Author: Rodney Stark
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520342798
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
How religious are Americans these days? How many still believe in God, in Biblical miracles, in heaven and hell? Do people pray? How much money is being given to churches, by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and other groups? American Piety, the first of a three-volume study of religious commitment, answers these and a host of other questions about the contemporary religious scene. Particularly startling are the contrasts in beliefs, practices, and experiences revealed among the eleven major Christian denominations whose membership is compared.
American Piety
Author: Rodney Stark
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520342798
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
How religious are Americans these days? How many still believe in God, in Biblical miracles, in heaven and hell? Do people pray? How much money is being given to churches, by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and other groups? American Piety, the first of a three-volume study of religious commitment, answers these and a host of other questions about the contemporary religious scene. Particularly startling are the contrasts in beliefs, practices, and experiences revealed among the eleven major Christian denominations whose membership is compared.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520342798
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
How religious are Americans these days? How many still believe in God, in Biblical miracles, in heaven and hell? Do people pray? How much money is being given to churches, by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and other groups? American Piety, the first of a three-volume study of religious commitment, answers these and a host of other questions about the contemporary religious scene. Particularly startling are the contrasts in beliefs, practices, and experiences revealed among the eleven major Christian denominations whose membership is compared.
Patriotism and Piety
Author: Jonathan J. Den Hartog
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 081393642X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
In Patriotism and Piety, Jonathan Den Hartog argues that the question of how religion would function in American society was decided in the decades after the Constitution and First Amendment established a legal framework. Den Hartog shows that among the wide array of politicians and public figures struggling to define religion’s place in the new nation, Federalists stood out—evolving religious attitudes were central to Federalism, and the encounter with Federalism strongly shaped American Christianity. Den Hartog describes the Federalist appropriations of religion as passing through three stages: a "republican" phase of easy cooperation inherited from the experience of the American Revolution; a "combative" phase, forged during the political battles of the 1790s–1800s, when the destiny of the republic was hotly contested; and a "voluntarist" phase that grew in importance after 1800. Faith became more individualistic and issue-oriented as a result of the actions of religious Federalists. Religious impulses fueled party activism and informed governance, but the redirection of religious energies into voluntary societies sapped party momentum, and religious differences led to intraparty splits. These developments altered not only the Federalist Party but also the practice and perception of religion in America, as Federalist insights helped to create voluntary, national organizations in which Americans could practice their faith in interdenominational settings. Patriotism and Pietyfocuses on the experiences and challenges confronted by a number of Federalists, from well-known leaders such as John Adams, John Jay, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Timothy Dwight to lesser-known but still important figures such as Caleb Strong, Elias Boudinot, and William Jay.
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 081393642X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
In Patriotism and Piety, Jonathan Den Hartog argues that the question of how religion would function in American society was decided in the decades after the Constitution and First Amendment established a legal framework. Den Hartog shows that among the wide array of politicians and public figures struggling to define religion’s place in the new nation, Federalists stood out—evolving religious attitudes were central to Federalism, and the encounter with Federalism strongly shaped American Christianity. Den Hartog describes the Federalist appropriations of religion as passing through three stages: a "republican" phase of easy cooperation inherited from the experience of the American Revolution; a "combative" phase, forged during the political battles of the 1790s–1800s, when the destiny of the republic was hotly contested; and a "voluntarist" phase that grew in importance after 1800. Faith became more individualistic and issue-oriented as a result of the actions of religious Federalists. Religious impulses fueled party activism and informed governance, but the redirection of religious energies into voluntary societies sapped party momentum, and religious differences led to intraparty splits. These developments altered not only the Federalist Party but also the practice and perception of religion in America, as Federalist insights helped to create voluntary, national organizations in which Americans could practice their faith in interdenominational settings. Patriotism and Pietyfocuses on the experiences and challenges confronted by a number of Federalists, from well-known leaders such as John Adams, John Jay, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Timothy Dwight to lesser-known but still important figures such as Caleb Strong, Elias Boudinot, and William Jay.
Piety and Profession
Author: Glenn Miller
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802829465
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 846
Book Description
From the urbanization of the Gilded Age to the upheavals of the Haight-Ashbury era, this encyclopedic work by Glenn Miller takes readers on a sweeping journey through the landscape of American theological education, highlighting such landmarks as Princeton, Andover, and Chicago, and such fault lines as denominationalism, science, and dispensationalism. The first such exhaustive treatment of this time period in religious education, Piety and Profession is a valuable tool for unearthing the key trends from the Civil War well into the twentieth century. All those involved in theological education will be well served by this study of how the changing world changed educational patterns.
