The Reluctant Radicals: Jacob Beilhart and the Spirit Fruit Society

by James L. Murphy

This book details the little-known history of the remarkably successful intentional community, Spirit Fruit Society, shedding new light on the origins of the Society, particularly its relationship with cereal foods magnate Charles W. Post, as well as the history of the related Overbrook, Massachusetts Colony. Among similar small, radical charismatic communal Christian groups, the Spirit Fruit Society is remarkable for its relatively long life and the length of time it survived after the death of the founder, Jacob L. Beilhart (1867-1908). The Society espoused a passive acceptance of events, individual freedom, and a belief in Universal life; its tenets derived largely from Christian Science, Spiritualism, Theosophy, and Adventism. The group believed that mankind was still in the 'bud' stage and had yet to reach spiritual fruition. Includes the Beilhart Genealogy, Spirit Fruit Constitution and Regulations, and The Post Connection.

Hardcover

First published June 12, 1989