A Religious History of the American People
by Sydney E. Ahlstrom
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Description
Provides a comprehensive survey of religious beliefs, practices, and trends in America and includes background information on secular movement and influences.Tags
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Member Reviews
I started this, but I stilled. A Religious History of the American People is an enormous book and, with my present lack of lazy oceans of time, I'm simply not going to make it through the whole thing. Instead, I've been dipping in and out of it, reading 10-50 pages at a time, randomly or on topics that interest me. It's obvious a very fine work of synthesis and I learn something interesting every time I open it. Some day...
Comprehensive and intriguing... if you like the subject matter.
Ahlstrom's book is a classic and has not been matched in the more than 30 years since it was published. It received the Christian Century's choice as the Religious Book of the Decade in 1979. It has been reissued in 2004 with an additional chapter bringing the history more up to date. Still this remains an invaluable history of religion since the arrival of Christians in this hemisphere.
The hidden history of America that made the other history happen (in some cases)
“An unusual and praiseworthy book. . . . It takes a modern, almost anthropological view of history, in which worship is a part of a web of culture along with play, love, dress, and language.”―B.A. Weisberger, Washington Post Book World
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History
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Author Information
7+ Works 1,306 Members
Sydney E. Ahlstrom, an eminent scholar of the history of religious thought in America, taught at Yale University for more than thirty years and held the Samuel Knight Chair in American History and Modern Religious History at the time of his death in 1984 David D. Hall is Bartlett Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Religious History of the American People
- Original publication date
- 1972
- First words
- History in its earliest and primal form celebrates the deeds of men and of gods, often of god-like men and man-like gods.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Beyond all thoughts of epochs and endings and turning points, moreover, one may hope that such future interpreters, as well as later readers of these words, will see increasing evidence that the American people, in their moral and religious history, were drawing on the profounder elements of their traditions, finding new sources of strength and confidence, and thus vindicating the idealism which has been so fundamental an element in the country's past.
Classifications
- Genres
- Religion & Spirituality, Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 200.973 — Religion The Bible & Christianity Religion History, geographic treatment, biography North America United States
- LCC
- BR515 .A4 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Christianity Christianity History By region or country
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,032
- Popularity
- 24,918
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (3.80)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 6
