George Lippard, Ignatius Donnelly, and the Esoteric Theology of American Labor

This chapter examines the works of two labor novelists, George Lippard (1822–54) and Ignatius Donnelly (1831–1901), focusing specifically on their use of esoteric Christianity as a source of worker empowerment. Esotericism here is defined as that strand of belief and practice that finds hidden significance beneath the surface of religious traditions. Esotericists view all nature as alive and posit elaborate correspondences between heaven and earth, or the self and God. Most esotericists see themselves as bearers of an ancient tradition that has been transmitted through initiations by secret brotherhoods. For some Western esotericists, this secret tradition is outside of and antithetical to Christianity. For others—including Lippard and Donnelly—it is the vital heart of Christianity itself, albeit a heart that has often been suppressed by ecclesiastical institutions.