. Thus a process of encapsulation takes place with regard to the network of personal relationships. This does not mean that the apostles dissociate themselves from society. On the contrary, they are stimulated to take part and do so. The reason for certain apostles taking a course of study is not primarily to further their careers but because learning is beneficial for the development of the soul and also intended to improve the quality of their contribution to society. For this reason the angels favour certain professions, such as teaching and nursing which, it is stated, enable a person to make a worthwhile contribution to society and offer a good opportunity for learning to love one's neighbour. Conclusion

In the foregoing, I have discussed the healing movement that has gathered around Sonja de Vries and her husband, and concluded that the movement considers itself to be a Christian movement. The prophetess, inspired by angels, has been given the task of bringing mankind back to the original Christian faith. In return, man may receive healing from (some) incurable diseases. The main incentive for people coming into contact with the prophetess and the movement has been this aspect of healing. This applies to patients who have consulted Sonja or, since 1987, her husband Marcus, and also to their relatives and acquaintances. Although followers in the latter category have not themselves sought a cure, they have, like the patients themselves, been impressed by miraculous occurrences and grateful that healing has taken place. Those joining, therefore, cannot be considered passive because they themselves have taken the initiative to contact the movement. As research elsewhere has established, kinship and friends are fundamental to

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most conversions,20 and this is true of respondents in this research. Almost without exception they report having heard about the movement from family, friends and acquaintances. The majority of patients, healed or not, did not stay on. Only a few, together with their relatives and acquaintances, expressed the wish to join and helped spread the word of the angels, i.e. they became apostles. In this respect, as has been pointed out, religious background could have had an influence on recruitment. A certain degree of compatibility between the religious culture of a potential convert and that of the ,movement may be assumed to have facilitated the decision to join?! Converts to the Sonja de Vries movement had not experienced a crisis prior to their joining. 22 Of course, many had experienced some kind of sickness and sought help, but it is difficult to interpret their long medical history as constituting a sudden crisis preceding conversion. Neither had relatives and acquaintances joining the movement experienced a crisis. Curiosity and astonishment were the main reasons for seeking contact. The respondents did not describe becoming an apostle in terms of conversion. Nevertheless, apostles considered that their joining and subsequent integration into the movement represented a fundamental turning-point in their personal history, corroborated by the fact of their having adopted a new name. This was also shown in their interpretations of their lives before joining. They stressed that the insights they had received from the angels and their improved knowledge of how to use their capacities had made them more active and helped them live more consciously. When it comes to religion, they stated that they had acquired certainty and it was no longer a case of believing but of knowing. The element of reincarnation, in particular, has provided a way of putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Their belief in life after life has become the central point in their religious system and philosophy of life. 23 Although membership of the movement is seen as an important change in their lives, apostles do not paint their former life in dark colours. For a new member, becoming affiliated to the movement means intensifying contacts with fellow apostles, and with the prophetess and her husband. The language and theology of the group has to be learned, and the place and tasks of the new member have to be defined. He also has to learn to interpret his personal history in the context of the movement's belief system. Commitment to the movement is shown by participation in training Rambo, Understanding, p. 108. Ibidem, p. 62. 22 Lofland and Stark, 'Becoming A World-Saver'; Rambo, Understanding, p. 44ff. 23 Staples and Mauss, 'Conversion or Commitment'.

20 21

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sessions and open evening sessions, doing chores, organising celebrations, singing in choirs and operas and editing brochures and the Contact Magazine. All these activities are (leisure) time-consuming, resulting in diminishing social contact with the outside world. Most friends are found among fellow members. The rewarding nature of such social contacts and the wish to participate has incited members who lived rather far distant from the centre to move nearby. Thus contact between members has intensified over the years and encapSUlation from the outside world has occurred. Nevertheless, the group cannot be described as being isolated from the outside world. Following Rambo, I will discuss three forms of isolation: physical, social and ideological. 24 While a number of converts live in the neighbourhood of the centre, this fact cannot be construed as an instance of physical isolation comparable to that of, for example, a monastery. Is there, then, actually a question of social isolation? Social isolation is a two-sided process. There is the possibility that friend and kin have dissociated themselves from the convert and/or that the convert has himself limited his contact with relatives and friends. From the material it may be concluded that part of the converts' social network does still consist of colleagues, family and friends outside the movement. The angels do not encourage isolation from the outside world. As previously stated, it is emphasised that apostles take their place within society. Coming to the question of ideological isolation, this depends on how unbridgeable the gap between the theology of the movement and that of other religious groups is observed to be. The apostles have sought contact with the churches in Friesland but such contacts have resulted in mutual disappointment. Although the apostles perceive the theology learned by the angels to be purely Christian, the outside Christian world usually does not subscribe to this view and shows little interest in it, as may also be inferred from the low levels of attendance at open evening sessions. Contacts with the mainstream medical world have been even more disappointing. Although at first leaders and other members of the movement tried to bring instances of spiritual healing to the notice of doctors and medical specialists, it quickly became clear that they were not willing to discuss the subject. It seemed that within the paradigm of allopathy there was no place for spiritual healing. My conclusion is that, although a process of encapSUlation has occurred, this has not resulted in isolation either from friends and relatives or from society at large. However, due to lack of interest on the part of the

24

Rambo, Understanding, p. 106ff.

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medical world and the established church, there is a certain degree of ideological isolation.

THE UNCONVERTED AND THE CONVERSION GENDER RELATIONS IN THE SAL V ATION NARRATIVE IN BRITAIN

1800-1960 Callum G. Brown

The culture of the conversion narrative is something that has, broadly speaking, disappeared from western Europe in our lifetime, but not, broadly speaking, from other continents. This stark cultural chasm adds to research of recent decades that has radically altered how we understand the historical and geographical landscape of religious change in the world. This understanding comes in part through the advent of postmodernist techniques, including discourse analysis and textual analysis, that have focussed attention on the narratives we read from the past and the narratives we write as historians. A second aspect has been the advent of gender as a primary category of analysis in the study of the social history of religion. In this chapter, I seek to bring these two concerns together to illuminate the role of religion in gender relations in the world of modernity. Focusing on the conversion in discourse as a male experience fomented by females, I hope to explore the gender power relations at work in the deployment of the conversion narrative. My examples are British, but I am sure that they were not unusual or perverse within European Christendom of the period. The disappearance of the culture of the conversion narrative is something that is not complete, of course. Just as the conversion or re-birth is still experienced by European people, so there are narratives concerning it to be found in various texts of our culture. Yet, it is not a dominant culture. The rebirth, the redemption, the crisis giving way to composure - however termed, the conversion has largely vanished from the cultural world in which most Europeans now live in the early 2000s. At this juncture, Europeans are more able to see clearly what has taken place over the last forty years. We are able to discern the framework, outlines, sinews and bones of a new culture - a de-Christianised and perhaps secularised culture. From this vantage point, we may discern the vanishing of the idealised Christian life as a dominant, easily-accessible and most importantly inescapable discourse. It is the inescapabi/ity of a discourse that defines the dominance of its domain.

