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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... truth and error , medicine and poison , with as much confidence as if all been [ sic ] inspired by infinite wisdom . No preachers less qualified , and none more confident . " 16 These incidents are graphic illustrations that the ...
... truth , which Edmund Morgan has described as a " political fiction . " For the founding fathers the fiction of popular sovereignty bore some resemblance to the facts , but they fully expected the governed and the governors to " join in ...
... truth and virtue . The multitude had received Christ with great acclaim , with shouts of hosanna , while " the monarchical , aristocratical and priestly authorities cried crucify him . " The Scribes and Pharisees would have killed Jesus ...
... truth whatever they [ the elites ] say without examining for themselves . " 4o His conviction that people had the task of sorting out truth for them- selves led Manning to propose new forms of organization and new means of communication ...
... truth that the gospel that was preached by me , was not after man ; for I neither received it of man , neither was I taught it by man , but by revelation of Jesus Christ , through the medium of the Holy Spirit in opening my ...
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 |
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The Democratization of American Christianity Nathan O. Hatch,Professor Nathan O Hatch Limited preview - 1989 |