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Fiction General

Awaiting the Millennium

The Children of Peace and the Village of Hope, 1812-1889

by (author) Albert Schrauwers

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jan 1993
Category
General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802067937
    Publish Date
    Jan 1993
    List Price
    $48.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442671126
    Publish Date
    Sep 2003
    List Price
    $51.00

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Description

In a small town north of Toronto there stands a beautiful and unusual church, well known locally as the Sharon Temple. It is the last remaining evidence of a nineteenth-century Quaker sect, the Children of Peace, one of the few exmaples of a millennarian movement in Canada. Albert Schrauwers explores the history of this intriguing group, which rebuilt Solomon's Temple and prophesied the coming of a Jewish Messiah who would abolish British colonial rule.

Schrauwers discusses the social, political, economic, and theological context in which the Children of Peace were established and, for a time, flourished. He identifies three main periods in the development of the sect: their initial break with the Quakers during the War of 1812; their reorganization following completion of the temple in 1832; and their final reorganization following the Rebellion of 1837.

Using assessment rolls and a careful analysis of relations of production, he shows how material factors influences the political process by which the sect decided what was sacred and what was not. Ultimately he provides a detailed portrait of a remarkable group of people and the times in which they lived.

About the author

Albert Schrauwers is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at York University.

Albert Schrauwers' profile page

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