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The old and now mostly rejected theory of secularisation had located religious decline as centred in modernity, and placed the United States as the lead secular society in the world in the twentieth century - but one in which 'obvious' secularisation was masked by historic roles of religion in civil religion, and by the vacuity of the religion on offer.! A similar treatment was applied to Britain in the nineteenth century, using an undertheorised notion of 'historic survivals' to explain why the lead industrial nation of modernity should have shown great resilience in religious character - in denominationally-defined party politics, high churchgoing, and increasing church membership.2 But historians and sociologists have since the early 1980s undermined the empirical and theoretical validity of this argument. In its stead, there is an increasing identification of secularisation as a product of the late twentieth century, and in terms of timings and causes as a result of postmodernity rather than modernity. As Grace Davie has so ably summarised, there is now an increasing identification of secularisation as a characteristic of post-1960s' Europe, making this continent 'the exceptional case'. Increasingly, the United States is seen as belonging beside virtually all of the other continents of the world (Africa, Asia, Central and Southern America, but excluding perhaps Australasia and Canada) as the norm - societies defined by strong religious cultures. 3 Christendom, certainly in modernity, was characterised by the prevalence of the conversion narrative. The modernist vision of 'the life' (as portrayed in biography and autobiography) provided the framework for the idea of 'the self, something that has been taken as central to the character of the Enlightenment civilisation of Europe. 4 Its disappearance thus represents one of the key markers of secularisation. It also marks something else - part of the fruits of second-wave feminism. The demise of the conversion narrative, emanating mainly in the women's liberation movement of the late 1960s, signalled the end of the willingness of women to be responsible for the religious condition of men as a whole. This was a de-feminisation of piety, and, at the same time, a de-pietisation of femininity, as European women in vast numbers turned their backs of the celebration of religious rites of worship, marriage and baptism for their children. So, the decay of the conversion narrative signals three things: the decay of Christendom, the de-feminisation of piety, and a radically-altered nature to gender relations. This chapter concerns the last of these as they existed before the change.

Wilson, Religion. Gilbert, Religion. 3 Brown, The Death; Davie, Europe. 4 See some of the essays in Porter (Rewriting) and Taylor (Sources). I

2

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Conversion experiences were events in the Christian narratives of nineteenth-century Britain that almost always had a significant gender dimension to them. Firstly, they were almost always portrayed in popular literature as events befalling men, not women. Second, a man's conversion was invariably portrayed as the product of a female's intervention - either directly as agent on the spot (as it were), or as an absent 'other' (a dead or geographically-absent mother for instance). Women were portrayed in stories about conversion, both fictive and 'real', as the determining agents of the religious condition of fathers, husbands and sons. This means that gendered power relations were at work. The near monopoly of men's experience of conversion in popular literature is in itself interesting and a powerful comment. It seems to suggest a society in which there is a privileging of women's religiosity - that feminine Christianity is superior for innate reasons to that·of men. s Masculinity was portrayed almost universally from 1800 to around 1960 as sinful, innately prone to temptation from drink, gambling and other pleasures, and the sites of these sins were almost always located in specific demonised places - public houses, theatres, the races, the street corners cof working-class districts, back dens, dirty-book stalls in London's Strand, and so on. The antithesis to these sites of temptation was the home, the place where the innately good women rule, and to which the man must repair for moral regeneration and - by extension - for Christian conversion. A conversion was a necessary for a man, sometimes repeatedly, and the temptation of manhood had to be constantly balanced in discourse by the feminine attributes to be found in the home, cushioned ( almost literally) by femininity and soft furnishings, and vast feminine clothes and drapes. This chapter proceeds now to explore gender relations through how the unsaved man looked upon the conversion narratives in discourse, and how he might use them in gender relations. The archipelago of the Shetland isles is one of the most isolated parts of Europe, lying almost equidistant from the Scottish mainland and the coast of Norway. The islands were pledged to Scotland in 1469 by the Norwegian crown, but they retained a strong Nordic influence in language and latterly dialect. The land is of poor quality, composed of some low-lying arable but mostly fjord-like voes and low steep hills suitable only for marginal farming. From earliest times, Shetland has been a fishing community first and a farming (or crofting, as it is known) community second. The menfolk have tended to be away at the boats for long parts of the year, suffered high death rates, leaving the women at home as uniquely vital to the economy in 5 This was a central theme of my analysis of evangelical literature of the nineteenth century in Brown, The Death, pp. 58-114.

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crofting, knitting, and ancillary tasks. This has been a community dominated by women's contribution to the economy.6 It is also a community in which evangelical religion arrived relatively late, mostly after 1822, but in the 1860s and 1870s the islands became strongly influenced by evangelical denominations associated with fishing (including Methodists, Congregationalists and Baptists) and by teetotalism (in the form of organisations like the, the Good Templars, the Bands of Hope and the Rechabites). The islands became a celebrated example of confrontation between moral evangelical campaigning and the supposed 'natural' inclination of men to drink and moral lapsing. This was a place like any other in Britain in which narratives of conversion were by the late nineteenth century not just in wide circulation through printed media, .but were preached from street corners, at piers and mission halls on almost a daily basis by itinerant missionaries following the fish migrants as they netted the herring shoals of the North Sea. This was an archetypal moral battleground for Victorian evangelical religion. 7 Robert Anderson was a fish curer from rural north Shetland. He had married his wife Betsy Nicolson in 1871.8 Over the next sixteen years, they had seven children together. But in February 1887, at the age of 54, Robert Anderson was arrested. The following newspaper report appeared in one of the local newspapers, recording what happened at the Shetland islands' court in the archipelago's capital town of Lerwick: ASSAULT. - At the Sheriff Criminal Court to-day (Saturday) - Sheriff MacKenzie on the bench - Robert Anderson, residing at North Houll, North Roe, was charged with the crime of assault, in so far as (first) upon the 20th January last, and within his dwelling house, he wickedly assaulted his daughter Isa Anderson [the eldest daughter who was 15 years old], by striking her one or more severe blows on the head or other part of her person, and (second) time and place aforesaid, he did assault Betsy Nicolson or Anderson, his wife, by striking her a blow on the head. In respect of the absence of witnesses, the Procurator-Fiscal craved a continuation of the case till Monday. Mr Anderson, solicitor, opposed a continuation on the plea that accused had been in prison for