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802829465
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 846
Book Description
From the urbanization of the Gilded Age to the upheavals of the Haight-Ashbury era, this encyclopedic work by Glenn Miller takes readers on a sweeping journey through the landscape of American theological education, highlighting such landmarks as Princeton, Andover, and Chicago, and such fault lines as denominationalism, science, and dispensationalism. The first such exhaustive treatment of this time period in religious education, Piety and Profession is a valuable tool for unearthing the key trends from the Civil War well into the twentieth century. All those involved in theological education will be well served by this study of how the changing world changed educational patterns.
Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism
Author: Bryce Traister
Publisher: Literature, Religion, & Postse
ISBN: 9780814212981
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism reconsiders the standard critical view that women's religious experiences were either silent consent or hostile response to mainstream Puritan institutions. In this groundbreaking new approach to American Puritanism, Bryce Traister asks how gendered understandings of authentic religious experience contributed to the development of seventeenth-century religious culture and to the "post-religious" historiography of Puritanism in secular modernity. He argues that women were neither marginal nor hostile to the theological and cultural ambitions of seventeenth-century New England religious culture and, indeed, that radicalized female piety was in certain key respects the driving force of New England Puritan culture. Uncovering the feminine interiority of New England Protestantism, Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism positions itself against prevalent historical arguments about the rise of secularism in the modern West. Traister demonstrates that female spirituality became a principal vehicle through which Puritan identity became both absorbed within and foundational for pre-national secular culture. Engaging broadly with debates about religion and secularization, national origins and transnational unsettlements, and gender and cultural authority, this is a foundational reconsideration both of American Puritanism itself and of "American Puritanism" as it has been understood in relation to secular modernity.
Publisher: Literature, Religion, & Postse
ISBN: 9780814212981
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism reconsiders the standard critical view that women's religious experiences were either silent consent or hostile response to mainstream Puritan institutions. In this groundbreaking new approach to American Puritanism, Bryce Traister asks how gendered understandings of authentic religious experience contributed to the development of seventeenth-century religious culture and to the "post-religious" historiography of Puritanism in secular modernity. He argues that women were neither marginal nor hostile to the theological and cultural ambitions of seventeenth-century New England religious culture and, indeed, that radicalized female piety was in certain key respects the driving force of New England Puritan culture. Uncovering the feminine interiority of New England Protestantism, Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism positions itself against prevalent historical arguments about the rise of secularism in the modern West. Traister demonstrates that female spirituality became a principal vehicle through which Puritan identity became both absorbed within and foundational for pre-national secular culture. Engaging broadly with debates about religion and secularization, national origins and transnational unsettlements, and gender and cultural authority, this is a foundational reconsideration both of American Puritanism itself and of "American Puritanism" as it has been understood in relation to secular modernity.
Power of Popular Piety
Author: Ambrose Mong
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532656432
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Book Description
This book examines the ambivalence of folk Catholicism as a resource to fight against injustice, exploitation, and oppression. Cases are cited to illuminate the value and potential trespasses of popular religious beliefs and practices. Over centuries, representatives of the powerful middle and upper middle classes did not hesitate to manipulate popular piety to protect their power and privileges. In fact, much of popular religion still reflects the dominant ideology. Popular piety has the potential for liberation against unjust social and economic structures. When properly guided, this practice can broaden and deepen political consciousness and mobilize people to act. Without a strong level of political consciousness as well as liberative evangelization, popular religion will be alienating to the poor while strengthening the status quo of the rich and the powerful. This study argues that it will be the elites, the well-educated and committed Christians, not the masses, who would foster the transformation of society.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532656432
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Book Description
This book examines the ambivalence of folk Catholicism as a resource to fight against injustice, exploitation, and oppression. Cases are cited to illuminate the value and potential trespasses of popular religious beliefs and practices. Over centuries, representatives of the powerful middle and upper middle classes did not hesitate to manipulate popular piety to protect their power and privileges. In fact, much of popular religion still reflects the dominant ideology. Popular piety has the potential for liberation against unjust social and economic structures. When properly guided, this practice can broaden and deepen political consciousness and mobilize people to act. Without a strong level of political consciousness as well as liberative evangelization, popular religion will be alienating to the poor while strengthening the status quo of the rich and the powerful. This study argues that it will be the elites, the well-educated and committed Christians, not the masses, who would foster the transformation of society.
