4
The immaculate conception had no place in their creed. They did not believe
Christ was God; his humanity made his example an inspiration and help be-
cause every man had to fight his own fight with the help of God as exemplified
in Christ and Mother Ann. They felt the resurrection of the body was un-
pleasant and impossible; rather the physical life was temporary, a preparation
for life of spirit which was to be eternal. They believed there was no static,
finished heaven, but a further opportunity for spiritual adventuring.
As previously indicated, their most startling belief was that the sin
by which all evil came into the world was sex. Therefore, a celibate life was
the way to begin to conquer man's physical nature. Marriage among the
"world's people" was all right but the Shakers considered those who practiced
it to be on a lower spiritual plane than themselves.
This was a period of "revival" in religion in England and the Believers
were one of many sects which came into being at the time. They were dif-
ferent from the run-of-the-mill revivalists because theirs was not an occasional
outburst of feeling, it was a way of life, not to be separated from their daily
habits, from everything they thought and did. Because they moved about
during their worship services, becoming so overcome with emotion that some-
times they became convulsed, others first called them "Shaking Quakers" and
this became shortened to "Shakers."
At the time of the settlement at Niskayuna, the Revolutionary War was
in progress and there were many colonists further west, particularly in the
area of Johnson Hall as a result of the influence of Sir William Johnson, who