The Transformation of American Religion

The Transformation of American Religion
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 368
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190284978
ISBN-13 : 0190284978
Rating : 4/5 (978 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Transformation of American Religion by : Amanda Porterfield

Download or read book The Transformation of American Religion written by Amanda Porterfield and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001-04-05 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As recently as a few decades ago, most people would have described America as a predominantly Protestant nation. Today, we are home to a colorful mix of religious faiths and practices, from a resurgent Catholic Church and a rapidly growing Islam to all forms of Buddhism and many other non-Christian religions. How did this startling transformation take place? A great many factors contributed to this transformation, writes Amanda Porterfield in this engaging look at religion in contemporary America. Religious activism, disillusionment with American culture stemming from the Vietnam war, the influx of Buddhist ideas, a heightened consciousness of gender, and the vastly broadened awareness of non-Christian religions arising from the growth of religious studies programs--all have served to undermine Protestant hegemony in the United States. But the single most important factor, says Porterfield, was the very success of Protestant ways of thinking: emphasis on the individual's relationship with God, tension between spiritual life and religious institutions, egalitarian ideas about spiritual life, and belief in the practical benefits of spirituality. Distrust of religious institutions, for instance, helped fuel a religious counterculture--the tendency to define spiritual truth against the dangers or inadequacies of the surrounding culture--and Protestantism's pragmatic view of spirituality played into the tendency to see the main function of religion as therapeutic. For anyone interested in how and why the American religious landscape has been so dramatically altered in the last forty years, The Transformation of Religion in America offers a coherent and persuasive analysis.


The Transformation of American Religion Related Books

The Transformation of American Religion
Language: en
Pages: 368
Authors: Amanda Porterfield
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2001-04-05 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As recently as a few decades ago, most people would have described America as a predominantly Protestant nation. Today, we are home to a colorful mix of religio
The Transformation of American Religion : The Story of a Late-Twentieth-Century Awakening
Language: en
Pages: 274
Authors: Amanda Porterfield Professor of Religious Studies University of Wyoming
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2001-04-05 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As recently as a few decades ago, most people would have described America as a predominantly Protestant nation. Today, we are home to a colorful mix of religio
The Transformation of American Religion
Language: en
Pages: 321
Authors: Alan Wolfe
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-04 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this astounding account, a leading sociologist demonstrates that religion in America has become so tamed and softened that it hardly serves any of its origin
Legal Responses to Religious Practices in the United States
Language: en
Pages: 325
Authors: Austin Sarat
Categories: Law
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-09-10 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book questions what practices constitute a "religious activity" such that it cannot be supported or funded by government. It examines the history of accomm
A Companion to 20th-Century America
Language: en
Pages: 584
Authors: Stephen J. Whitfield
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008-04-15 - Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Companion to 20th-Century America is an authoritative survey of the most important topics and themes of twentieth-century American history and historiography.