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THE CHURCHING OF AMERICA, 1776-1990

Name: THE CHURCHING OF AMERICA, 1776-1990
Author: Roger Finke
ISBN: 0-1835-1837-7

WINNERS AND LOSERS IN OUR RELIGIOUS ECONOMY

by Roger Finke & Rodney Stark ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 1992

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A major reevaluation of American religious history. Finke and Stark (both Sociology/Purdue) rewrite the script by considering churches as ``firms'' competing for members in free-market America, and by unearthing long-buried surveys that provide eye-opening information about why and how different denominations corner the market. The authors begin by puncturing the convention of colonial America as a hotbed of religiosity. In fact, only 18% of colonists were ``churched,'' while today 62% of Americans claim membership in a congregation (in other words, America is an ever-more bullish religious market). In 1776, Congregationalists held sway, but as ossification set in (through elite clergy, large congregations, and liberalization), they were surpassed by Methodists, who offered dynamic itinerant preachers and a down-home teaching that stressed personal conversion. Eventually, the traditionalist Baptists overtook the Methodists. Finke and Stark discern the same pattern throughout the centuries: As a church grows wealthier, larger, and more liberal, it loses its fervor and, in time, its adherents. Roman Catholicism, America's largest denomination, remains a special case because of its international base and hierarchical structure. But here, too, success comes from an ``intense faith with a vivid sense of otherworldliness,'' complemented by home-grown parishes and parochial school systems. The same reasoning leads to the authors' revolutionary conclusion that religious ecumenism is doomed. Growing, vibrant churches, they find, inevitably oppose ecumenism: Witness American Protestantism today, where the National Council of Churches steadily loses influence while the mainstream relocates itself in the fundamentalist Southern congregations. ``The primary feature of our religious history,'' Finke and Stark conclude, is that ``the mainline bodies are always headed for the sideline''—a knockout punch, backed by scholarly dispassion and reams of statistics, sure to raise howls of protest from religious liberals and smug smiles from traditionalists. For both species, essential reading.

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1992

ISBN: 0-1835-1837-7

Page Count: 315

Publisher: Rutgers Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.