This is the subject of Abrams, Myth .. This story is told in Brown, Up-helly-aa, especially pp. 104-112. 8 I must thank Angus Johnson, Assistant Archivist at Shetland Archive in Lerwick, Shetland, for finding, pursuing and transcribing the documents in the Anderson wife-beating case that follows. Without his assistance, and permission to use the materials he transcribed, this article would not have been possible. He kindly obtained genealogical information on the Anderson family from Bruce Benson of North Roe, Shetland, to whom I am extremely grateful.

6

7

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five days, awaiting his trial. His Lordship, however, granted the continuation, allowing the prisoner to be liberated until Monday.9

A week later the following newspaper report appeared: ASSAUL T. - On Monday, Robert Anderson, residing at Houll, North Roe, was again placed in the dock charged with assaulting his wife and daughter, but owing to stress of weather, the witnesses did not appear, and the ProcuratorFiscal craved a continuation until Thursday, which was granted. On Thursday on the case being called, Mr Galloway said that he had received a letter from accused's wife, in the following terms: - Mr Galloway, Procurator-Fiscal. Sir, - I withdraw the proceedings against my husband, Robert Anderson, as he is come home a new man in the Lord Jesus, and promised to lead a new life, so we have forgiven each other. I could have proved every word of it, yet we all need mercy, and I do not want to persevere in it, if he will be in peace. May I never more need the protection of the law again; but I hope you will see that it is not because I could not prove it, but because he forgives me, I forgive him, I am your obedient servant Betsy Anderson. Mr Galloway stated that the accused had been home and while there he might have used influence. In the meantime he craved to desert the diet pro loco et tempore. Mr Anderson objected, and craved that the diet be deserted simpliciter. His Lordship, however, granted Mr Galloway's prayer, and the diet Was accordingly deserted pro loco et tempore. 10

At first, this might appear as a case of minor and casual wife-assault. But the domestic violence was not casual, nor was it the first such event in this household. Unlike the newspaper account, the witness statements in the case submitted to the sheriff court of Shetland show that there had been a long history of violence by Robert towards his wife. Betsy submitted to the court the following written statement in evidence: I am 35 years old. I was married in Leith [the port of Edinburgh] in 187l. After marriage we returned to Lerwick where we lived for a fortnight. We then went to North Roe where my husband had no house to take me to and we each went back to our parents houses. We lived separately for about 9 months. He took a croft: at North Roe in 1872 and I went to live with him. My first child was born in 1872. About 3 weeks after its birth my husband began to illuse me by threatening to take my child from me and to send me home. He has gone on getting

9

Shetland Times, 19 February, 1887. Shetland Times, 26 February, 1887.

10

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worse but I have stopped on for the sake of seven children. He has struck me many times and when I have asked food for the children he has done so. 11

Here in a mere ten lines of testimony is Betsy's life story - her married life in her own words as re-written by the procurator fiscal, Mr. Galloway, or his clerk. It is a statement that is discursively active. It portrays the woman as innately good, and the husband as never fully the good husband. Robert is reported as having no house for his bride on their return to Shetland - a signal of his unworthy preparation for marriage. He fails to provide food, and beats his wife when she asks for it for the children. She on the other hand sacrificed herself for the children. Firstly, she stayed in the marital home despite the abuse, clearly for the sake of the children. Secondly, she has sought food from him for the children, not for her own sake. The message here is that she has done her duty by her sex. In short, he is the problem, she is the solution. Betsy's testimony continues, corroborated in evidence to the court by her daughter Isa and son James. One morning in January 1887 Robert was washing himself in the croft house, and asked that first child for a towel to dry himself. The child sought to pass the towel to her father, but it fell on the floor, and Robert struck the child. This blow was so hard that Betsy reported fearing that 'he would fell her', which may be a reference to a fear of mere falling to the ground but could indicate a fear for the child's life. Betsy intervened, attracting a blow from Robert to her, and she says she started to fear for herself. She concludes that this was the only date on which she could recall dates of abuse, and, since in Scots law a date of an alleged offence is required before a charge may be laid, this resulted in only the single criminal charge being brought against Robert. Betsy's evidence puts in context the letter cited in the newspaper report. It is clear from her testimony that there had been a history of violence in the family. Less than three months earlier, Betsy had made a detailed complaint to an island policeman, who sent it to the procurator fiscal: My marriage life have (sic) been very unsatisfactory on account of cruel treatment by my husband towards myself and family. He is often in the habit of locking up all the food in the house and threatens to take my life if I should put a finger on it. He takes his bread & cooks his food for himself; it is my belief that we shall be starved to death if we shall be any longer depending upon my cruel & unnatural husband, there is not long since he said to me that it was of no use to be bothering ourselves about the world where one of us would be 11 Shetland Archive, Lerwick, AD22/2/22/58, ms Precognitions in action by Procurator Fiscal against Robt. Anderson.

