Memoirs of the Spirit: American Religious Autobiography from Jonathan Edwards to Maya Angelou / Edition 1

by Edwin S. Gaustad

Overview

This anthology displays the tapestry of religious experience in America during the past three centuries. Compiled and edited by a foremost historian of American religion, these twenty-six spiritual autobiographies, ordered chronologically, uniquely capture the nation's soul in the words of the people who helped shape it.. "Featuring a full-page portrait of most of the writers included in the volume as well as insightful introductory comments by Edwin Gaustad, Memoirs of the Spirit offers an enlightening view of America's rich religious past - and suggests the multiplicity that is America's religious future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802849960
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	06/25/2001
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Edwin S. Gaustad (1923–2011) was Professor Emeritus of History and Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He also taught at Shorter College, the University of Redlands, Baylor University, and Auburn University. He received a B.A. from Baylor University and a M.A. and a Ph.D. from Brown University. He is the author of, among other works, Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson, Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America, Historical Atlas of Religion in America, The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today (with Leigh Schmidt), and Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: A History of Church and State in America."

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xiii
1.	The Captive	1
2.	The Sinner	17
3.	The Patriot	35
4.	The Bishop	51
5.	The Frontiersman	63
6.	The Convert	77
7.	The Slave	93
8.	The Americanizer	107
9.	The Holy Man	119
10.	The Polemicist	131
11.	The Editor	147
12.	The Immigrant	157
13.	The Theologian	167
14.	The Yogi	179
15.	The Educator	193
16.	The Pacifist	207
17.	The Schoolgirl	219
18.	The Westerner	229
19.	The Monk	241
20.	The Buddhist	257
21.	The Revivalist	269
22.	The President	287
23.	The Mariner	303
24.	The Poet	319
25.	The Witness	331
26.	The "Minority Student"	345

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal
"This striking anthology of poignant extracts from American autobiographies embraces the full range of religions that have found a place in this country. Authors include Frederick Douglass, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Thomas Merton, and Maya Angelou. Gaustad has made a skillful selection and, like any good anthologist, whets our appetite for more."

Publishers Weekly
"Gaustad—emeritus professor of history and religion at UC Riverside and author of several sweeping narratives, an atlas and other primary-source readers on American religious history—strikes gold again with this diverse collection of 26 spiritual autobiographies. . . Some of the 20th-century selections are refreshingly unconventional. . . Gaustad's use of such unpredictable selections demonstrates that American spirituality transcends religious institutions to encompass politics, economics, and other arenas of 'secular' America. Moreover, the inclusivity of his choices should make this a popular text for survey courses in American religion. Full-page photographs complement Gaustad's witty introductions to each author."

Calvin Theological Journal
"The value of this book is that it provides under one cover a valuable introduction and collection of a broad cross section of American religion. This resource could be used both in academic settings and personal devotions. Further it illustrates a variety of means and how other Christian pilgrims and seekers have wrestled with and expressed their own spiritual journeys."

MultiCultural Review
"Many social scientists have wondered why weekly attendance at religious services remains high in the United States while it has declined significantly in most other Western countries. Those seeking to understand this phenomenon would do well to consult Gaustad's beautiful collection of American religious autobiographies. This anthology reveals the depth and diversity of the American religious experience across a time span of more than three centuries and shows in subtle ways the special place held by religion and spirituality. . . . Memoirs of the Spirit, which presents American experiences from liberal and conservative Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and other faith traditions, offers a truly diverse and multicultural view of America's historical and contemporary religious spirit. Highly recommended."

From the Publisher