In Preaching Death, Lucy Bregman tracks the changes in Protestant American funerals over the last one hundred years. Early-twentieth-century "natural immortality" doctrinal funeral sermons transitioned to an era of "silence and denial," eventually becoming expressive, biographical tributes to the deceased. The contemporary death awareness movement, with the "death as a natural event" perspective, has widely impacted American culture, affecting health care, education, and psychotherapy and creating new professions such as hospice nurse and grief counselor. Bregman questions whether this transitionwhich occurred unobserved and without conflictwas inevitable and what alternative paths could have been chosen. In tracing this unique story, she reveals how Americans' comprehension of death shifted in the last centuryand why we must find ways to move beyond it.
In Preaching Death, Lucy Bregman tracks the changes in Protestant American funerals over the last one hundred years. Early-twentieth-century "natural immortality" doctrinal funeral sermons transitioned to an era of "silence and denial," eventually becoming expressive, biographical tributes to the deceased. The contemporary death awareness movement, with the "death as a natural event" perspective, has widely impacted American culture, affecting health care, education, and psychotherapy and creating new professions such as hospice nurse and grief counselor. Bregman questions whether this transitionwhich occurred unobserved and without conflictwas inevitable and what alternative paths could have been chosen. In tracing this unique story, she reveals how Americans' comprehension of death shifted in the last centuryand why we must find ways to move beyond it.
Preaching Death: The Transformation of Christian Funeral Sermons
263Preaching Death: The Transformation of Christian Funeral Sermons
263Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781602583207 |
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Publisher: | Baylor University Press |
Publication date: | 10/01/2011 |
Pages: | 263 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d) |
Age Range: | 18 Years |