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murdered and the other hanged. I am very anxious to get clear of him because I cannot live with him any longer, had itnot been for the kindness of some of my neibours (sic) in giving me and my family food some of us would have been long dead long ago. 12

Robert's control of the food, the woman's domain, was a striking and not uncommon way a husband exerted power. 13 So, Betsy held real fear at the moment her daughter Isa was struck for dropping the towel. Isa told the court, 'I have heard my father say that he would put my mother to her grave & often threaten her', whilst fourteen-year-old James reported that 'I have heard him threaten to kill my mother several times'. 14 The testimony also puts in context the five days when Robert went home from prison. Betsy evidently believed that her husband had come home a new man: 'he is come home a new man in the Lord Jesus, and promised to lead a new life'. The phrase' a new man' is a critical one, and one that Betsy was clearly using in a way that implied a change of domestic experience for her and her family. Linked to the 'Lord Jesus', it clearly implied a conversion, within which there would be a number of elements: remorse for the attack, acknowledgement of sin, promise of no repetition, and a household under a new regime. It implied a wild masculinity was going to be tamed. It implied a change in the gender power relations in the household. But the procurator fiscal was clearly sceptical of the term 'new man' and its implications, and this scepticism influenced the judge. The case was allowed to lie on the table. He was evidently not fully convinced that Robert Anderson had come home such a new man. So, here was demonstration of the power that lay in the concept of the conversion. It could be deployed in the criminal court as an ostensible reason not only to mitigate an offence, but to abandon proceedings entirely. It was a power that apparently could be wielded within the family to resolve the most severe of disputes. It had the power to allow a spouse to forgive and to be forgiven. The conversion signified submission, contrition, acknowledgement of sin. To claim conversion could lay stake to rehabilitation. Yet, the conversion was not universally, completely or automatically a key to all of these doors. The procurator fiscal takes a cynical line. 'Mr Galloway stated that the accused had been home and while there he might

12 Shetland Archive, Lerwick, AD 22.2.102.1886.101, letter of Police Constable P. Urquhart to lames Kirkland Galloway Esq., Proc. Fiscal for Zetland, 21 December 1886. 13 Abrams, 'Whores', pp. 274-275. 14 See note 11 above.

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have used influence'. This is the voice of a man 'reading' the conversion as the tool of the conniver and the chancer. He suspects Robert as a man who might not have claimed the conversion experience at all, but either falsely claimed it to a wife who was easily fooled, or who connived with a duplicitous wife through threat or entreaty to lay claim to this conversion as the reason for withdrawing the complaint. He wants a temporary dismissal of the case should the event arise of a new turn in her evidence or another case arises. The judge clearly shares this view, and accedes to the prosecution demand. Betsy's withdrawal of her willingness to give evidence meant that the case would have had great difficulty in proceeding. Technically, as I understand it in Scots law, the case could have proceeded, but the Sheriff perhaps was mindful that there were other issues at stake - one being the ability of the household to survive economically if Robert went to gaol. So here is a power that has both strength and weakness. It has the power to have no source of verification, no possible earthly corroboration of the claimant's position. This makes it easy to claim, perhaps, for the cynical. It can be a device deployed with ease. This foolish society, convinced by this culture of evangelical Christian re-birth, will accept - or be forced to accept - the self-claimed conversion. It is like throwing a 'sickie' in Britain today - you can sign-off work on your own say-so for sick benefit for up to five days. But this is also a weakness. To claim a conversion is to allow doubt to fester. Some might not believe you. You might be seen as a manipulative person, and a blasphemer. Who is to know? To claim conversion required more than the mere claim. Things were expected to follow - what today would be called 'lifestyle change'. There would be an expectation of giving up drink, gambling, rough culture, swearing. There would be an expectation of spending more time in the bosom of one's family. There might be an expectation of greater attendance at church and submission to the ordinances of religion in general. There is a submission, a containment, a new discipline. There is a price to pay for a claim to a conversion. The conversion in nineteenth and twentieth-century British literature was almost always a male preserve. In novels, stories, tracts, religious magazines and family papers, in biography and autobiography, and most evidently in obituaries, the conversion was something a man underwent, hardly ever a woman. The conversion was a discourse on male submission to women. It was a gendered power that ostensibly privileged women's piety, the feminine in behaviour, the womanly hearth and home, and the womanly virtues. It decried male behaviour, men's natural inclination to dissipation and drink and gambling and roughness. It was above all an attack on male physical strength. It was about making weak. It was about disarming male strength. It was about become a new man.

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The discourse on the conversion that spoke to the un converted spoke almost exclusively about men. In reading through popular literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it became clear to me that the conversion crisis was conceived as a wholly masculine affair. This is not to deny that women laid claim to conversion - just that it was little represented in circulating discourse. Indeed, it strikes me that women (especially young women) were considered little short of a nuisance by some evangelicals and preachers if they claimed conversions. By the 1950s, when Billy Graham's Crusade came to Britain, around 70 per cent of those came forward to the front of revival meetings and sought comfort in_'anxiety groups' were women, and of these two-thirds were under 21 years of age (and indeed many were under 15 years).15 There is some evidence that this was regarded as 'girls being silly', and claiming conversion was regarded as a hysterical adolescent fad. 16 A woman's conversion was a problem, a man's was a blessing. That was the discourse. Indeed, women in discourse were innately good, innately moral, and had only three tasks to perform in life. First, they had to sustain their godliness by proper behaviour and being respectable; they didn't have crises because they were not innately sinners - their crises were caused by sinning men. Second, they had to seek a suitable man for marriage, and to take great care that'they found the right man. Third, they had within marriage to raise children and sustain their husband on the paths of righteousness, and especially to curtail the tendency of men and boys to temptation. This was the essence of the evangelical discourse that spoke to women about their religious state. Thus it is that the conversion was spoken of overwhelmingly but ostensibly to the unconverted man. However, the speaking of male conversion was not just to the unconverted man, but also to women. Women's literature of the nineteenth century - secular as well as religious - was full of representations of male sin and male conversion (including most importantly the female role in this). Indeed, it is very difficult to come across a representation of a male conversion without a women as an agent of the conversion - either a wife or a mother, though sometimes a daughter and by the 1890s also a female home missionary. But usually it is as a wife that women appear in the evangelical conversion narrative. So, women are being spoken to as agents of their husbands' conversions. They are being encouraged to this role. Brown, Religion, p. ]98. Certainly Molly Weir in her autobiographies makes plain how popular it was for young girls to claim conversion every night at tent meetings in Glasgow in the 1920s and 1930s (Weir, Best Foot, p. 69). 15

