Islands of Holiness: Rural Religion in Upstate New York, 17901860

Curtis D. Johnson

ISBN 10: 0801422752 / ISBN 13: 9780801422751

Published by Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1989

About this Item

About As New in all respects. First printing / published stated, no others noted. From the flap: "Curtis D. Johnson adds to our understanding of the Second Great Awakening, an intellectual and religious watershed in American history. Offering both quantitative and qualitative analyses of churches' memberships, ideologies, and activities, he maintains that scholars have misunderstood the historical significance of evangelicalism.Islands of Holiness is a gem of local history. A meticulously researched book, it makes a valuable contribution to an enduring aspect of the social history of American religious expression." Books and other items ship promptly with a tracking number and(generally over $15.00) jacket protectors if applicable. Clean recycled packing material will be used when possible. The Book Shed has a been a member of the Vermont Antiquarian Bookseller's Association since 1997. An online bookseller with a bookshop sensibility!

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Islands of Holiness: Rural Religion in Upstate New York, 17901860
• Publisher: Cornell University Press, Ithaca
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801422752
• ISBN 13: 9780801422751
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy, Religion & Belief

About this title

Synopsis

Through an examination of religious life in a typical northern rural locale―Cortland County, New York―from 1790 to 1860, Curtis D. Johnson adds to our understanding of the Second Great Awakening, an intellectual and religious watershed in American history. Offering both quantitative and qualitative analyses of churches' memberships, ideologies, and activities, he maintains that scholars have misunderstood the historical significance of evangelicalism.

Johnson contends that these churches did not constitute society, nor were they microcosms of it; rather, they evolved from embattled congregations of the saved―"islands of holiness"―to ideologically conservative, organizationally unified, integrated parts of society. He uncovers the many diversities of Protestantism in the form of splits between evangelicals and non-evangelicals, formalists and anti-formalists, Arminians and Calvinists, Old School traditionalists and Oberlin perfectionists, church members and religious society members.

At the heart of the revivalistic impulse, he argues, was ideological conflict―primarily between Calvinists and Arminians―with gender politics and internal church dynamics also contributing to the evangelical tumult. With a special interest in the Awakening's impact on congregational life, Johnson focuses on rural community experience to challenge the findings of historians who have concentrated exclusively on urban religious expression. He concludes that the importance of the various factions of evangelicalism lies in their common exhortation to republicanism and reform: these congregations, he says, influenced social change out of proportion to their numbers because activism was a central tenet of their religion.

Islands of Holiness is a gem of local history. A meticulously researched book, it makes a valuable contribution to an enduring aspect of the social history of American religious expression.

About the Author

Curtis D. Johnson is Chair and Associate Professor of History at Mount St. Mary’s University. He is the author of Redeeming America: Evangelicals and the Road to Civil War.