Heaven in the American Imagination

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More About This Book

Overview


Does heaven exist? If so, what is it like? And how does one get in? Throughout history, painters, poets, philosophers, pastors, and many ordinary people have pondered these questions. Perhaps no other topic captures the popular imagination quite like heaven.

Gary Scott Smith examines how Americans from the Puritans to the present have imagined heaven. He argues that whether Americans have perceived heaven as reality or fantasy, as God's home or a human invention, as a source of inspiration and comfort or an opiate that distracts from earthly life, or as a place of worship or a perpetual playground has varied largely according to the spirit of the age. In the colonial era, conceptions of heaven focused primarily on the glory of God. For the Victorians, heaven was a warm, comfortable home where people would live forever with their family and friends. Today, heaven is often less distinctively Christian and more of a celestial entertainment center or a paradise where everyone can reach his full potential.

Drawing on an astounding array of sources, including works of art, music, sociology, psychology, folklore, liturgy, sermons, poetry, fiction, jokes, and devotional books, Smith paints a sweeping, provocative portrait of what Americans-from Jonathan Edwards to Mitch Albom-have thought about heaven.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Smith (Faith and the Presidency) is a historian, and he offers a historical survey of American views of heaven, from Puritan to postmodern, divvying up the centuries into a number of different eras that generated different conceptions of the afterlife (the First Great Awakening, slavery and the Civil War, etc.) His work is formidably footnoted; the good news is he has done meticulous homework. The bad news is his writing is hard to read; many sentences contain partial quotes to convey what a particular individual said. He argues that Jonathan Edwards, whose "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is a classic sermon, actually preached more frequently on heaven than hell. But he is less original in his review of current ideas of heaven; that they reflect a culture that has substituted therapy for religion is a well-worn analysis. Readers curious about this eternally fascinating subject will do better with authors such as Lisa Miller. (June)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780199738953
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publication date: 6/1/2011
  • Pages: 360
  • Sales rank: 626,755
  • Product dimensions: 6.30 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Gary Scott Smith is Professor of History at Grove City College, in Pennsylvania. He is the author, most recently, of Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush.

Table of Contents

Preface Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The Puritans: Celebrating the Glory of Heaven Chapter 3. Jonathan Edwards and the First Great Awakening: Heaven Is a World of Love Chapter 4. The Early National Era and the Second Great Awakening: The Founders, Assaults on Orthodoxy, and Revival Chapter 5. Heaven as Home: The Victorians and Heaven, 1830-1870; Family, Friends, and Fellowship Chapter 6. Slavery, the Civil War, and Heaven Chapter 7. Heaven in the Gilded Age: Dwight Moody and the Princes of the Pulpit Chapter 8. Heaven in the Progressive Years: The Social Gospel, Urban Revivalism, and Theological Liberalism; Personal Growth, Service, and Reform Chapter 9. Heaven from the Roaring Twenties to the Fabulous Fifties Chapter 10. Heaven, 1960-2000: New Trends and Revived Themes Chapter 11. The Contemporary Scene: Heaven Today Chapter 12. Conclusion

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