16

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Women are apparently empowered in this conversion narrative. If you read the stories of fictional, biographical and autobiographical lives in which conversion is an issue, you will tend to fmd almost invariably that men privilege the religiosity and piety of a woman. Mothers and wives are put on pedestals, their piety as a model to men. In the Shetland court case, we see a woman accepting that the conversion of her husband brings him closer to her state. This is a man becoming helpmeet to woman through the agency of the conversion. The weekend together during his release from prison 'turns' him from monster to home-loving respectable husband. Yet, within this is apparent empowerment of the feminine, there is another story. There is a tension between the apparent empowerment of women in this discourse and their subjugation within it. Women are apparently empowered through the absence of a conversion threshold that they must go through, and thus the presumption of their 'natural' goodness. But women are actually subjugated within the discourse - subjugated to the pursuit of anxiety-inducing confrontation of men's unsaved states - and thus enslaving them to a religious experience which discourse tended to portray as a male monopoly. Thus, discourse constantly prioritised men's religious experience above women'. The conversion became a male preserve, even if the conversion involved the man becoming feminine. Indeed, my study of the literature of gendered piety in Britain between 1800 and 1960 demonstrated the constant message to women that their role was to confront male wickedness within the family and to be the cause of its eradication. Women were constantly informed of their key role in society in this capacity. This was their function to confront male impiety. And this was truly an enslavement. This discourse in British society was not a universal reality. It was socially constructed and limited. Until the 1800s female piety had been conceived in terms of the woman 'becoming male'. Icons of female piety, such as martyrs and ascetics, had been represented as 'masculine', whilst femininity, menstruation and child birth were regarded as dangerous and polluting to piety.l? The most critical of tests of faith had been set as customs (such as those surrounding childbirth and churching) that were women's domain; women were tested, not men before 1800, especially in the witchhunt of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,18 and as a number of scholars have argued this drove female piety into the c1oset.1 9 Until 1800, masculinity lay at the core of representations of piety, whilst femininity was constructed as

Miles, Carnal Knowledge, pp. 53-77; Crawford, Women, p. 25. Crawford, Women, pp. 73-115; Lamer, Enemies. 19 Cressy, Birth, pp. 475-482.

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a religious problem. 20 But around 1800, these polarities were dramatically reversed, and stayed reversed until the 1960s. 21 British religiosity became highly feminised, and religion created a vital site for the discourse on women's wider identity and role. Women's place in the home was established in discourse on religious grounds. From 1800 to the early 1960s, men and women were conceptualised as two opposites in religious discourse. The obsession of British moral debate was the weakness of men. Even the weakness of 'holy men' was most publicly paraded in a way that just never happened with women. The spiritual turmoil of clergy, even of the most famous and revered, became an obsession of popular religious magazines and of novelists. Most major Victorian novelists at some point described clergy and their spiritual crises - Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope. The best of men, the most Christianly 'manly' of men, were being shown to be weak before their Lord. What did it mean to be an unconverted, to be the object of a discourse that your condition was unacceptable, ungood, morally reprehensible? What did the discourse 'say' to you? What follows are excerpts from the vast output of Britain's largest and longest-lasting tract publisher, the Stirling Tract Enterprise conducted by the Drummond family. From the late 1840s to the late 1960s, they covered Britain, Europe and North America and the British Empire with English-language tracts of all lengths, weekly and monthly evangelical magazines, and increasingly from the 1880s through the 1940s Christian novels for adults and for children. What follow are merely sample excerpts. 22 These are speaking to the unconverted. J

RACING You are racing either to heaven or to hell! Where are you bound for? Thoughtless reader - STOP AND THINK. You are very near ETERNITY, and if you die un converted, you will be turned into hell with all those who forget God.

Gregory, 'Homo Religiosus', p. 105. Morgan, A Passion, pp. 6-43. 22 The Depot collection is now housed in two locations - University of Stirling Library, and Stirling Public Library Headquarters. The excerpts in this paper are from the University collection, and I must thank the staff of the Library for meeting my access needs to these materials. When accessed by the author, the collection was uncatalogued.

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TURN YE, TURN YE - WHY WILL YE DIE? BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED. NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME, AND NOW THE DAY OF SALVATION. Reader, - In this country as well as elsewhere, thousands are meeting for prayer every day - and praying for you, unconverted man or woman. Will you not pray for yourself?

May the Holy Spirit savingly touch your heart, while you read these words, and enable you to believe in JESUS to the saving ofyour soul!

Evangelical Christian discourse was everywhere in Victorian, Edwardian and early twentieth century Britain. It was inescapeable. ESCAPE! ... If the Word of God, read by you, or heard by through preaching, do you no good, there is no other way by which you can be saved from the wrath to come. This is God's way of it, and the main engine he useth to convert souls ...

The unconverted were confronted in stark terms in religious tracts. The printing is bold, and gets bolder, in religious tracts as the nineteenth century wore on. It confronted the unconverted with their sins. THE TREMBLING SINNER Trembling sinner, have you heard the thunders of the law at Sinai? have you seen the lightening-flash of God's indignation? Oh! then look to Calvary, and behold the sword of eternal justice awaking against lehovah's Shepherd, the man who is God's fellow! .... Oh dear sinner! delay not a moment, but look to Jesus and be saved. Study Isaiah liii and Iv ....

Hell and the road to it was a constant theme. MAKING A ROAD TO HELL! A young gardener in Scotland was busy levelling a road from his lodge at the entrance of a gentleman's grounds, to the mansion-house, in the month of March, 1842, when he was seized with a dangerous illness, and brought to look death, and judgment in the face ... In a few weeks, however, he was seen, wan and emaciated, walking slowly down the avenue among the trees in deep and silent meditation. He had risen from a sick-bed to look back upon a lifer spent without God -in other words, he

