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Utopia

John Humphrey Noyes: Philosopher of Bible Communism

David White contemplates a life of sex and sermons.

Those who know his name at all associate John Humphrey Noyes (1811-86) with the Oneida Community, an experiment in communal living in the tradition of Christian Perfectionism. A business which developed from the community originally made animal traps but later became famous for tableware. Its present descendent, Oneida Limited, includes a brief history of the commune on its website, but gets no more specific than saying, “They called themselves Perfectionists and, being logical and literal, they proceeded to substitute for the small unit of home and family and individual possessions, the larger unit of group-family and group-family life.” In fact, as is generally known, all adult males were considered husbands of each adult female and could apply to enjoy sexual relations. Enjoy, because for them, the purpose of sex was pleasure, community-building and spiritual progress.

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