Historical Background: In 1853, a former Universalist minister named John Murray Spear lead a handful of followers to the top of High Rock Hill in Lynn, Massachusetts. Like many evangelists at that time Spear promised his followers that the return of the Messiah was at hand.
When the Messiah failed to appear, however, rather than disband his little group Spear took a radically different approach. If the Messiah wasn’t going to manifest, Spear would build one instead.
Spear spent the next nine months in a wooden shed with an unknown woman – who would be the “New Mary” – where he constructed what has come to be known as “The God Machine.” After performing a series of bizarre rituals which included channeling the spirit of Benjamin Franklin, Spear’s claimed the “God Machine” came to life.
However, according to the history books Spear’s mechanical messiah didn’t actually do much of anything and Spear eventually moved the thing to Randolph, New York where it was smashed to bits by angry farmers who found the whole affair rather blasphemous.
Alternative History Scenario: But what if Spear’s mechanized deity had come to life? What would have happened then? How would it have changed American history and religion? What other results would have come of it?
When the Messiah failed to appear, however, rather than disband his little group Spear took a radically different approach. If the Messiah wasn’t going to manifest, Spear would build one instead.
Spear spent the next nine months in a wooden shed with an unknown woman – who would be the “New Mary” – where he constructed what has come to be known as “The God Machine.” After performing a series of bizarre rituals which included channeling the spirit of Benjamin Franklin, Spear’s claimed the “God Machine” came to life.
However, according to the history books Spear’s mechanical messiah didn’t actually do much of anything and Spear eventually moved the thing to Randolph, New York where it was smashed to bits by angry farmers who found the whole affair rather blasphemous.
Alternative History Scenario: But what if Spear’s mechanized deity had come to life? What would have happened then? How would it have changed American history and religion? What other results would have come of it?