Harrison Taylor

Alabama State University, History and Political Science, Faculty Member

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William Harrison Taylor is a professor of history at Alabama State University where he concentrates primarily on the history of religion in the Anglo-American world during the long eighteenth century. Most recently he has co-edited, and contribute a chapter to, the book, Revolution and Reformation: Protestant Faith in the Age of Revolutions, 1688-1832 (University of Alabama Press, 2021). Revolution as Reformation calls attention to how Protestants, as individuals and groups, used revolutionary changes to continue or accelerate the Protestant imperative of refining their faith toward an improved vision of reformed religion. Taylor's book, Unity in Christ and Country: American Presbyterians in the Revolutionary Era, 1758-1801 (University of Alabama Press, 2017) won the 2018 A. Donald MacLeod Award in Presbyterian History. Unity in Christ and Country explores the Presbyterian church’s role in fostering and shaping Christian cooperation, independence, nationalism and sectionalism in the burgeoning United States. He has also co-edited, and contributed a chapter to, the book, Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora (Lehigh University Press, 2016) which explores the theological and historical encounters between Presbyterianism and slavery from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Additionally, he is the author of several articles and book chapters including "’Let Every Christian Denomination Cheerfully Unite’: The Origins of Presbyterian Interdenominationalism" published in the Journal of Religious History, and "“To Sing with the Spirit:” Psalms, Hymns and the Spirituality of Late Eighteenth Century American Presbyterians" published in Religions.

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Papers by Harrison Taylor

“To Sing with the Spirit:” Psalms, Hymns and the Spirituality of Late Eighteen Century American Presbyterians

Religions, 2013

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“Let Every Christian Denomination Cheerfully Unite”: The Origins of Presbyterian Interdenominationalism

Journal of Religious History, 2013

The history of religion during the eighteenth century is, fortunately, a well-developed and resea... more The history of religion during the eighteenth century is, fortunately, a well-developed and researched field. Despite the strides taken, however, little has been written on denominational attempts at Christian unity. Historians have instead focused on the multitude of conflicts, both social and religious, that marked the period and preoccupied churchgoers. Although this perspective is indispensable for any understanding of the eighteenth century, it is incomplete. The current portrayal of the late colonial religious scene as one of violently opposed denominations presents the well-known instances of denominational unity, such as the bishopric crisis, the constitutional crisis, and the War for Independence, as products of political or temporal motivations. Overlooked are the religiously motivated attempts between churches to cooperate, such as the interdenominational journey begun by the Presbyterian Church during the French and Indian War. By examining the Presbyterian struggle to establish a stronger spiritual bond between Christian denominations, it sheds new light which calls into question the current understanding of church participation in the pivotal events of the eighteenth century. Harkened by a divine punishment, Presbyterian interdenominationalism reveals not only that ecclesiastical harmony was pursued in an era defined by conflict, but that these unions could also be motivated by religious rather than solely political ideology.

"Creating American Nationalists: Presbyterians and the War for Independence" Journal of the American Revolution, March 2018.

“'Let Every Christian Denomination Cheerfully Unite': The Origins of Presbyterian Interdenominationalism" Journal of Religious History 38:1 (2013): 53-70.

The full article is accessible on the Journal of Religious History's website: http://onlinelibrar... more

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"“To Sing with the Spirit:” Psalms, Hymns and the Spirituality of Late Eighteenth Century American Presbyterians"

Religions, 2013

This paper contends that the contemporary discussion among theologians regarding the relationship... more This paper contends that the contemporary discussion among theologians regarding the relationship between theology and spirituality can offer new insight into the eighteenth century religious world. This theological discussion has wrestled with, among other things, the questions of whether theology and spirituality are mutually exclusive and what exactly their relationship looks like. Resoundingly, theologians such as Alister McGrath, J. I. Packer, and Sandra Schneiders have concluded that any separation of the two represents a false dichotomy within Christianity. Accordingly, Christians are called to “the quest for a fulfilled and authentic Christian existence, involving the bringing together of the fundamental ideas of Christianity and the whole experience of living on the basis of, and within, the scope of the Christian faith.” Sound theology, then, necessitates living by the Spirit and vice versa. The benefit of this theological position for religious history lies in its reevaluation of the common categorization of Christians as either theologically or spiritually focused. By heeding the call of contemporary theologians and blurring these lines of distinction, historians can afford eighteen century American Christians the chance to better define themselves. Considered in this light, the actions of the Presbyterians, for instance, are freed from the manipulative “social control” framework as one of the “establishmentarian” churches. Instead, the Presbyterians reveal characteristics generally reserved for the democratically charged “sectarians,” such as a robust spiritual life compelled by music.

