Conversion narrative
Broadly speaking, a conversion narrative is a narrative that relates the operation of conversion, usually religious. As a specific aspect of American literary and religious history, the conversion narrative was an important facet of
Definition
As defined by Patricia Caldwell, the conversion narrative was "a testimony of personal religious experience…spoken or read aloud to the entire congregation of a
In Puritan New England
The conversion narrative was one of the distinguishing features of the Massachusetts Puritan churches; the relation of a conversion narrative emphasized their belief in "faith as the essence of the church: and they were to ensure the presence of faith in their members by a screening process that included narratives of religious experiences."
A key figure in the development and adaptation of the conversion narrative to the New England Puritan churches was
References
- ^ Caldwell, Patricia. The Puritan Conversion Narrative: The Beginnings of American Expression. New York: Cambridge UP, 1983. p. 1
- ^ Morgan, Edmund S. "Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea." Ithaca:Cornell UP, 1963. p. 72
- ^ a b Morgan, Edmund S. "Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea." Ithaca:Cornell UP, 1963. p. 104
- ^ Bremer, Francis J. "The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards." Rev. Ed. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1995. p.106
- ^ Morgan, Edmund S. "Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea." Ithaca:Cornell UP, 1963. p. 105