Redeeming America
Author: Michael Lienesch
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 9780807844281
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
A study of Christian conservative religious and political beliefs as aspects of constructing and maintaining a world view. Considering a series of spheres from the self to the family, the economy, the polity and the world, analyzes published writings by a diversity of people adhering to the movement to reveal the overarching structure of the reality they inhabit. Paper edition (unseen), $17.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 9780807844281
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
A study of Christian conservative religious and political beliefs as aspects of constructing and maintaining a world view. Considering a series of spheres from the self to the family, the economy, the polity and the world, analyzes published writings by a diversity of people adhering to the movement to reveal the overarching structure of the reality they inhabit. Paper edition (unseen), $17.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
America's Four Gods
Author: Paul Froese
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199752605
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278
Book Description
Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives. America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of how Americans view God. Paul Froese and Christopher Bader argue that many of America's most intractable social and political divisions emerge from religious convictions that are deeply held but rarely openly discussed. Drawing upon original survey data from thousands of Americans and a wealth of in-depth interviews from all parts of the country, Froese and Bader trace America's cultural and political diversity to its ultimate source--differing opinions about God. They show that regardless of our religious tradition (or lack thereof), Americans worship four distinct types of God: The Authoritative God--who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; The Benevolent God--who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God--who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God--who stands apart from the world He created. The authors show that these four conceptions of God form the basis of our worldviews and are among the most powerful predictors of how we feel about the most contentious issues in American life. Accessible, insightful, and filled with the voices of ordinary Americans discussing their most personal religious beliefs, America's Four Gods provides an invaluable portrait of how we view God and therefore how we view virtually everything else.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199752605
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278
Book Description
Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives. America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of how Americans view God. Paul Froese and Christopher Bader argue that many of America's most intractable social and political divisions emerge from religious convictions that are deeply held but rarely openly discussed. Drawing upon original survey data from thousands of Americans and a wealth of in-depth interviews from all parts of the country, Froese and Bader trace America's cultural and political diversity to its ultimate source--differing opinions about God. They show that regardless of our religious tradition (or lack thereof), Americans worship four distinct types of God: The Authoritative God--who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; The Benevolent God--who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God--who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God--who stands apart from the world He created. The authors show that these four conceptions of God form the basis of our worldviews and are among the most powerful predictors of how we feel about the most contentious issues in American life. Accessible, insightful, and filled with the voices of ordinary Americans discussing their most personal religious beliefs, America's Four Gods provides an invaluable portrait of how we view God and therefore how we view virtually everything else.
Piety & Politics
Author: Reverend Barry W. Lynn
Publisher: Forum Books
ISBN: 0307381633
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
The Reverend Barry Lynn explains why the Religious Right has it all wrong. In the wake of the 2004 presidential election, the Religious Right insisted that George Bush had been handed a mandate for an ideology-based social agenda, including the passage of a “marriage amendment” to ban same-sex unions, diversion of tax money to religious groups through “faith-based initiatives,” the teaching of creationism in public schools, and restrictions on abortion. Led by an aggressive band of television preachers and extremist radio personalities, the Religious Right set its sights on demolishing the wall of separation between church and state. The Reverend Barry Lynn is a devout Christian, but this propaganda effort disturbs him deeply. He argues that politicians need to stop looking to the Bible to justify their actions and should consult another source instead: the U.S. Constitution. When the Founding Fathers of our great nation created the Constitution, they had seen firsthand the dangers of an injudicious mix of religion and government. They knew what it was like to live under the yoke of state-imposed faith. They drew up a model for the new nation that would allow absolute freedom of religion. They knew that religion, united with the raw power of government, spawns tyranny. Yet the Religious Right now seems distrustful of those principles inherent in the Constitution, viewing the separation of church and state only as a dangerous anti-Christian principle imposed upon our nation. In reality, the separation between church and state has been an important ally to religion: with the state out of the picture, hundreds of religions have grown and prospered. Religion doesn’t need the government’s assistance, any more than it is practical or appropriate for religious doctrine to be fostered in the government or taught in public schools. As an explicitly religious figure speaking out against the Religious Right, Lynn has incurred the wrath of such personalities as Pat Buchanan, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, who once said Lynn was “lower than a child molester.” Lynn has continuously taken on these radicals of the Religious Right calmly and rationally, using their own statements and religious fervor to prove that when they attack the constitutionally mandated separation, they’re actually attacking freedom of religion. In Piety & Politics, the Reverend Barry Lynn continues the fight—educating Americans about what is at stake, explaining why it is crucial that we maintain the separation of church and state, and galvanizing us to defend the honor of our religious freedom.