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saw that by an unholy life he had been engaged for 29 years in making for himself A ROAD TO HELL The theme of the strong man made physically weak not so much by sin, but by the knowledge of his sin, was a constant one. This was the material with which to confront the manly, hard-drinking man.-The tenor of the discourse is man-to-man talk. And the mortality of the body and the prolonged prospects for the undying soul were contrasted: THE STREET PREACHER Fellow-sinner! The beasts around you have no soul. You have a soul- it cannot die. Your body will die but it will be raised again at the resurrection. Your soul will soon be in eternity - in heaven or in hell. Which of the two places, think you? You are a great sinner. You were born a sinner. Every day you have been thinking sin, speaking sin, doing sin. Have you not? Sin leads to hell; holiness leads to heaven. You cannot make yourself holy. God is willing to making you holy. Will you ask Him now? ... Now, dear fellow-sinner, do you wish to be saved? 0 seek the Spirit of God to work faith in your heart just now. Repent - that is, turn from your sins to God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. The confrontation of men in conversion discourse was constant and unremitting. It deployed the on/off choice that Foucault identified as a key characteristic of modernity. WHICH? READER! - There are two ways of beginning the day: - with prayer or without it. You begin the day in one of these two ways. WHICH? There are two ways of spending the Sabbath: idly or devotionally . You spend the Sabbath in one of these two ways. WHICH? There are two classes of people in the world: - the righteous and the wicked. You belong to one of these two classes. WHICH? There are two great rulers in the universe: - God and Satan. You are serving under one of these two great rulers. WHICH? ... The un converted was offered two directions of change. One tract entitled 'The Spiritual Thermometer' portrays what it describes as 'the downward progress of sin and the upward progress of grace'. It addressed 'the unconverted reader'. It also addresses 'Professors, look at the entries on the

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lower part of the scale. Are you really on the way to GLORY, or are you sinking to PERDITION'?' How does the unconverted man 'read' this set of discourses from tracts? I think there are a number of obvious interpretations. Here I speak in the 'voice' of the un converted man reading the discourses. I.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

Men are the religious problem. The popular culture to which I am attracted the pub, the sport, the gambling - are all socially wrong and religiously sinful. It is the culture of 'the world'. Women are the religious solution. The popular culture of women is socially right - the home, the hearth, family, duty. I am always tempted. As a man and boy, I will have already committed social wrongs and sinned, and as a man I will always be innately subject to temptation. I am unrespectable. My identity - my deportment, language, behaviour, activities - will likely be socially unrespectable and sinful. Innate piety is feminine. It is to be found in my mother, my wife, my daughters. These are located out of the world, in the home. Perfect manhood is unattainable. It implies an androgenous state. To be more socially acceptable and less sinful, I need to be more feminine and less masculine. So, on the face it, there seems to be a constant attack made upon men in discourse. It seems to be a constantly negative message. What might be positive in it? Conversion is a socially-levelling thing. It makes me on a par with all men of humble and high birth. Conversion opens the way to justice. It empowers me when the world is politically elitist and unjust.

It was also something that spoke to woman and imprisoned them. Did Betsy

Anderson have much choice as to whether or not to accept her husband's claim to conversion? In discourse, she was expected like every women to see a husband's re-birth in Christ as the ultimate aim, the ultimate good, as the very moral purpose of her life. If she was a strong and practising Christian, which I suspect was highly likely in Shetland of the 1880s, then here was a woman that may well have had very little choice. Compare her position with that of the most prominent British new woman, Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx, who lived in the late 1880s and early 1890s the life of the liberated woman outwith marriage with a cad of a man, Edward Aveling. Ultimately she could stand the social pressure of her own unrespectability no more and took her own life in 1896. The dominant discourse got you one way or the other.

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So, there is at the heart of any 'reading' of the discourse to the unconverted a vital contradiction. The unconverted like Robert Anderson in Shetland would on the surface read in the circulating discourse on male impiety and female piety a challenge to masculinity, and privileging of his wife's moral and religious condition, and an assault upon his own identity. Like any man, he would feel challenged, by the material circulating in printed media, in pulpit sermons, and in everyday community exchange. Moreover, in a household of so many children, with five daughters and two sons, he might feel the discourse in his daily engagement in family life. His history of violence to his wife from so soon after the birth of their first child, and the ensuing 15 years of - according to Betsy - almost continuous abuse, could not have left his conscience unchallenged. We can see in the case of Robert Anderson from Shetland in the 1880s that there was always doubt in the use of the conversion narrative in the judicial context. The judge was clearly influenced by the sceptical procurator fiscal, and left the case to lie on the table so that it cO)lld be resurrected again should there be another offence. The Judge was evidently not fully convinced that Robert Anderson had come home a new man. Yet, perhaps he had done so. For there is one bit of stark evidence left to consider. Two years after Robert's court appearance, his abused wife Betsy at the age of 35 years bore him an eighth child, a girl. She was named Harriet Beecher Stowe Anderson - clearly named after the American abolitionist Congregationalist puritan and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stow was an icon of female evangelicalism for Christian women around the world, what might be called an evangelical feminist. 23 It was a common Victorian practice in Scotland to take the name of a famous man or women from the world of the church and moral affairs and confer it in baptism upon a child. This practice came late to the Anderson family; not one of their other seven children is so named after a famous Christian. Was the naming of the child her idea? Was this a statement about female heroes really a statement about herself as much as it was about a woman's role in opposing slavery? Was this a feminist statement by a woman faced with living with 'a new man'? Perhaps, just perhaps, this late adoption of a name from the evangelical world signifies some change in the intensity of family and perhaps personal values. The naming was almost certainly, in my view, at the behest of Betsy. This was a Christian, evangelical, nonconformist woman's act of identification on her own behalf, that of her family, and also that of her husband. This was a statement demanding family attachment and Harriet Beecher Stow (1811-1896) was born into a puritan family in New York, her father a Congregationalist minister. She published in 1852 the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

