Download or read book 1950 Crossroads of American Religious Life written by Robert S. Ellwood and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year 1950 saw the height of the postwar religious boom in America and also the depths of the Cold War. It was a year when religious enthusiasm and postwar affluence coexisted with anxiety about global communism and an ever-present nuclear threat. McCarthyism, the advent of the hydrogen bomb, and the onset of the Korean War provoked ardent and diverse responses from religious leaders and occasioned lively debate in flourishing religious journalism. Robert Ellwood's1950is a cultural time capsule, recovering the impetus for many of today's trends, remembering endings and beginnings, and documenting many other developments in American religious life of fifty years ago. It highlights the parallels and divergences between religious culture then and now.
Download or read book Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field written by Mark Burford and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on and piecing together a trove of previously unexamined sources, this work is a critical study of the renowned African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972).
Download or read book A Companion to Post 1945 America written by Jean-Christophe Agnew and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Post-1945 America is an original collectionof 34 essays by key scholars on the history and historiography ofPost-1945 America. Covers society and culture, people and movements, politics andforeign policy Surveys and evaluates the best scholarship on every importantera and topic Includes book review section on essential readings
Download or read book Mainline Christianity written by Jason S Lantzer and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the Revolutionary War, Mainline Christianity has been comprised of the Seven Sisters of American Protestantism—the Congregational Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ. These denominations have been the dominant cultural representatives since the nineteenth century of how and where the majority of American Christians worship. Today, however, the Seven Sisters no longer represent most American Christians. The Mainline has been shrinking while evangelical and fundamentalist churches, as well as non denominational congregations and mega churches, have been attracting more and more members. In this comprehensive and accessible book, Jason S. Lantzer chronicles the rise and fall of the Seven Sisters, documenting the ways in which they stopped shaping American culture and began to be shaped by it. After reviewing and critiquing the standard decline narrative of the Mainline he argues for a reconceptualization of the Mainline for the twenty-first century, a new grouping of Seven Sisters that seeks to recognize the vibrancy of American Christianity.
Download or read book American Evangelicals Today written by Corwin E. Smidt and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American Evangelicals Today assesses the contemporary social, religious, and political characteristics of evangelical Protestants today, and it does so in light of (1) whether these characteristics are similar to, or different from, the corresponding characteristics of adherents of other major faith traditions in American religious life, and (2) the extent which these particular characteristics among evangelicals may have changed over the past four decades. In addition, it analyzes the extent which evangelicals are divided today, and it does so within the framework of four potential factors that might shape such divisions -- racial/ethnic differences, generational differences, educational differences, and religious differences. American Evangelicals Today is designed to serve as an accessible, but scholarly, overview of American evangelicals, one that is appealing to all scholars, students, and laity alike. Smidt offers a discussion of the nature of evangelical Protestantism, highlights the particular analytical issues at play when one seeks to determine just who are to be classified as evangelicals, and reveals some of the contradictory findings that can emerge through the use of these different analytical frameworks for defining evangelicals. The volume not only analyzes the current characteristics of evangelicals in light of those exhibited by other religious traditions as well as how evangelicals have changed over time, but it looks toward the future, addressing generational differences and other possible factors for change among evangelical Protestants.
Download or read book Within the Market Strife written by Kevin E. Schmiesing and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a period often viewed by historians as one in which Catholics labored in an intellectual ghetto, shut off from mainstream American thought and culture, a number of Catholic intellectuals were thinking seriously about the relationship between Catholicism and its American context. Within the Market Strife examines these views on economic questions in the period 1891-1962, from populism and progressivism to the New Deal and post-World War II conservatism. The book uniquely contributes to the historical understanding of Catholicism _ and of American intellectual history more generally _ by examining the ways in which Catholic views variously mirrored and interacted with broader American (non-Catholic) views. Within the Market Strife combines Catholic and general American historiographies to discern the ways in which American Catholic economic thought was dependent on factors other than their adherence to the authoritative social teaching of their church, unique political loyalties, personal experience, and economic theories. This book is an essay in intellectual history that will prove itself invaluable to scholars interested in Catholic history, economic history, American religious history, and American intellectual history.
Download or read book Temples for a Modern God written by Jay M. Price and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After World War II, Americans constructed an unprecedented number of synagogues, churches, cathedrals, chapels, and other structures. The book is one of the first major studies of American religious architecture in the postwar period, and it reveals the diverse and complicated set of issues that emerged just as one of the nation's biggest building booms unfolded. Price argues that the resulting structures, as often mocked as loved, were physical embodiments of an important time in American religious history.
