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Head and Heart: American Christianities |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Gerald Ford > Item 302
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Head and Heart: American Christianities
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by Garry Wills
Sales Rank: 44402
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List Price: $29.95
$11.98
At Amazon
on 9-14-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 640 pages
Published by: Penguin Press HC, The October 4, 2007
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1594201463
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1594201462
Book Dimensions:
9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 2 pounds
Reader Reviews
Garry Wills is one of my favorite writers on religion. He is himself a practicing Catholic, but he has not shrunk from criticizing the church when he feels it has gone over the edge, as in the abuse scandals of recent times. He has a certain fair-mindedness that is lacking in much religious writing. It was thus with some anticipation that I read through his recent book "Head and Heart: American Christianities." This is a very important document which follows the history of the two main streams of Christian religious thought in America - the Enlightened Religion (that of the Founders of our country) and Evangelical Religion (the mainly emotional appeal of being "saved"). Indeed, Wills thinks that we need both and that their avowed antagonism is to some extent overblown, but perhaps necessary to maintain some sort of balance. For full disclosure I must note that I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who considers himself agnostic on religion. I am, however, sympathetic to Buddhism, as well as the more compassionate streams of thought in all religions. I have had some contact as a representative of my Meeting with a number of other religious groups. Finally I am also a professional biological scientist. My background does in no way give me special insight to review this book, but it does warn the reader of my own possible biases. It is, in fact, hard to review this over 600 page book with its many notes and do justice to its depth. Wills has researched his subject thoroughly and gives us the whole panoply of religious thought from the Puritans to the recent ascendancy of the televangelists and talk show ministers. The Puritans did not come to America (as is sometimes reported) to foster religious freedom, but to impose their brand of "purified" Anglican faith onto the people living around them, including the Native Americans. Wills speaks favorably of the later colonists, the Quakers (in fact dedicating his book to Anthony Benezet, an anti-slavery Quaker who worked with the more well known John Woolman), in their founding of Pennsylvania and their views on religious freedom. It has also been said that Quakers came to the New World to do good and did very well indeed - meaning that some became very wealthy. It is true that the Quakers, although often slave-holders themselves, were among the first to disavow the practice and were heavily involved in the underground railroad that helped runaway slaves reach the North. The Founders of the United States were mostly Deists who, none the less, understood that religious freedom was necessary to the ultimate health of the new country. They (perhaps especially Madison) believed in a "free market" for religious ideas, thinking that in such an atmosphere the best religion would prevail without government aid. In fact, despite many opinions to the contrary, it is obvious that the United States was not founded as a Christian Nation, but as a society with respect and toleration for all points of view as long as they did not disrupt the fabric of civil society. Wills believes (accurately) that such a system fosters religious activity instead of destroying it, as some would have it (as the Baptists and other minority sects of the period were well aware). State sponsored religions tend to decline, as they have in some European countries with no separation of Church and State. Theocratic states tend to become violent and authoritarian before they decline. We should take some warning from Islamic states like Iran in this regard. Evangelism has its pluses. Would anybody not brought up in the evangelistic traditions of the South ever have been able to give the speeches of a Martin Luther King? Still, our country occasional gets out of balance between the two major trains of religious thought and recently it has gotten way out of balance toward (in my opinion) a mostly corrupted evangelism. Wills points to the gory "Left Behind" series and the dire pronouncements of the anger of God behind Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the attack on the World Trade Center. To me this is a sign not of the End Times, but of man's inhumanity to man and a desire on the part of certain individuals to control the country. Christ said that his kingdom was not of this world and that worldly riches and power were not worthy pursuits, but (as Wills points out) there has been an American tradition of valuing wealth and power as a sign of God's favor. I sometimes think that some of these people don't read the same bible as the one I did. In short Wills has presented a fascinating history of religion in the United States. This is another essential book for those who would like to understand how we got to this point in history.
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Head and Heart: American Christianities
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Price: $11.98
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