American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity
From the founding of the first colonies until the present, the influence of Christianity, as the dominant faith in American society, has extended far beyond church pews into the wider culture. Yet, at the same time, Christians in the United States have disagreed sharply about the meaning of their shared tradition, and, divided by denominational affiliation, race, and ethnicity, they have taken stances on every side of contested public issues from slavery to women's rights.

This volume of twenty-two original essays, contributed by a group of prominent thinkers in American religious studies, provides a sophisticated understanding of both the diversity and the alliances among Christianities in the United States and the influences that have shaped churches and the nation in reciprocal ways. American Christianities explores this paradoxical dynamic of dominance and diversity that are the true marks of a faith too often perceived as homogeneous and monolithic.

Contributors:
Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara
James B. Bennett, Santa Clara University
Edith Blumhofer, Wheaton College
Ann Braude, Harvard Divinity School
Catherine A. Brekus, University of Chicago Divinity School
Kristina Bross, Purdue University
Rebecca L. Davis, University of Delaware
Curtis J. Evans, University of Chicago Divinity School
Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University
Kathleen Flake, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
W. Clark Gilpin, University of Chicago Divinity School
Stewart M. Hoover, University of Colorado at Boulder
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, University of Minnesota
David W. Kling, University of Miami
Timothy S. Lee, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University
Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School
Michael D. McNally, Carleton College
Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
Jon Pahl, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Sally M. Promey, Yale University
Jon H. Roberts, Boston University
Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University
1103748646
American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity
From the founding of the first colonies until the present, the influence of Christianity, as the dominant faith in American society, has extended far beyond church pews into the wider culture. Yet, at the same time, Christians in the United States have disagreed sharply about the meaning of their shared tradition, and, divided by denominational affiliation, race, and ethnicity, they have taken stances on every side of contested public issues from slavery to women's rights.

This volume of twenty-two original essays, contributed by a group of prominent thinkers in American religious studies, provides a sophisticated understanding of both the diversity and the alliances among Christianities in the United States and the influences that have shaped churches and the nation in reciprocal ways. American Christianities explores this paradoxical dynamic of dominance and diversity that are the true marks of a faith too often perceived as homogeneous and monolithic.

Contributors:
Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara
James B. Bennett, Santa Clara University
Edith Blumhofer, Wheaton College
Ann Braude, Harvard Divinity School
Catherine A. Brekus, University of Chicago Divinity School
Kristina Bross, Purdue University
Rebecca L. Davis, University of Delaware
Curtis J. Evans, University of Chicago Divinity School
Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University
Kathleen Flake, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
W. Clark Gilpin, University of Chicago Divinity School
Stewart M. Hoover, University of Colorado at Boulder
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, University of Minnesota
David W. Kling, University of Miami
Timothy S. Lee, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University
Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School
Michael D. McNally, Carleton College
Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
Jon Pahl, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Sally M. Promey, Yale University
Jon H. Roberts, Boston University
Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University
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American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity

American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity

American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity

American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity

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Overview

From the founding of the first colonies until the present, the influence of Christianity, as the dominant faith in American society, has extended far beyond church pews into the wider culture. Yet, at the same time, Christians in the United States have disagreed sharply about the meaning of their shared tradition, and, divided by denominational affiliation, race, and ethnicity, they have taken stances on every side of contested public issues from slavery to women's rights.

This volume of twenty-two original essays, contributed by a group of prominent thinkers in American religious studies, provides a sophisticated understanding of both the diversity and the alliances among Christianities in the United States and the influences that have shaped churches and the nation in reciprocal ways. American Christianities explores this paradoxical dynamic of dominance and diversity that are the true marks of a faith too often perceived as homogeneous and monolithic.