Download or read book American Mythos written by Robert Wuthnow and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America was built on stories: tales of grateful immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, Horatio Alger-style transformations, self-made men, and the Protestant work ethic. In this new book, renowned sociologist Robert Wuthnow examines these most American of stories--narratives about individualism, immigration, success, religion, and ethnicity--through the eyes of recent immigrants. In doing so, he demonstrates how the "American mythos" has both legitimized American society and prevented it from fully realizing its ideals. This magisterial work is a reflection and meditation on the national consciousness. It details how Americans have traditionally relied on narratives to address what it means to be strong, morally responsible individuals and to explain why some people are more successful than others--in short, to help us make sense of our lives. But it argues that these narratives have done little to help us confront new challenges. We pass laws to end racial discrimination, yet lack the resolve to create a more equitable society. We welcome the idea of pluralism in religion and values, yet we are shaken by the difficulties immigration presents. We champion prosperity for all, but live in a country where families are still homeless. American Mythos aptly documents this disconnect between the stories we tell and the reality we face. Examining how cultural narratives may not, and often do not, reflect the reality of today's society, it challenges readers to become more reflective about what it means to live up to the American ideal.
Download or read book A Concise Companion to American Studies written by John Carlos Rowe and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-02-12 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to American Studies is an essential volume that brings together voices and scholarship from across the spectrum of American experience. A collection of 22 original essays which provides an unprecedented introduction to the "new" American Studies: a comparative, transnational, postcolonial and polylingual discipline Addresses a variety of subjects, from foundations and backgrounds to the field, to different theories of the “new” American Studies, and issues from globalization and technology to transnationalism and post-colonialism Explores the relationship between American Studies and allied fields such as Ethnic Studies, Feminist, Queer and Latin American Studies Designed to provoke discussion and help students and scholars at all levels develop their own approaches to contemporary American Studies
Download or read book The Electronic Church in the Digital Age written by Mark Ward Sr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume set investigates the evangelical presence in America as experienced through digital media, examining current evangelical ideologies regarding education, politics, family, and government. Evangelical broadcasting has greatly expanded its footprint in the digital age. This informative text acquaints readers with how the electronic church of today spreads its message through Internet podcasts, social networking, religious radio programs, and televised sermons; how mass media forms the institution's modern identity; and what the future of the industry holds as mobile church apps, Christian-based video games, and online worship become the norm. The work—split into two volumes—reveals the ways that the Christian broadcast community affects evangelical traditions and influences American society in general. Volume 1 explores how electronic media shapes today's Christian subculture, while the second volume describes how the electronic church impacts the wider American culture, analyzing what key figures in evangelical mass media are saying about today's religious, political, economic, and social issues. The set concludes by addressing criticism about religious media and the prospects of American public discourse to accomodate both secular and religious voices.
Download or read book Between the Pigeonholes written by Alison Falby and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aldous Huxley described Gerald Heard as “that rare being—a learned man who [made] his mental home on the vacant spaces between the pigeonholes.” Heard’s off-beat interests made him a cultural and intellectual pioneer on both sides of the Atlantic in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Despite accolades from such figures as E.M. Forster, who characterized him as “one of the most penetrating minds in England,” and Christopher Isherwood, who described him upon his death as one of the “few great magic mythmakers and revealers of life’s wonder,” Heard is largely unknown today. Between the Pigeonholes is the first published full-length study of Gerald Heard. Alison Falby examines Heard’s ideas and contexts in interwar Britain and postwar America, demonstrating his significance in several important twentieth-century movements. These movements include popular science and psychology, psychical research, Eastern spirituality, pacifism, cooperativism, and Californian counter-culture. All of Heard’s involvements expressed his desire to convey religious ideas in the modern languages of biological, social, and physical science. Falby also traces Heard’s shifting political leanings from left-liberal in the early-1930s to libertarian in the early-1960s. She finds that his modernist theological approach, conventionally associated with liberal religion and politics, provided spiritual fodder for those on both the Left and the Right: Isherwood and W.H. Auden on the one hand, and Clare Boothe Luce and Spiritual Mobilization on the other. Using Heard as a prism through which to examine popular ideas, Falby shows that the twentieth century contained much political and religious heterogeneity. This heterogeneity illustrates the diverse and overlapping roots of both liberal religion and conservative politics in the twenty-first century.
Download or read book Original Sin and Everyday Protestants written by Finstuen and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-07-13 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years following World War II, American Protestantism experienced tremendous growth, but conventional wisdom holds that midcentury Protestants practiced an optimistic, progressive, complacent, and materialist faith. In Original Sin and Everyday Protestants, historian Andrew Finstuen argues against this prevailing view, showing that theolog...