"Unintended Consequences: Southern Presbyterians and Interdenominationalism in the Late Eighteenth Century" in the Journal of Southern Religion, 12 (2010)..

The full article is accessible on the Journal of Southern Religion's website: http://jsr.fsu.edu/... more

Books by Harrison Taylor

Revolution as Reformation: Protestant Faith in the Age of Revolutions, 1688-1832 (University of Alabama Press, 2021)

University of Alabama , 2021

Revolution as Reformation: Protestant Faith in the Age of Revolutions, 1688–1832 highlights the r... more Revolution as Reformation: Protestant Faith in the Age of Revolutions, 1688–1832 highlights the role that Protestantism played in shaping both individual and collective responses to revolution. These essays explore the various ways that the Protestant tradition, rooted in a perpetual process of recalibration and reformulation, provided the lens through which Protestants experienced and understood social and political change in the Age of Revolutions. In particular, they call attention to how Protestants used those changes to continue or accelerate the Protestant imperative of refining their faith toward an improved vision of reformed religion.

The editors and contributors define faith broadly: they incorporate individuals as well as specific sects and denominations, and as much of “life experience” as possible, not just life within a given church. In this way, the volume reveals how believers combined the practical demands of secular society with their personal faith and how, in turn, their attempts to reform religion shaped secular society.

The wide-ranging essays highlight the exchange of Protestant thinkers, traditions, and ideas across the Atlantic during this period. These perspectives reveal similarities between revolutionary movements across and around the Atlantic. The essays also emphasize the foundational role that religion played in people’s attempts to make sense of their world, and the importance they placed on harmonizing their ideas about religion and politics. These efforts produced novel theories of government, encouraged both revolution and counterrevolution, and refined both personal and collective understandings of faith and its relationship to society.

Unity in Christ and Country: American Presbyterians in the Revolutionary Era, 1758-1801

University of Alabama Press, 2017

In this book I argue that a self-imposed interdenominational transformation began in the American... more In this book I argue that a self-imposed interdenominational transformation began in the American Presbyterian Church upon its reunion in 1758 and that the church’s experience during the American Revolution altered this process. The resulting interdenominational goals had both spiritual and national objectives. As the leaders in the Presbyterian Church strove for unity in Christ and country, I contend that they created fissures in the church that would one day divide it as well as further the sectional rift that would lead to the Civil War. The late colonial and early republican Presbyterian Church warrants study not only because of the prestigious positions Presbyterians held in academia, society, and government but also because the church is one of the best representations of a colony/nationwide denomination. In this position the church was able to offer its services, largely through the printed word, as a vehicle in which Americans could address the religious and civil tumults of the late eighteenth century. A study of the denomination reveals Presbyterians more than mirroring and accommodating the concerns, beliefs, and desires of Americans; it also illustrates that they were integral in fostering what captivated the American mind: Christendom, the conflict with Great Britain, nationalism, and sectionalism.

Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora (editors, William Harrison Taylor and Peter C. Messer)

Lehigh University Press, 2016

Faith and Slavery in Presbyterian Diaspora explores the Presbyterian diaspora’s experience with s... more Faith and Slavery in Presbyterian Diaspora explores the Presbyterian diaspora’s experience with slavery. It considers how in areas as diverse as the New Hebrides, Scotland, the United States, and Africa the men and women who shared the Presbyterian faith conditioned their interpretations of and interactions with the institution of chattel slavery. On the surface, these interactions are strikingly varied, ranging from uncompromising calls for abolition to uncritical acceptance; from a willingness to embrace state systems as means to end slavery to a refusal to do so because they would not; from carefully crafted intellectual assaults on the institution to equally well-crafted defenses of it. Yet these essays suggest that despite such differences, these experiences reflect a common set of assumptions about theology and its application in the world that was derived from a shared adherence to John Calvin’s Reformed Tradition. Taken together they highlight how the particular way that Presbyterian theology framed the Reformed Tradition and the responsibilities it imposed on its members made slavery a particularly problematic and fraught issue for adherents to this faith. The chapters reveal, in short, that there was a distinctively Presbyterian experience with slavery one which provides a useful perspective on both the history of the church(es) and on slavery.