Jon Butler (1) (1940–)

Butler's book is almost 15 years old, but it remains unsurpassed, particularly as an account of the revivalist spirit of the mid-nineteenth century. He places that spirit in the context of its (mostly) English background, filled with lively detail, anecdotes and hard data.The early years of religious practice in Virginia and Massachusetts are fascinating; there were more than 200 witch episodes in the colonies that preceded the Salem witch trials, for example, and Butler explores the show more fixation with magic and the occult in both seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The African spiritual holocaust is the topic of another extensive exploration, and we see its effects even in this age.He examines the sources of what he calls "the myth of the American Christian past—one of the most powerful myths to inform the history of both American religion and American society." Later churchmen, he says, sought to sacralize the American revolution, in spite of the deist and enlightenment views of most of the founders, in order to harness the religious authority being abandoned by the state. An interesting explanation with considerable relevance today. This is a rich, thoughtfully considered work of historical scholarship and interpretation. show less

This book falls short of being a one volume history of religion in America. It admirably covers the history of Protestant denominations in the United States from the colonial era through the present. There are some discussions of Roman Catholic and Jewish groups, and sporadic mention of African American religious developments, Muslims, and all other traditions. But in terms of bringing these disparate groups together into a larger narrative of the development of religion in America (or even show more religion's role in shaping American culture and politics), there is much left out of the story.

Ultimately, I was disappointed by the narrow focus on Protestant denominations and men, and by the limited synthesis of the field of religious history. With studies of Muslim slaves in the America South, the involvement of women and African Americans in many of the earliest religious movements, and the role of immigrants in fashioning the religious traditions in the U.S., I guess I just expected more of that scholarship to appear in an "overview" style history. Even the book's stated goal of showing how religion has been "at the heart of the American experience itself" (xiii) was often implicitly covered rather than explicitly explored and defined. show less

Totally great research book. I'm working on a New Adult series set in Colonial times about a girl coming to age in a Puritan Community. This work placed her life in a great overview of the time period. Although I found the introduction poorly written, each chapter has a specific focus, and each chapter was very well organized, clearly written, and included plenty of real anecdotes pulled from historical papers. Actually compelling at points as it provided some real human insight into the show more spiritual beliefs and the intermixing of various religions in the new country over quite a large swath of time. Really an exceptional work. show less

A good book that gives needed perspective on American religiosity.