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4.0 out of 5 stars
Provides Readers With a Foot-In-The-Door to Religious Historiography, February 9, 2011
This review is from: Religion and the American Nation: Historiography and History (Hardcover)
John Frederick Wilson's "Religion and the American Nation" provides a good starting point for the study of American religious history. Essentially a historiographical overview of major developments and themes in the field of American religion, the book gives the reader a brief summary of what Wilson believes are the major figures and works in the discipline. Wilson, over three chapters, traces religious history from the major early works in the field up to the present day. In the process, he offers an explanation as to what have been successful approaches to the subject and also where approaches have missed their marks. In addition, Wilson recommends other areas for research that have yet to be completed.
In Wilson's first chapter, subtitled "The Long Shadow of the Puritans," he explains that the first serious writing about the role of religion in America began in the nineteenth century. Early writing on American religion dealt heavily with theology and not so much with its history. Wilson builds to a discussion of what he considers the model of narrative history of religion in America - Sydney Ahlstrom's A Religious History of the American People. Containing 63 chapters and totaling 1,160 pages, it placed religious history into larger narratives of cultural, political, social, and finally, American history. Wilson claims that Ahlstrom's work both exemplifies and closes an era of narrative accounts of religion in American history. For a student of religious history, this should probably be one of the first sources to consult. Wilson ends the chapter by trying to explain why the Puritans have such a prominent place in American religious history: 1) the movement served as a point of departure for British civilization and its religious components in the New World, 2) it reflected the hegemonic role of British-Protestant culture, and 3) Puritanism displayed how religion has functioned in American history.
The second chapter explores the religious historiography since Ahlstrom, primarily the period since 1970. This period, Wilson remarks, is characterized by studies of a variety of religions and paradigms for studying them. For someone wanting to do more work in religious history, this is the most useful chapter because it introduces new approaches and disciplines that Wilson believes are beneficial to the study of American religious history. In these works, multiple narratives replace the master narrative and it also includes religious studies performed by social scientists. An example is Ahlstrom's student, Peter Williams, who used the social sciences to improve Ahlstrom's massive study. Wilson also introduces the revitalization movement, a model for a kind of social interaction, where one group is challenged or adversely impacted by another group. Wilson uses this movement to recommend that more comparative studies on religion be done. The chapter encourages readers to think "outside the box" when it comes to writing about religion.
The final chapter is subtitled "From Civil Religion to Milling at the Mall." Here, Wilson places Marcus Lee Hansen's The Atlantic Migration, a volume that stresses how the Puritans were models for succeeding groups of immigrants to follow as the key to their success. Will Herberg's Protestant-Catholic-Jew concluded that post-World War II America was a religiously pluralistic society and introduced the concept of "religious brands." The American nation itself also became an object for religious affections. Wilson notes the work of Robert Bellah, who discusses the semi-divine status of American leaders and sacred sites, such as the Alamo and Bunker Hill. Harold Bloom's studies find the American religion is a form of "democratic Gnosticism." Wilson concludes by commenting on the idea of "milling at the mall," his theory that the mall, the place to be seen and see others, is like religion, in that, people can engage in common acts. The final chapter gives the reader a sense of how, even today, religion continues to play a prominent role in American society.
What "Religion and the American Nation" lacks is detail. A short text, one does not get a full sense of the scope of religious history in the United States. The historiography of a particular religious group is not covered in any depth, in fact, there is little in depth coverage of historiographical themes or movements. There are probably only twenty-five to thirty total works mentioned in the entire book. Wilson fails at trying to even come close to a comprehensive examination of the religious historiography of the United States.
That being said, if one were looking for a brief introduction to religious historiography, Wilson's work lays down a solid base, preparing a student for a more in depth analysis of religious historiography. The reader gains a sense for the evolution of religious historiography, its shift from theology to narrative to multiple narratives and the inclusion of the social sciences. Also, a reader would get a feel for the prominence of American religion and how it just cannot seem to escape "the long shadow of the Puritans." Readers get a sense of the prominent historians and major works. "Religion and the American Nation" provides its readers with a foot-in-the-door to religious historiography.
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