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=John Humphrey Noyes=

 Noyes believed that we had been living in Heaven on Earth since 70 AD. ("Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Matthew 5: 17-18) The old law (Old Testament) wouldn't pass until Heaven and Earth merged, then the new law (New Testament) would come. And we had been living in that since 70 AD, when Jerusalem was destroyed. Jerusalem, center of the Jewish World (Jewish= old testament), showed the passing to the new world. This new world was the merging of Heaven and Earth under the new law. This meant the laws of Heaven applied here.

In Jesus' teaching in the New Testament, he said there would be no marriage in heaven. This lead Noyes to believe that marriage was a wrong and stale institution. Not only this but you had to let go of selfishness in heaven. He believed that everything should be shared selflessly, and that the bonds of marriage were selfish. Keeping one woman to yourself was selfish, and therefore marriage should be avoided. He instead believed that all men should share all women and having sexual relationships with multiple women wasn't a bad thing. He called this his system of complex marriage.

Noyes was a perfectionist (believer in perfectionism) as well. He deemed that we need to live perfectly on Earth(Heaven) in the eyes of God and follow all his rules (such and not being selfish (even with sexual partners)). He believed it WAS possible to be free of sin in this lifetime. He believed he was perfect, and that without perfectionism Christianity was a lie and that only the perfect were the saved. This belief that he was perfect and perfectionism must be achieved lost him his preaching license.  Noyes was also for equal rights of women, as they had an equal say and voice in decisions in the overall heavenly scheme. However practical application as his community was debated.

All in all, the Oneida Community was based on the practices of Perfectionism, free love, communalism, complex marriage, male continence, and ascending fellowship.

Noyes' reforms weren't taken to very well by America and especially the Christian community. They were called heretical and illegal. He was accused of promoting adultery and polygamy with his beliefs, and was reprimanded and even had a warrant for his arrest out at one point. He was never very successful in promoting his reform due to preconceived notion that his ideas were bad. In fact the government went as far as blatantly opposing his utopian community (located in upper NY, near Canada (a precautionary measure in case of exile, and was needed)) and forced the eminent move of Noyes into Canada. He never returned to the states, and died in Niagara Falls in 1886, and his body was moved back to the Oneida compound, now a joint-stock company producing silverware.

Noyes ideas were quite practical in a time where revolutionary change was arousing. In a country where capitalist ideal was quickly growing, he believed people should reject their competitive and materialistic ways to move to more socialistic views (his entire movement had socialist undertones) where everyone works together to achieve perfection. This was not at all the belief of the country at the time however, and convincing people it was the truth was a difficult task. His Utopian community only reached a max of 300 people in it's history. With prevention of punishment, and government support, the movement may have revolutionized America in the way the Mormon movement did, or could have had an even greater impact. Money was not so much an issue for the trap-makers and silverware makers at the community.

Doctrines of community: "COMPLEX MARRIAGE - This is where every man and every woman is married to each other. They could engage in sexual intercourse, but could not be attached to each other as stated earlier. MALE CONTINENCE - This was a form of birth control where during and after sexual intercourse the man could not ejaculate. ASCENDING FELLOWSHIP - This is where the young virgins in the community were brought into the practice of Complex Marriage. The older godly members who were in a special group and were called Central Members would pick a virgin to be spiritually responsible for. This took place when the young people were about fourteen years old. MUTUAL CRITICISM - In Mutual Criticism, each member of the community that was being reprimanded was taken in front of either a committee or sometimes the whole community to be criticized for their action. CONFESSION - The members of the community, according to Noyes, were sinless after conversion, so no confession would be needed. REGENERATION - That Christ's death was not for the sins of man, but was the first blow to Satan. But that by believing in the death of Christ, one was released from sin, because Christ destroyed the central cause of sin. By believing then, one is regenerated (Whitworth 101-102). SEPARATION - The members did separate into a community, but their main separation was to be a sexual one. REVELATION - Noyes never said that he received special revelation, though he did have some twisted interpretations. Noyes once wrote an article in "The Berean" and emphasized the credibility of scripture and denounced those who denied the validity and relevance of scripture. EQUALITY OF THE SEXES - The Oneida Community believed in equality of the sexes as stated earlier. MILLENNIAL KINGDOM - That the Millennial Kingdom had been introduced in A.D. 70 at which time Noyes thought Christ had made His Second Coming  " (quoted from The Oneida Community)


 * Reference**: Supporters of womens rights will turn to Noyes for support from a religious perspective. No one else believed all the same views as Noyes, however the Shakers praised Noyes for devoting his life to perfectionism, just as they did. (Ann Lee).

Works Cited Holloway, Mark. "John Humphrey Noyes: Complex Marriage and Male Continence." Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. . "John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Perfectionists." //Crossroads of Virginia//. University of Virginia. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. . "Noyes, John Humphrey." //Infoplease//. Highbeam Research, LLC, 2007. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <http://www.infoplease.com/>. "The Oneida Community." //New York History Net//. 30th Conference on NY State History, Feb.-Mar. 2008. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <http://www.nyhistory.com/>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times;">