Publisher: Forum Books
ISBN: 0307381633
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
The Reverend Barry Lynn explains why the Religious Right has it all wrong. In the wake of the 2004 presidential election, the Religious Right insisted that George Bush had been handed a mandate for an ideology-based social agenda, including the passage of a “marriage amendment” to ban same-sex unions, diversion of tax money to religious groups through “faith-based initiatives,” the teaching of creationism in public schools, and restrictions on abortion. Led by an aggressive band of television preachers and extremist radio personalities, the Religious Right set its sights on demolishing the wall of separation between church and state. The Reverend Barry Lynn is a devout Christian, but this propaganda effort disturbs him deeply. He argues that politicians need to stop looking to the Bible to justify their actions and should consult another source instead: the U.S. Constitution. When the Founding Fathers of our great nation created the Constitution, they had seen firsthand the dangers of an injudicious mix of religion and government. They knew what it was like to live under the yoke of state-imposed faith. They drew up a model for the new nation that would allow absolute freedom of religion. They knew that religion, united with the raw power of government, spawns tyranny. Yet the Religious Right now seems distrustful of those principles inherent in the Constitution, viewing the separation of church and state only as a dangerous anti-Christian principle imposed upon our nation. In reality, the separation between church and state has been an important ally to religion: with the state out of the picture, hundreds of religions have grown and prospered. Religion doesn’t need the government’s assistance, any more than it is practical or appropriate for religious doctrine to be fostered in the government or taught in public schools. As an explicitly religious figure speaking out against the Religious Right, Lynn has incurred the wrath of such personalities as Pat Buchanan, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, who once said Lynn was “lower than a child molester.” Lynn has continuously taken on these radicals of the Religious Right calmly and rationally, using their own statements and religious fervor to prove that when they attack the constitutionally mandated separation, they’re actually attacking freedom of religion. In Piety & Politics, the Reverend Barry Lynn continues the fight—educating Americans about what is at stake, explaining why it is crucial that we maintain the separation of church and state, and galvanizing us to defend the honor of our religious freedom.
Politics of Piety
Author: Saba Mahmood
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691149801
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
An analysis of Islamist cultural politics through the ethnography of a thriving, grassroots women's piety movement in the mosques of Cairo, Egypt. Unlike those organized Islamist activities that seek to seize or transform the state, this is a moral reform movement whose orthodox practices are commonly viewed as inconsequential to Egypt's political landscape. The author's exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are linked within the context of such movements.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691149801
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
An analysis of Islamist cultural politics through the ethnography of a thriving, grassroots women's piety movement in the mosques of Cairo, Egypt. Unlike those organized Islamist activities that seek to seize or transform the state, this is a moral reform movement whose orthodox practices are commonly viewed as inconsequential to Egypt's political landscape. The author's exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are linked within the context of such movements.
The Province of Piety
Author: Michael J. Colacurcio
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822315728
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 692
Book Description
In this celebrated analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Michael J. Colacurcio presents a view of the author as America's first significant intellectual historian. Colacurcio shows that Hawthorne's fiction responds to a wide range of sermons, pamphlets, and religious tracts and debates--a variety of moral discourses at large in the world of provincial New England. Informed by comprehensive historical research, the author shows that Hawthorne was steeped in New England historiography, particularly the sermon literature of the seventeenth century. But, as Colacurcio shows, Hawthorne did not merely borrow from the historical texts he deliberately studied; rather, he is best understood as having written history. In The Province of Piety, originally published in 1984 (Harvard University Press), Hawthorne is seen as a moral historian working with fictional narratives--a writer brilliantly involved in examining the moral and political effects of Puritanism in America and recreating the emotional and cultural contexts in which earlier Americans had lived.
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822315728
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 692
Book Description
In this celebrated analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Michael J. Colacurcio presents a view of the author as America's first significant intellectual historian. Colacurcio shows that Hawthorne's fiction responds to a wide range of sermons, pamphlets, and religious tracts and debates--a variety of moral discourses at large in the world of provincial New England. Informed by comprehensive historical research, the author shows that Hawthorne was steeped in New England historiography, particularly the sermon literature of the seventeenth century. But, as Colacurcio shows, Hawthorne did not merely borrow from the historical texts he deliberately studied; rather, he is best understood as having written history. In The Province of Piety, originally published in 1984 (Harvard University Press), Hawthorne is seen as a moral historian working with fictional narratives--a writer brilliantly involved in examining the moral and political effects of Puritanism in America and recreating the emotional and cultural contexts in which earlier Americans had lived.