Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands

Front Cover
University of Illinois Press, 1999 - History - 245 pages
Never have so many missionaries been sent to save so many Christians as is the case in the Southern Uplands. The area has long been perceived by American Christians in contradictory ways: on the one hand, as an unchurched area with people who have little religion or an inadequate faith; on the other, as part of the Bible Belt, packed with small breakaway fundamentalist churches and wild-eyed believers.

In Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands, one of Appalachian religion's most eloquent spokesmen reveals a people devoted to and thoughtful about their religion, and profoundly influenced by it. Loyal Jones's three decades of conversations and interviews, supplemented by documents such as sermons, testimonies, and articles of faith, articulate Southern Upland views on basic issues of the human condition -- faith, God, the world, the Word, and the devil -- as well as on community issues such as racial integration and women in the church. In their own voices these people describe their beliefs, their churches, and their lives, exposing a deep conviction tempered with humanity and humor.

From inside the book

Contents

The Human Condition
3
God
41
3 The World and the Devil
64
4 The Word
102
5 Salvation
121
Observations
192
NOTES
203
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