23

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commitment - 'we have the name of an evangelical heroine in our midst, in our bloodline, and to this we adhere'. This then indicates to us a woman, Betsy, who would have to have been affected by her husband's claim to a conversion. This was a woman who had no option but to forgive, to accept the new man in her midst. In turn, this means that Robert's claim to a conversion would have to have been jolly convincing - certainly to Betsy, and arguably much wider than her. We know nothing of the community's role or vision of these goings-on in the Anderson household, but it is inconceivable that such public affairs in the sheriff court in Lerwick would not have been the talk of North Row. There was a community audience to this claim of conversion. And maybe they watched as Betsy and Robert in their middle and later years entered a period of intensified Christian values. Certainly, the Anderson family seem to have been, or to have become, Congregationalists or Baptists. The church records show that their children and grandchildren were baptised or married in one or other of these evangelical churches. 24 This may signal that Robert's conversion narrative to the court had a significance. Whether or not he found Jesus during his five days in Lerwick gaol, he may subsequently have come to live the family life that proceeded from such a narrative. He may have come to a resolution of his differences with Betsy, learned to control his temper, and approached a later life of heightened Christian religiosity. So, who was empowered by the conversion narrative? There is the overwhelming irony that even in the context of Robert's criminal arrest for exerting male power in the household through food control and attempted starvation, and the commencement of legal proceedings (proceedings that would have led to a trial and possibly imprisonment), there was in the conversion a re-empowerment of him. The conversion may have seemed to Robert on the one level as no more than an alternative SUbjugation to the greater piety of his wife and children whom he had wronged. But at the next level it was actually a re-statement of his priority in family life. He was the important one. Even assuming the conversion was 'genuine' (whatever a genuine conversion may be defined to be), it was an act that Betsy could not ignore. She was a poor wife of a fish curer and crofter. Even if she had some income from knitting (which was likely in Shetland), she had seven mouths to feed, a house to heat and rent to pay, and if her man was in prison she would have been forced to go on the poor relief. There was shame and poverty looming for Betsy and her children. On top of that, she as a woman was expected in discourse to seek Robert's conversion. This was actually fulfilled. Whether she liked it or not, whether she believed him or not, she had no real alternative but to drop the proceedings. Clearly, she did this 24

This is indicated by the genealogical information gathered by Bruce Benson.

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with a heavy heart. She wanted it known in court that she was telling the truth. She wanted it known that she could prove her case. But her husband had returned from prison a 'new man'. His conversion took precedence over any need she had. At the end of the day, there is an intrinsic contradiction that inverts the power of the conversion narrative. Far from subjugating sinful men before pious women, the conversion narrative empowered unconverted men to set their weakened and fragile piety above that of women.

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INDEX

A Brakel, Wilhelmus,

133, 138, 143; Redelijke Godsdienst, 133 AlIen, Hannah, 86, 100-103; Satan his Methods and Malice Baffled, 100 Alva, duke, 73 Andersen, Friedrich, 152 Anderson, Robert, 186-190, 197-198 Anna, sister of August Hennann Francke, 128 Anselm of Canterbury, 141 Anthony, St., 68 Aquinas, Thomas, 77 Arnd, Johann, 127; Vom wahren Christentum, 127 Athanasius of Alexandria, 68; Vi/a Beati Antonii abbatis, 68 Augustine, 70, 128; De virginitate, 70 ; De Genesi contra Manicheos, 70 A veling, Edward, 197 Bagelaar, Maria, 144 Bainbridge, William Sims, 14, 1617,20; A theory ofreligion, 14, 17-18 Bartels, Adolf, 151-152 Bavinck, Herman, 148 Beecher Stowe Anderson, Harriet, 197; Uncle Tom's Cabin, 197 Beethoven, Ludwig von, 2 Bernard, Richard, 141-142 Beza, Theodore, 13 7 Bhagwan Rajneesh, 1 Bijl, Willem, 145 Boehmer, Heinrich, 157 Bonus, Arthur, 153, 155-157 Brinckerinck, Johannes, 60,63,69 Buchman, Frank, 1 Bunyan, John, 85, 87-89, 93, 95-96, 98-99, 101-103, 105, 142; Pilgrim's Progress, 142; Holy War, 142; Grace Abounding to the Chie/o/Sinners, 85,87,95, 98,105

Busch, Johannes, 60-61, 64, 67-68, 71; De viris illustribus, 60-61, 63-64,67-68 Bush, George, president of the USA,

4 Calvin, Jean, 87, 102, 137, 141; Institutes, 87 Cary, Mary, 110 Cassianus, Johannes, 70; Collationes patrum, 70 Chamberlain, Houston Steward, 149150, 152-156, 158; Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 149-152, 154, 158 Cheevers, Sarah, 96-97, 103 Christensen, Carl W., 49 Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of, 119; History of the Rebellion, 119 Clingebijl, Hendrik, 67-68 Collegium philobiblicum, 128 Coli ins, An, 94, 103; Divine Songs and Meditacions, 94 Comrie, Alexander, 143-144; Verhandeling, 143 Coppe, Abiezer, 95-96, 102-104; A Second Fiery Flying Roule, 9596, 104 Cowper, William, 142; A most comfortable and christian dialogue, betweene the Lord, and the soule, 142 Cromwell,Oliver, 109, 118 Daniel, prophet, 108 Davies, lady Eleanor, 96-97, 103; Bill of Excommunication, 96 De Goede, Egbert, 136; Eene korte en eenvoudige beschrijving, 136 De Lagarde, Paul, 152, 156 De Vries, Marcus, 168-169, 172-173 De Vries, Sonja, 166-168, 170-172, 174, 177-179 Dickens, Charles, 193

224 Diederichs, Eugen, 153-154 Dominic, St., 60 Donne, John, 90-91, 95, 103, 105; Sermons, 90 Durandus de San Porciano, 77 Durkheim, Emile, l3-15, 18 Edward VI, king of England, 86 Edwards, Christopher, 3; Crazy for God,3 Elijah,74 Elisha,74 Eliza, 100, 102-103 Elizabeth I, queen of England, 86 Esschinges, Sister Griet, 60 Evans, Katherine, 96-97, 103 Ezekiel, 74, 76, 78 Fifth Monarchists, 108-11 0, 117118, 120 Finke, Roger, 14, 16-20, 22-24, 25, 27, 30,34,36-37; Acts offaith. Explaining the human side of religion, 14, 17, 18,22,25 Fletcher, John, 102-103; The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed,102 Ford, Thomas, 92; Music ofSundrie Kindes, 92 Francis, St., 60 Francke, August Hermann, 123-132 Frederik of Heilo, 62 Freytag, Gustav, 151, 157 Furgeson, Earl H., 49 Galloway, Mr., 187, 189 Gaskell, Elizabeth, 193 Gellner, Ernest, 9 Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen, 61; De libris teutonicalibus, 61 Giesbers, Liesbeth, 70 Graafland, Cornelis, 147 Grabs, Rudolf, 154-155 Graham, Billy, 191 Grau, Wilhelm, 160 Gro6gebauer, Theophil, 126 Grote, Geert, 59-63,65-71; Contra focaristas, 61

