Nathan Bangs (2 May 1778 – 3 May 1862) was an American

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

tradition and influential leader in the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

prior to the 1860s. Born in Stratford, Connecticut, he received a limited education, taught school, and in 1799 went to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in search of work as either a teacher or a land-surveyor. He was converted to Methodism in 1800 and worked for eight years as an itinerant preacher in the wilderness of the Canadian provinces, serving communities in the areas of Kingston,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

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, Niagara, and

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. Of particular note is his responsibility for organizing the first

camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...

in Upper Canada in the fall of 1805. That same year, he married Canadian Mary Bolton and, after a brief stint in Lower Canada, was transferred back to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1808, first in Albany and then New York in 1810. In 1812, Bangs was made the Presiding Elder of the

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

District, also riding the Montreal Circuit.Carroll, volume I, page 259 Bangs was esteemed within the church, and could have requested and received a much more pleasant assignment. However, with war brewing between Britain and America, few riders would volunteer for assignment to Canada, and Bishop Asbury would not assign non-volunteers. Bangs volunteered to be assigned to Canada, as there was a desperate need for volunteers.Carroll, volume I, page 271 The war prevented Bangs from reaching his assignment, however, and Bangs instead was made Presiding Elder of the Croton Circuit in Delaware, while Thomas Burch went to the Montreal Circuit instead.Carroll, volume I, page 272Warriner (1885), 242 In subsequent years, he took a prominent part in the councils of the church. In 1820, he was transferred from a pastorate in New York to become the Senior Book Agent of the Methodist Book Concern. Although the Concern was first founded in 1798 under John Dickins, it was under Bangs's tenure that the establishment was provided with its first press, bindery, official premises, and weekly newspaper. All of this helped Bangs to pay off the Concern's debts while he also served as the first editor of the '' Methodist Magazine''. In 1828 he was appointed editor of the ''

Christian Advocate The ''Christian Advocate'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It began publication in 1826 and by the mid-1830s had become the largest circulating weekly in the United States, with more than 30 ...

'' (though he had been functioning as its unofficial editor since its inception in 1826). When the ''Methodist Quarterly Review'' replaced the ''Methodist Magazine'' in 1832, the General Conference continued Bangs in the editorship. Bangs was the principal founder and secretary of the Methodist missionary society. When appointed secretary of the missionary society in 1836, he devoted his chief energies to its service, until appointed president of the

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, at

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, in 1841. Surprisingly, that proved to be a disappointment to everyone and in 1842 Bangs resumed pastoral work in New York, and in 1852 retired and employed himself during his remaining years chiefly in literary labors. Although his career was an illustrious one, Bangs's reputation suffered badly when he failed to support Methodist abolitionists at the General Conference of 1844. Abel Stevens published a lengthy biography of Bangs one year after his death in 1862. Bangs defended Arminianism against the

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

of his day. He was a strong believer of prevenient grace but not at the expense of

total depravity Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of man's fall, every person born into the world is ensla ...

. He argued that because of

grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

, humankind does have the ability to respond to God. He also opposed the

antinomianism Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί 'anti''"against" and νόμος 'nomos''"law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term ha ...

practiced by some rival members of the New Light Baptist community. His most important work was a ''History of the Methodist Episcopal Church from its Origin in 1776 to the General Conference of 1840'' (4 volumes, New York, 1839–42). His other published works were a volume directed against ''Christianism'', a new sect in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

(1809); ''Errors of Hopkinsianism'' (1815); ''Predestination Examined'' (1817); ''Reformer Reformed'' (1818); ''Methodist Episcopacy'' (1820); ''Letters to Young Ministers of the Gospel'' (1826); ''Life of the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson'' (1829); ''Authentic History of the Missions Under the Care of the Methodist Episcopal Church'' (1832); ''The Original Church of Christ'' (1836); ''Essay on Emancipation'' (1848); ''State and Responsibilities of the Methodist Episcopal Church'' (1850); ''Letters on Sanctification'' (1851); a ''Life of Arminius''; ''Scriptural Vindication of the Orders and Powers of the Ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church''; and numerous sermons.

Notes

Resources

Biography
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Sources *
Online works of Nathan Bangs

Journals of Nathan Bangs 1805-6, 1817
Bibliography * ''Practical Divinity: Theology in tho Wesleyan Tradition'' (1982) by Thomas A. Langford, chapter 4: "The Americanization of Wesleyan Theology", () * Rawlyk, George. ''The Canada Fire: Radical Evangelicalism in British North America, 1775-1812.'' McGill-Queen's UP, 1994. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bangs, Nathan American evangelicals American Methodist clergy Canadian Christian religious leaders Canadian Methodist theologians Arminian theologians History of Methodism in the United States Methodist writers Converts to Methodism 19th-century Methodist ministers 1862 deaths 1778 births American expatriates in Canada Presidents of Wesleyan University