Handbook of Denominations in the United States [Hardcover]

Frank S. Mead (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0687014786 | ISBN-13: 978-0687014781 | Publication Date: January 1995 | Edition: 10

The volume now contains a new introductory article and new format to identify large denominational families to help readers find information more quickly.

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Also [e-mail] --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Abingdon Press; 10 edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0687014786
• ISBN-13: 978-0687014781
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,259,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Useful; Short Unbiased Summaries of Each, April 22, 2004

By 

Jacob Hantla "hantla.com" (Chandler, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Denominations in the United States (Hardcover)

This book is an extremely valuable resource to quickly understand the basic beliefs of a denominations, especially those that set them apart from others. This book covers a vast number of denominations, obviously not complete but close to it. Each one typically has a statistic giving its popularity, followed by a short (typically no longer than 3 or 4 pages, but sometimes shorter) summary of the denominational history and distinctives.

Having used it to look at a few denominations with which I am familiar and many with which I am not, the authors appear to have painstakingly made the summaries as unbiased and fair as possible. Oftentimes, they quote directly from official denominational literature. I also appreciate the appendices which refer the researcher to further information on a particular denomination.

The large denominational categories covered, with many subcategories each are:
1. Adventist
2. Baptist
3. Brethren and Pietist Churches
4. Catholic Churches
5. Christian Church (Stone-Campbell Movement)
6. Congregational Churches
7. Episcopal/Anglican Churches
8. Friends (Quakers)
9. Fundamentalist/Bible Churches
10. Holines Churches
11. Islam
12. Judaism
13. Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
14. Lutherans
15. Mennonite Churches
16. Methodist Churches
17. Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches
18. Pentecostal Churches
19. Presbyterian Churches
20. Reformed Churches
21. Salvation Army
22. Spiritualist and Theosophical Bodies

There are many others that cannot be put under these broad categories that are too numerous to mention here. This book appears to have succeeded in what it set out to accomplish: give a concise but accurate depiction of various church sects throughout the United States.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for researching denominations, December 20, 2001

By 

Marc Axelrod (Potter, Wi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Denominations in the United States (Hardcover)

Our church pulled out of the United Church of Christ last year, and our denomination search committee needed a resource to get more information. We were very happy to find this book. At your finger tips are brief sketches of practically every major religious group in the United States. Some of the essays are very brief in nature, while others are pages long. Still, it is an excellent starting point, and for most people who just want the basic facts, it is all the information a person could want on the religious movements in the country. And one of the other things I like about the book is that as far as it it is possible, the authors take a very objective position. No trace of bias or sectarian coloring mars the book, as far as I can tell. There is no way of discerning which denominational perspective the authors write from, and that's the way I like it.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource!, March 21, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Denominations in the United States (Hardcover)

This wonderful book is one that clearly lives up to its title. In a small, easy-to-digest format, it lists all of the major (and quite a few minor) religious groups found within the United States. While focusing primarily on Christian denominations, it does cover such non-Christian organizations as the Bahai, Muslims, spiritualists, and a few others. The text, ranging from half a page for certain small groups, to 25 pages for the Baptists (a large and varied collection of churches), tries to give a history of the denomination and a brief introduction to their theology.

For my own purposes, I found this book to be a most excellent resource. While it is too small to go into any depth on any one denomination, it's breadth does mean that you can quickly and easily look up just about any denomination and get useful information on it. Plus, I must say that I appreciate that the authors have gone to great pains to present each denomination in an objective manner, which allows me to place great confidence in their book.

So, if you are looking for a book that will give you a quick introduction to just about *any* denomination, then I can't recommend any book more highly than this one!