Religion and Theology

Adoniram Judson Gordon was born in 1836 and became an important and influential person in Boston and Massachusetts.  His greatest achievements included his dedication to a simple type of religious lifestyle, his ability to use religious principles to help the less fortunate people in his community, and his impacts on evangelicals and fundamentalist approaches to religious life.  These qualities and achievements have led one pair of religious scholars to conclude that Gordon was a prime example of the reforming strain of nineteenth-century evangelicalism HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod111701375(Krapohl  Lippy, 1999, p. 245) and also that he represents a crucial figure in the transformation of American evangelicalism at the end of the nineteenth century  HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod111701376(Krapohl  Lippy, 1999, p. 246).   In order to better understand how Gordon came to be such an influential and admired religious figure, this paper will discuss how he applied religious principles in his actual life, how he demanded a simpler approach to religious life, and how his community activities created the inspiration for modern-day Evangelicalism.

As an initial matter, Gordon truly lived a lifestyle that was consistent with his religious beliefs.  He was born into a devoted Calvinist family in Massachusetts and he formally made a conversion to the Christian faith at the age of fourteen.  He was a Baptist and he earned a good education from Brown University and then the Newton Theological Seminary.  He married and had a family.  Professionally, Gordon spent his entire life as a pastor in the Boston area at two churches.  He spent the majority of his time as a pastor at Clarendon Street, considered the most prominent Baptist church in Boston HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod111701375(Krapohl  Lippy, 1999, p. 245).  His personal characteristics were therefore exemplary.  He was a sincere family man and a trusted pastor in his Boston community.  Ironically, however, Gordon was once arrested in a crackdown against street-preaching Evangelicals whose aggressive preaching style had offended some people from Boston with different religious preferences.  This arrest was an unfortunate mistake because Gordon was not one of the aggressive street-preachers and he had simply been a victim of an indiscriminate police crackdown on some of the more visible Evangelicals.  Indeed, noting that this arrest was improper, it has been noted that The three ministers arrested by Boston police were men who crisscrossed traditional boundaries within the citys religious community. Adoniram Judson Gordon, perhaps the most unlikely figure in the episode, was the revered pastor of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod97922984(Bendroth, 1999, p. 628).  He was, in effect, a victim of religious rivalries because of his popularity in Boston and jealousy by other religious groups.  In sum, however, Gordon was a model family man and a model citizen.
One of Gordons main impacts on religion involved his belief that religious values should be simply interpreted and simply applied in daily life.  This was an especially unique approach at Gordons church, which was considered a very wealthy church serving affluent people.  It has been reported that Gordon did not like people at his church who flaunted their wealth or who otherwise behaved in a manner that was inconsistent with religious principles and religious values.  He viewed these contradictions as being hypocritical.  As a result, Gordon sought to instill in his congregation a deeper sense of combining religious values with daily life.  He wanted his congregation to serve as living models of the religious life.  Thus, he set about changing the atmosphere of Clarendon through what Gordon termed scriptural simplicity. He abolished the use of paid musicians and the renting of pews, turned away from polished rhetorical preaching, and emphasized seasons of prayer and works of charity  HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod111701375(Krapohl  Lippy, 1999, p. 245).  This must have been a shocking approach for a wealthy congregation with much pride.

Nevertheless, Gordon did change the atmosphere and he did this mainly by preaching about humility and charity.  The main influence, in short, was a religious approach that stressed fundamental principles that should and could be applied in daily life.  More importantly, Gordon also sought to connect these principles to charity work in the community.

Gordons greatest influence, it can be argued, involved his dedication to charity in the community and to exporting the influence of religion abroad through the creation of overseas missions.   This was not his sole idea.  It has been recorded, for example, that Gordon was heavily influenced toward a community and global religious orientation by another preacher in Massachusetts named Moody.  Specifically, For Gordon this transformation was consummated through a series of revival meetings held in Boston by Dwight L. Moody in 1877  HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod111701375(Krapohl  Lippy, 1999, p. 245).  Gordon combined his spiritual simplicity views with the excitement generated by the revival meetings and thus began to articulate an early form of American Evangelicalism.  Modern religious scholars, for example, frequently trace the beginnings of American fundamentalism and Evangelicalism to Adoniram Judson Gordon.

In conclusion, American religious traditions in particular are greatly indebted to the life and the writing of Adoniram Judson Gordon.  Despite being a pastor in an affluent church, he nevertheless stood by his beliefs and converted his congregation instead of being converted by them.  More, he honestly practiced what he preached by setting up charity organizations in the community and by setting up overseas missions.  Whether one agrees with fundamentalism or Evangelicalism cannot negate the fact that Gordon profoundly influenced American religious traditions and that he lived his own life in a way that was consistent with his spiritual values and convictions.