Retelling U.S. Religious History

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Summary: Facinating articles rethinking American religious history.
Review: Enjoyable to read and up-to-date in scholarship, this is a collection of essays by leading American and Canadian authorities in the field of Religious Studies. Eight fascinating articles make the case for looking with fresh eyes at the classic anglocentric and Protestant orientation to studying religion in America. Of special interest are the essays by Roger Finke, Ann Braude, and Catherine Albanese. Sociologist Finke, also well known for his revealing book The Churching of America, 1776-1990, offers a supply-side market interpretation of the rise and decline of membership in American denominations, an approach which is much more fascinating, and persuasive, than it may sound. Ann Braude of Macalester College provides a much needed antidote to the practice of scholars who focus on the historical role of male religious leaders while ignoring the contributions of the female majority who constitute the backbone of religious institutions. She describes the different vision of religion which comes into focus when seen from the perspective of increasing participation by, and influence of, women rather than the declining involvement of men. Catherine Albanese, whose America: Religion and Religions, has been a staple of Religion in America courses for nearly two decades, is at her cogent best demonstrating that religion in America is not simply the result of the paternalistic influence of Protestantism on other faiths, but a reciprocal process of contact and change crossing many boundaries. This book is for the informed layperson as well as academics seeking to look with new eyes at an important subject.