The Democratization of American ChristianityA provocative reassessment of religion and culture in the early days of the American republic "The so-called Second Great Awakening was the shaping epoch of American Protestantism, and this book is the most important study of it ever published."—James Turner, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Winner of the John Hope Franklin Publication Prize, the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic book prize, and the Albert C. Outler Prize In this provocative reassessment of religion and culture in the early days of the American republic, Nathan O. Hatch argues that during this period American Christianity was democratized and common people became powerful actors on the religious scene. Hatch examines five distinct traditions or mass movements that emerged early in the nineteenth century—the Christian movement, Methodism, the Baptist movement, the black churches, and the Mormons—showing how all offered compelling visions of individual potential and collective aspiration to the unschooled and unsophisticated. |
From inside the book
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... Presbyterian denominations . The Congregationalists , which had twice the clergy of any other American church in 1775 , could not muster one - tenth the preaching force of the Methodists in 1845.} This book examines five distinct ...
... Presbyterian - turned- Christian - turned - Shaker , captured his generation's fervor : As full of zeal and pure desire As e're a coal was full of fire I flash'd & blazed by day and night a burning & a shining light . 26 Leaders without ...
... Presbyterian minister in the state of Kentucky . At the request of the Presbyterian General Assembly , he wrote two reports in which he de- plored the " unrestrained freedom " that had turned the western country into a " hot - bed of ...
Nathan O. Hatch. staid Presbyterian and Congregational churchmen did gradually develop a more active , voluntaristic style to accord with disestablishment , and the function of the ministry did shift almost imperceptibly from that of an ...
... Presbyterians and Quakers . Dissenting evangelicals such as George Whitefield , Samuel Davies , Gilbert Tennant , and Isaac Backus had defined their dissent against an accepted tradition . Despite his lack of formal education , Backus ...
Contents
3 | |
17 | |
49 | |
67 | |
The Sovereign Audience | 125 |
The Right to Think for Oneself | 162 |
Upward Aspiration and Democratic Dissent | 193 |
The Recurring Populist | 210 |
A Sampling of Anticlerical | 227 |
Notes | 244 |
Index | 305 |
Other editions - View all
The Democratization of American Christianity Nathan O. Hatch,Professor Nathan O Hatch Limited preview - 1989 |