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

The authors note that the encounter between Matthews and John Smith is one of many such meetings between revivalist leaders in the period between the 1820s and 1840s, a period often referred to as the Second Great Awakening. During this time, evangelical revival movements are personified by preachers like Charles Grandison Finney, who starts the Finneyite movement, which is very popular among the middle and upper classes. Even though Matthews is initially inspired by Finneyism, both he and Smith are less wealthy revivalist leaders, and therefore believe that Finneyism is antithetical to true reform. This in turn, shows the role that class can play in religion.

Finneyites were mostly northern entrepreneurs who rejected Calvinist determinism and other traditional Christian teachings in favor of a more progressive version of Christianity. Among other things, Finneyism advocated for greater equality between men and women, and passionately supported social reform. In addition, believers saw market capitalism as a promising new avenue for the spreading of social and religious freedom, and a means for inspiring political reform. Conversely, men like Matthias and Joseph Smith were reactionary, and they supported the Old Testament teachings of patriarchy and sexism. (Ironically, Matthews did support racial equality.) Poorer and less educated than the middle- and upper-class Finneyites, Matthews, Smith, and their followers felt excluded from the promise and possibilities of the emerging market system. Attitudes toward Finneyites among working-class revivalist sects ranged from indifference to outright hostility and mob violence.

Unlike Joseph Smith, whose Mormonism still survives today, Matthews’s Kingdom failed and was largely forgotten, with Matthews unable to leave an enduring legacy. He was, however, famous in his time via the penny press, which published stories relating to both the Kingdom and Matthews’s trial. The press afforded Matthews’s Kingdom nationwide notoriety and Matthews’s “church” became a sensation in New York.

The authors conclude the prologue by saying that the story of Matthias still resonates with many Americans today. Like his followers, who rejected the social and religious changes brought on by market capitalism and the Second Great Awakening, many contemporary Americans also feel  excluded from modern-day socioeconomic, political, and cultural changes in American society, especially issues relating to inclusion and diversity.