Sunday, July 6, 2008

Early Life of John Humphrey Noyes

First, we will consider how these elements played out in the life and perfectionist religious movement of John Humphrey Noyes. He came from well-to-do parents living in Battleboro, Vermont in 1811 and was one of nine children. His father, a teacher turned businessman, was later in politics and his mother was the aunt of Rutherford B. Hayes. While his father ". . .respected the Bible and Christianity [and] was a vigorous moralist," he followed no particular religion. Noyes' mother was very devout. There are no documents concerning Noyes childhood but one source says he was "a precocious learner and thoughtful." He would go to bed early to think. He also had a quick temper and was "a natural leader among the children." Noyes entered college at age fifteen to study law.

The family was close-knit. Letters in G.W. Noyes book, The Religious Experience of John Humphrey Noyes show a loving, concerned family. John later converted several family members to his perfectionist doctrines. Actually, it is probably from both parents that Noyes learned his perfectionist behaviors, but the differing religious emphasis must have caused him stress. A letter from his father while John was away at school told him to get rid of any notion that would prevent him from attaining a "lofty mark." According to G.W. Noyes, John's mother, Polly ". . . no sooner saw a principle than she must attempt to realize it in practice. The shortcomings revealed by introspection were always a cause of suffering to her, yet religious assurance was a prominent characteristic." Once the family waited three months to move while she prayed for divine direction.

Polly Noyes had high hopes for her son. From the beginning he was, in her mind, special. A "'proper child'" she wrote. Her dream and prayer was that he "become a minister of the everlasting gospel." It is at her urging that Noyes attended the revival meeting in 1831 where he was converted. Actually, this was not his first conversion experience or his last. He said he went to please her but resisted his call on the grounds he would have to give up law and "Satan frequently suggested . . . I should live to see the millennium. . ." It isn't until he got a cold that he began to consider the "uncertainty of life" and his need for salvation.

Although Noyes admitted that he was not comfortable with the "phrenzy" of religion, his contemplation of death was the impetus he needed. Like his mother, he began his religious life with a passion. There are frequent mentions of "darkness" and self-criticism because he did not feel deserving of God's grace. By 1832 he was experiencing great depression. He felt guilt over things he did as a boy and he always worried about his flaws. Noyes felt he was unattractive and didn't relate well to people, particularly women. Noyes' biographer, Robert Thomas says he was "constantly preoccupied with his appearance, dress, speech, and moral behavior." There are several comments in Noyes writings that indicate this preoccupation with his shortcomings and the biting criticism he is capable of regarding others' shortcomings. His criticism of others increases over time, especially after he declared himself perfect during a sermon in 1833 that lost him his license to preach in the Presbyterian Church. He was twenty-three years old.

Noyes had his New York experience in 1834. He found himself in deep and repeated conflict with the major religious leaders of his day such as Charles Finney. It didn't matter who they were, if they disagreed with Noyes they were wrong. He lost many of his friends and associates. Whitworth says that the rejection and isolation heightened Noyes' belief that he was the "sole possessor of an understanding of true Christianity . . . [and he was] God's lieutenant. . . ." Even more arrogant statements would be made over a hundred years later by Jones and Howell. "Plagued by his own self-doubts, his theories derided by others, deserted by Theodore Weld, another man troubled by carnal desires, and his funds dwindling rapidly, Noyes suffered through his most prolonged and severe depression. . . ." He appears to have reached a point at which he experienced a breakdown and questioned everything he believed, even to the point of denying there was a God. He ate and slept little during this period, mainly because he was afraid of his dreams. He describes having trouble eating and sleeping during this time. Certain foods, such as "animal foods" suddenly became a taboo while "marine foods" were acceptable. After three weeks he went home to be cared for by his family and to tell everyone who would listen of his experience. Gradually, Noyes came to see this as a testing period in which he could prove himself worthy.

Noyes' ideal was to pattern his life after Christ. He began to spend more time in prayer and Bible study. By 1833 he boasts of twelve to sixteen hours of Bible reading a day and three hours a day in prayer. Obviously, he had little time for anything else. He also mentions " . . . temperance, fasting, [and] exercise . . . " as a means to overcome aliments. One can only speculate as to the effects of all this on his mental and physical health. In his own words Noyes says, "Many times and for days together my heart was so burdened with spiritual joy, that my body became weak and pined away."

Noyes had developed the doctrine that the second coming of Christ had occurred in A.D. 70 and that he was living "in the age of the fulfillment of Christ's prophecies . . . " He now believed that he would see the millennium and even be the catalyst for its start, even though he thought the idea came from Satan. It is from this belief that all of his most radical doctrines evolved.

His belief in multiple marriage or as he termed it, complex marriage caused even more storm than his declaration of perfection. Noyes fell in love with one of his earliest converts, Abigail Merwin. Even after she married, he claimed that she was his wife because she was given to him by God and that fact transcended the bonds of worldly matrimony. This rejection may have been a catalyst for Noyes forming his complex marriage ideas. He felt guilty over sexual feelings, particularly when she was a convert. He also seemed to want more than one sexual partner and did not know how to deal with his carnal desires. During the next several years Noyes distributed his more radical beliefs in a publication, The Perfectionist, he started with a friend. His own paper was called, The Witness. Through his preaching and these publications Noyes gathers the core for his communal experiment from his converts.

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