It began in the early 1980s with a comment by Amana descendant Madeline Roemig (Bendorf) about the still-vital
Inspirationist movement after it abandoned community of goods at its Amana Colonies in 1932.
As it is, The
Inspirationists, 1714-1932 is undoubtedly the largest collection of translated
Inspirationist materials gathered into one project.
(7) Apart from the addition of certain hymns, particularly by outstanding
Inspirationist leaders such as Eberhard Ludwig Gruber (1665-1728), Johann Friedrich Rock (1687-1749), Johann Adam Gruber (1693-1763), and Christian Metz (1793-1867), and the omission of certain others, the various editions underwent only insignificant changes.
We are told that the
Inspirationist religious assemblies were not referred to as church services (68).
The basis for communal ownership, which developed gradually among the Perfectionists, was the same as in many other communal utopias like the Harmonist,
Inspirationist, and Hutterite: biblical passages, especially Acts 2:44-45, according to which the early Christians "held all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need" (264).
Dissenting Baptists, for example, journeyed from New Jersey to western Virginia in 1789 for a fresh start after years of revolutionary and post-revolutionary turbulence;
Inspirationists sought to reform themselves, find spiritual purity, and live communally by fleeing the worldly temptations of the burgeoning Erie Canal region for the relative isolation of Amana, Iowa; and the much-harassed Mormons moved several times to pursue their vision in peace.
In great detail different expressions, such as Separatists,
Inspirationists, Itinerant Preachers and Prophetic Loners, as well as the Schwarzenau Brethren, Schwenckfelder are described.
A larger historical scope and comparisons to roughly contemporaneous movements--such as including the German
inspirationists, the Quakers in England, or the French prophets--would bolster the arguments here.
Beissel's religious beliefs were developed largely from a combination of radical Pietism and the mystical writings of Jakob Bohme (1575-1624), leavened with ideas from the
Inspirationists and the Dunkers.
An obvious question is why the authors chose to study these particular unconventional groups and not, for instance, Hutterites, Shakers, Amana True
Inspirationists, Basques, lesbian feminists, the mytho-poetic men's movement, skinheads, new religions like the Emissaries of Divine Light, Ananda Marga, or the Hare Krishnas, contemporary communitarians like Twin Oaks, the Jesus People, or The Farm, and terminally persecuted "cults" like the followers of Jim Jones or David Koresh.
Like George Rapp's Harmony Society, the Amana
Inspirationists, and others, Cabet's communities were founded by a migrant body escaping Europe for an intentional communal future in America.
However, despite this overemphasis on Metz, the reader will attain a basic understanding of the beliefs and practices of the
Inspirationists. And, when they visit the Amana Colonies, they will have a much better understanding of the how and why of Amana history than the average visitor.