Download or read book Judaism in America written by Marc Lee Raphael and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2005-12-20 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jews have been a religious and cultural presence in America since the colonial era, and the community of Jews in the United States today—some six million people—continues to make a significant contribution to the American religious landscape. Emphasizing developments in American Judaism in the last quarter century among active participants in Jewish worship, this book provides both a look back into the 350-year history of Judaic life and a well-crafted portrait of a multifaceted tradition today. Combining extensive research into synagogue archival records and secondary sources as well as interviews and observations of worship services at more than a hundred Jewish congregations across the country, Raphael's study distinguishes itself as both a history of the Judaic tradition and a witness to the vitality and variety of contemporary American Judaic life. Beginning with a chapter on beliefs, festivals, and life-cycle events, both traditional and non-traditional, and an explanation of the enormous variation in practice, Raphael then explores Jewish history in America, from the arrival of the first Jews to the present, highlighting the emergence and development of the four branches: Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform. After documenting the considerable variety among the branches, the book addresses issues of some controversy, notably spirituality, conversion, homosexuality, Jewish education, synagogue architecture, and the relationship to Israel. Raphael turns next to a discussion of eight American Jews whose thoughts and/or activities made a huge impact on American Judaism. The final chapter focuses on the return to tradition in every branch of Judaism and examines prospects for the future.
Download or read book Whose House We Are written by Melanie Klink Wayne and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2014-10-22 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stroy of St. Clement's is told through historical records and the testimonies of its congregration.
Download or read book The Nature of the Religious Right written by Neall W. Pogue and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-15 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Nature of the Religious Right, Neall W. Pogue examines how white conservative evangelical Christians became a political force known for hostility toward environmental legislation. Before the 1990s, this group used ideas of nature to help construct the religious right movement while developing theologically based, eco-friendly philosophies that can be described as Christian environmental stewardship. On the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, members of this conservative evangelical community tried to turn their eco-friendly philosophies into action. Yet this attempt was overwhelmed by a growing number in the leadership who made anti-environmentalism the accepted position through public ridicule, conspiracy theories, and cherry-picked science. Through analysis of rhetoric, political expediency, and theological imperatives, The Nature of the Religious Right explains how ideas of nature played a role in constructing the conservative evangelical political movement, why Christian environmental stewardship was supported by members of the community for so long, and why they turned against it so decidedly beginning in the 1990s.
Download or read book America s First Network TV Censor written by Robert Pondillo and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2010-04-23 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America’s First Network TV Censor: The Work of NBC’s Stockton Helffrichis a unique examination of early television censorship, centered around the papers of Stockton Helffrich, the first manager of the censorship department at NBC. Set against the backdrop of postwar America and contextualized by myriad primary sources including original interviews and unpublished material, Helffrich’s reports illustrate how early censorship of advertising, language, and depictions of sex, violence, and race shaped the new medium. While other books have cited Helffrich’s reports, none have considered them as a body of work, complemented by the details of Helffrich’s life and the era in which he lived. America’s First Network TV Censor explores the ways in which Helffrich’s personal history and social class influenced his perception of his role as NBC-TV censor and his tendency to ignore certain political and cultural taboos while embracing others. Author Robert Pondillo considers Helffrich’s life in broadcasting before and after the Second World War, and his censorial work in the context of 1950s American culture and emerging network television. Pondillo discusses the ways that cultural phenomena, including the arrival of the mid-twentieth-century religious boom, McCarthyism, the dawn of the Civil Rights era, and the social upheaval over sex, music, and youth, contributed to a general sense that the country was morally adrift and ripe for communist takeover. Five often-censored subjects—advertising, language, and depictions of sex, violence, and race—are explored in detail, exposing the surprising complexity and nuance of early media censorship. Questions of whether too many sadistic westerns would coarsen America’s children, how to talk about homosexuality without using the word “homosexuality,” and how best to advertise toilet paper without offending people were on Helffrich’s mind; his answers to these questions helped shape the broadcast media we know today.
Download or read book Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture written by Robert H. Woods Jr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-01-09 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This three-volume collection demonstrates the depth and breadth of evangelical Christians' consumption, critique, and creation of popular culture, and how evangelical Christians are both influenced by—and influence—mainstream popular culture, covering comic books to movies to social media. Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture: Pop Goes the Gospel addresses the full spectrum of evangelical media and popular culture offerings, even delving into lesser-known forms of evangelical popular culture such as comic books, video games, and theme parks. The chapters in this 3-volume work are written by over 50 authors who specialize in fields as diverse as history, theology, music, psychology, journalism, film and television studies, advertising, and public relations. Volume 1 examines film, radio and television, and the Internet; Volume 2 covers literature, music, popular art, and merchandise; and Volume 3 discusses public figures, popular press, places, and events. The work is intended for a scholarly audience but presents material in a student-friendly, accessible manner. Evangelical insiders will receive a fresh look at the wide variety of evangelical popular culture offerings, many of which will be unknown, while non-evangelical readers will benefit from a comprehensive introduction to the subject matter.
