Blessed Assurance: A History of Evangelicalism in America - Hardcover

Randall Balmer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807077100 ISBN 13: 9780807077108

Publisher: Beacon Pr, 1999

Synopsis

Written with insight and erudition, this is the first complete story of how so many religious movements arose in America and how they affect our politics and culture. Randall Balmer looks at the rise of evangelical groups from Methodists to the Disciples of Christ, charismatic leaders from Mary Baker Eddy to Jimmy Swaggart, and the meanings of beliefs from the "ideal of femininity" to the Apocalypse. He shows us the many forms"some surprising, all illuminating" American evangelical religion has taken since the very beginning of our nation: nineteenth-century spiritualists repeating the Lord's Prayer, Christian Scientists blending Hinduism with positive thinking, and Catholics adopting New Age rituals. Here, too, is revelatory insight into how evangelical movements are always in tune with their times, taking advantage of mass communication and the charisma of their leaders.

In a nation where ninety-four percent of the people believe in God and ninety percent say they pray once a week, Balmer's fascinating book centers on the basic character of our nation - a nation with its roots in Puritan religious dissent, First Amendment protections, and a culture of creative individualism.

About this title

About the Author

Randall Balmer is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of American Religion and chair of the religion department at Barnard College. He is author of five other books, including Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, which was made into an Emmy-nominated documentary. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

From Kirkus Reviews

Six essays on evangelicalism from Americas keenest observer of contemporary religion. Balmer (Grant Us Courage, 1995, etc.) reveals the heart of evangelicalism in the US, past and present. The book is somewhat more modest than the subtitle implies: The pieces here do not constitute anything as grand as a history of American evangelicalism. Readers will come away with textbook detail, but will nonetheless become deeply acquainted with the character and quirks of American evangelicals. Balmer begins by introducing the 18th-century Pietists, arguing that although evangelicalism has roots in the familiar Puritans, evangelical practices today draw at least as heavily on their Pietist ancestors. In Diversity and Stability, Balmer explores the development and ramifications of religious disestablishment in the United States. Visions of Rapture examines evangelicals embrace of Scriptures apocalyptic prophecies. Balmer suggests that evangelicals spill so much ink on prophecies because debating whether Saddam Hussein is the Antichrist can provide a nights entertainment at a sleepy dinner party, because imagining the last times allows for flights of fancy about the shape of a new and perfect world, and because ruminating about the worlds end inspires conversion. A Pentecost of Politics shows how evangelicals and Americas public discourse have shaped each other. Balmer traces evangelicals commitments to femininity and domesticity from the 19th century to the present before scrutinizing, in the final chapter, the religious rights attempts to reclaim the nation for God. The writing is even more delightful than the content: Those who arent already fans of Balmer will wonder why all academics cant write as well as this one. For anyone interested in contemporary faith, politics, and culture, and for anyone who wants to know how we got from Plymouth Rock to Pat Robertson. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Beacon Pr
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0807077100
• ISBN 13: 9780807077108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 139