Contributors:
Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara
James B. Bennett, Santa Clara University
Edith Blumhofer, Wheaton College
Ann Braude, Harvard Divinity School
Catherine A. Brekus, University of Chicago Divinity School
Kristina Bross, Purdue University
Rebecca L. Davis, University of Delaware
Curtis J. Evans, University of Chicago Divinity School
Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University
Kathleen Flake, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
W. Clark Gilpin, University of Chicago Divinity School
Stewart M. Hoover, University of Colorado at Boulder
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, University of Minnesota
David W. Kling, University of Miami
Timothy S. Lee, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University
Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School
Michael D. McNally, Carleton College
Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
Jon Pahl, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Sally M. Promey, Yale University
Jon H. Roberts, Boston University
Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780807872130
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date: 12/01/2011
Edition description: 1
Pages: 544
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Catherine A. Brekus is associate professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is author of Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America, 1740-1845 and editor of The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past.
W. Clark Gilpin is the Margaret E. Burton Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he served as dean from 1990 to 2000.

Table of Contents

Introduction Catherine A. Brekus W. Clark Gilpin

Part I Christian Diversity in America 25

Understanding Christian Diversity in America Catherine L. Albanese 29

The Practices of Native American Christianities Michael D. Mcnally 59

From the Coercive to the Liberative: Asian and Latino Immigrants and Christianity in the United States Timothy S. Lee 76

African American Christianity and the Burden of Race Curtis J. Evans 102

Christians and Non- Christians in the Marketplace of American Religion Jonathan D. Sarna 119

Tensions Within: The Elusive Quest for Christian Cooperation in America James B. Bennett 133

Part II Practicing Christianity In America 153

Redeeming Modernity: Christian Theology in Modern America W. Clark Gilpin 155

Hearts and Stones: Material Transformations and the Stuff of Christian Practice in the United States Sally M. Promey 183

A Contested Legacy: Interpreting, Debating, and Translating the Bible in America David W. Kling 214

Space, Time, and Performance: Constitutive Components of American Christian Worship Jeanne Halgren Kilde 242

Spreading the Gospel in Christian America Edith L. Blumhofer 259

Part III Christianity and American Culture 275

The Perils of Prosperity: Some Historical Reflections on-Christianity, Capitalism, and Consumerism in America Catherine A. Brekus 279

A Wilderness Condition: The Captivity Narrative as Christian Literature Kristina Bross 307

Science and Christianity in America: A Limited Partnership Jon H. Roberts 327

"My Homosexuality Is Getting Worse Every Day": Norman Vincent Peale, Psychiatry, and the Liberal Protestant Response to Same-Sex Desires in Mid-Twentieth-Century America Rebecca L. Davis 347

Christianity and the Media: Accommodation, Contradiction, and Transformation Stewart M. Hoover 366

What Is "American" about Christianity in the United States? Mark A. Noll 382

Part IV Christianity and the American Nation 397

Christianity, National Identity, and the Contours of Religious Pluralism Tracy Fessenden 399

Beyond Church and Sect: Christian Movements for Social Reform Dan McKanan 427

Shifting Sacrifices: Christians, War, and Peace in America Jon Pahl 445

Women, Christianity, and the Constitution Ann Braude 466

An Enduring Contest: American Christianities and the State Kathleen Flake 491

Contributors 509

Acknowledgments 513

Index 515

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Catherine Brekus and Clark Gilpin have compiled an outstanding volume that will be ideal for undergraduate and graduate classes in religious studies and American studies. This collection of essays provides readers with a renewed appreciation for the many ways that American Christianities have shaped culture, politics, social life, and worldviews while illuminating corners of American Christianities that have been missing from mainstream scholarship.—Diane Winston, University of Southern California

This anthology is here to stay. All of the essays in this volume represent original scholarship, all deal with topics of broad scope and enduring significance, and almost all of the authors are senior figures widely respected for their command of their specialties. Brekus's and Gilpin's sixteen-page introduction alone is worth the price of admission. This work will serve admirably for students, scholars, and thoughtful browsers who desire vivid descriptions and clear analyses of the contours of the American Christian landscape.—Grant Wacker, Duke University

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