INDEX

GUnther, Hans, F.K., 160 Halevy, Elie, 9 Hegger, Herman 1., 148 Henry V, king of England, 93-94,99 Henry VIII, king of England, 86 Herbert of Cherbury, 130 Herbert, George, 91-92, 94, 99-100, 103-104; The Temple, 92; A Priest to the Temple, 103 Hooker, Thomas, 144 Isaiah,74 James, William, 25; The Varieties of Religious Experience. A Study in Human Nature, 25 James, William, 46 John the Baptist, 68, 74 Jones, Andrew, 141 J ung, Carl Gustav, 48 Jutte of Ahaus, 60, 62, 69-70 Knight, E.1., preacher, 147 Koelman, Jacobus, 133; Twintig zonderlinge exempelen, l33 Kontaktblad, 170, 172 Kummer, Bernhard, 160-163; Germanischer Kult und Glaube in den letzten heidnischen lahrhunderten, 160; Midgards Untergang, 160-162 Lange, Friedrich, 156 Lentfrinck, Georgius Alexander, 145 Lewis, C.S., 89 Lobb, Justice,116 Lofland, John, 17, 19,25-27,30-31, 39 Luther, Martin, 131 Maron, Gottfried, 154, 157-158 Marvell, Andrew, 87, 103 Marx, Eleanor, 196 Marx, Karl, 196 Meyer, Friedrich, 153, 156 Molinos, Miguel de, 127 Milton, John, 89-91, 101, 103;

INDEX

Paradise Lost, 89, 101 Montefiore, HugH, bishop, 85-86 Moon, Sun Myung, Revd., 1 Musaus,Johann, 129-130 Neckel, Gustav, 151 Nicolson, Betsy, 186-190, 196-198 Overbeck, Franz, 157 Paloutzian, Ray F., 54 Parma, duke, 73 Perkins, William, 137 Potappel, Leendert Johannes, 145146 Radewijn, Florens, 63 Rambo, Lewis R., 26, 48, 51-54; Understanding Religious Conversion, 26 Richardson, lames T., 43-45, 47, 4954 Rtickert, Hans, 162 RudolfDier of Muiden, 59-61, 63, 65-68, 71; Scriptum, 59-61, 6465,68; Continuatio, 59,63-64 Schemann, Ludwig; see De Lagarde. Schortinghuis, Wilhelmus, 139; Het innige christendom, 139 Scotus, Duns, 77 Seeberg, Erich, 163 Seeberg, Reinhold, 158 Shakespeare, William, 86,93-94,97, 102-104; As You Like It, 104; The Taming of the Shrew, 102; The Tempest, 97, 102; 2 Henry IV, 93 Sheppard, Thomas, 144 Simpson, John, minister, 107, 120121 Smytegeldt, Bemardus, pastor, 143 Spener, Philipp Jakob, 123, 125-126, 128-129 Spira, Francis, 141 Spranckhuysen, Dionysius, 142; Een korte ende klare voorstellinge, van de natuere ende pacti.Jcke

225 van het ware salighrnakende geloove, 142 Stark, Rodney, 14-27,30,34, 36-37, 39; Acts of Faith. Explaining the Human Side of Religion, 14, 17, 18,22,25; A theory ofreligion, 14, 17-18 Stirling Tract Enterprise, 193 Stutz, Ulrich, 159 Tauler, Johannes, 131 Taylor, Jeremy, 87; The Rules, 87 Thomas cl Kempis, 67 Thomson, Emmanuel, 127 Trabius, Ysbrandus, 73-84; Het Cleyn Mostertzaet, 73-84 Trapnel, Anna, 107-114, 116-121; A Legacy for Saints, 109, 111114, 116, 118, 120; The Cry, 109-111, 118; Strange and Wonderful News, 109; Report and Plea, 116 Troeltsch, Emst, 16-17 Trollope, Anthony, 193 Tudor, Mary, queen of England, 86 Van den Brink, Christina, 145 Van den Corput, Abraham, 133; Goddelicke vierschare, 133 Van der Groe, Theodorus, 143-144; Des Christens Eenigen Troost, 143 Van der Veer, Peter, 42-43 Van der Wiel, Salome, 70 Van Laren, Abraham, 142; Goddelycke vyerschare, opgericht in 't raedt-huys van's menschen herte ... , 142 Van Tol, Andries, 145 Vaughan, Henry, 99, 101, 103 Verschuir, Johan, 139, 143; Waarheit in het binnenste, 139, 143 Von Harnack, Adolf, 154, 157-158; Wesen des Christenturns, 154 Von Hollmann, Friedrich, admiral 164 Von Schubert, Hans, 158-159; Ge-

226

INDEX

schichle der chrisllichen Kirche im Fruhmillelaller, 158; Geschichle des deulschen Glaubens, 159 Weber, Max, 9,14,16-17 Weber, Wilhelm, 163-164

Wesley, John, 92; Journal, 92 Wilhelm II, emperor, 164 Wilson, Thomas, 105; The Arle of Rhetoricke, 105 Wulff, David M., 48 Zweder of Ri chteren , 63, 69

n the terms of Durkheimian sociology, conversion is a fait social. Although they are rarely treated as a cultural phenomenon, conversions can obviously be examined for the norms, values and presuppositions of the cultures in which they tal(e place. Thus conversion can help us to shed light on a particular culture. At the same time, the term evokes a dramatic appeal that suggests a kind of suddenness, although in most cases conversion implies a more gradual process of establishing and defining a new - religious - identity. From 21-24 May 2003, the University of Groningen hosted an international conference on 'Cultures of Conversion'. The contributions have been edited in two volumes, which pay special attention to the modes of language and idiom in conversion literature, the meaning and sense of religious-ideological discourse, the variety of rhetorical tropes, and the effects of the conversion narrative with allusions to religious or political conventions and idealizations. The present volume contains theoretical contributions on the theory of conversion, with special attention to the rational choice theory, and on the history of research into conversion. It also offers stimulating case studies, ranging from the late Middle Ages to present times and taken from Germany, Great Britain and The Netherlands. The other volume, Cultures of Conversion, offers in-depth studies of conversion that are mainly taken from the history of India, Islam and Judaism, ranging from the Byzantine period to the new Muslimas of the West.

I

ISBN 90 - 429 -1754 - 7

9 789042 9 17545

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