books:

	• The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith Alan Wolfe University Of Chicago Press, 2005 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

for more information click here

As a person interested in theology I found his discussion of modern doctrine, sin, and worship to be completely fascinating. This book does not set out to change anyone's core beliefs about God, but it very well may change your view about how the church approaches God, worship, and evangelism.

Although I am a lay reader, I have read quite a bit of theology and was comfortable with some terms that Wolfe takes a bit for granted. A person who has trouble distinguishing between the terms "evangelical" and "mainline", or thinks that a church using rock music might be called "liberal" could have difficulty with the text. Wolfe could have included a short glossary at the end of his book; this may have made this important text more accessible to lay readers.

I strongly recommend this book to any person studying religion or theology, or to any intellectually-minded believer in Christianity or Judaism.

for more information click here

for more information click here

"And counting . . . "

Scholars debate the number of "Christian" sects scattered across the planet. Wolfe doesn't attempt a count for the United States. Rightly so, the situation in that country is far too dynamic to pin down securely. If his chronicle is any indication, there may be more sub-forms of "Christianity" within those borders than can be found around the entire globe. Wolfe's travels and interviews are assembled here in a lively and descriptive account of why "Christianity" in the US precludes either definition or classification. It is, in many ways a ground-breaking and interesting book. It's certainly a stimulating read. Just keeping track of the breakaways and schisms, local or regional, is a mind-bending exercise.

If the US prides itself on anything, it is the theme of "individuality". As a politically democratic heritage has demonstrated, ideals and beliefs there are too fluid for dogmas to take root effectively. In religious matters, although these are rarely studied in detail, the passion for individual decision-making is intense. Wolfe, who visited and interviewed countless ministers and adherents of various faiths, demonstrates that personal choice has both been expressed and addressed in highly varied ways. His account is as detached as possible, since value judgements on his part would be meaningless. A circumstance, he grants, that is partly due to his Jewish Hungarian background. Whatever his method was - and only one group demanded that he declare himself - it shows here as impersonal and highly effective. Given the broad sweep he had to make, gathering in Protestants of many stripes, Roman Catholics, Jews and Muslims, he's produced both a detailed and comprehensive account. By the time you've finished this book, you find that few, if any, of the interviewees duplicated the words of any other. Individualism, indeed!

Wolfe opens the book with what many still believe is fundamental to "faith" - humans are depraved and only the "believers" can count on some form of redemption. In short, people are divided into those who are "saved" and everybody else. The "state of grace" endorsed by the early Puritans, was believed to have set some people apart. Wolfe argues that this separation is no longer valid - if it ever was - and that there are too many forms of "faith" accepted by too many people to sustain the idea of separation. In order to learn this, Wolfe surveyed the "fundamentalists", "evangelicals", "mainline" and "megachurch" leaders and members to obtain their views. He sat in churches, meeting halls, homes and any place where the faithful might gather. He also dealt with those few who remain apart from "organised religions" and spoke directly to their particular deity. He deals with such questions as "fellowship", "sin", dogmas - which label(s?) "doctrine" and "morality". All these "scare quotes" are needed because, again, similarity of views is lacking. If nothing else has been shed in religion in the US, it is any form of absolutism.

Among the many changes that have transformed US religions practices, the application of market forces is looming ever larger. Tom Lehrer once sang "You really gotta sell the product" ** to church leaders seeking new members and retaining old ones. Christian church leaders have taken this advice to heart. Selling "faith" has led to adoption of a wide variety of techniques, from the "rock mass" to putting the crucifix behind the alter in storage in the church basement. On the one hand, this has had effective results. Many people have become "switchers", often more than once, jumping from one faith to another seamlessly. If a church - even the building itself - the officials, the rules or doctrines, others in the group, fail to appeal, the communicant simply goes elsewhere. Scandals within churches, raising the issues of what is "morality" and who's qualified to pronounce on it, may scatter members. On the other hand, it may bring people together to resolve an issue to their satisfaction, apart from whatever senior members of a hierarchy might decree.

Some people in the US have viewed recent ties between religion and politics with fear and distrust. Others, of course, applaud it. To those doubtful, Wolfe counsels patience and understanding. There are simply too many versions of religion in his country to ever seriously threaten the political structure of the US. Any government showing favouritism to any given sect[s] will be vigorously opposed by all the rest. Since each has its own version of what "religion" is all about, commonality of views sufficiently bound to overthrow the tradition of "separation of church and state" is doomed to failure. Since the diversity of opinion about relationship with the various deities is so great, a similar spectrum typifies views about politics. There is no foundation for categorisation in either realm. As Wolfe points out, "Christianity" has been "Americanised" making it too diffused for common ideas, beliefs or actions. That may give comfort to some, or distress to others. It is, however, the reality of the situation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

** "Vatican Rag" - 1965

for more information click here

American religion?like talk of God?is omnipresent. Popular culture is awash in religious messages, from the singing cucumbers and tomatoes of the animated VeggieTales series to the bestselling "Left Behind" books to the multiplex sensation The Passion of the Christ. In The Transformation of American Religion, sociologist Alan Wolfe argues that the popularity of these cartoons, books, and movies is proof that religion has become increasingly mainstream. In fact, Wolfe argues, American culture has come to dominate American religion to such a point that, as Wolfe writes, "We are all mainstream now."

The Transformation of American Religion represents the first systematic effort in more than fifty years to bring together a wide body of literature about worship, fellowship, doctrine, tradition, identity, and sin to examine how Americans actually live their faith. Emphasizing personal stories, Wolfe takes readers to religious services across the nation-an Episcopal congregation in Massachusetts, a Catholic Mass in a suburb of Detroit, an Orthodox Jewish temple in Boston-to show that the stereotype of religion as a fire-and-brimstone affair is obsolete. Gone is the language of sin and damnation, and forgotten are the clear delineations between denominations; they have been replaced with a friendly God and a trend towards sampling new creeds and doctrines. Overall, Wolfe reveals American religion as less radical, less contentious, and less dangerous than it is generally perceived to be.

"Offering neither a cynical attack on religion nor a starry-eyed celebration of its triumphs, Wolfe presents a commendably balanced view, honoring the role religion has played in our nation's past while helping us see more clearly the present state of religious affairs."?Los Angeles Times

for more information click here

hot

or

not?

What's your opinion?     Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Some interesting religious books I have read lately

transformation

	The Social Transformation of American Medicine The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions The Great Transformation The Black Death and the Transformation of the West (European History ... The West: Encounters & Transformations, Atlas Edition, Volume 1 (to ...

actually

	The Theory And Practice Of Gamesmanship Or The Art Of Winning Games ... Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Journal (Chicken Soup for the Soul) America's First Battles, 1776-1965 Actually, It Is Your Parents' Fault: Why Your Romantic Relationship ... All You Need is a Good Idea!: How to Create Marketing Messages that ...

american

	The Host: A Novel The Post-American World The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into ... The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

search for books
actually, american, faith, how, live, religion, transformation