America's Religions

Peter W. Williams is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion and American Studies at Miami University. He is the author of Popular Religion in America and Houses of God .

"Unmatched in its usefulness for students and educators, lay readers, and professional historians to think more clearly about the complexities of religious life in America."-- The Historian"A towering achievement. Peter Williams has provided a magisterial study that does justice to the rich pastiche of religious life in America. The bibliography alone makes this an invaluable resource."--Randall Balmer, author of Religion in Twentieth-Century America"For coverage and liveliness of style, America's Religions is encyclopedic in the best sense of the word."--Kathleen Flake, Anglican and Episcopal History

• CoverTitleContentsPreface to the Fourth EditionTopical Guide to ChaptersIntroduction: Telling StoriesA. Oral TraditionsChapter 1. The Varieties of Native American Religious LifeChapter 2. The African Background of New World ReligionsB. The Mediterranean MatrixChapter 3. The Jewish TraditionChapter 4. From the Religion of the Hebrews to the Restoration of IsraelChapter 5. The Eastern Orthodox TraditionChapter 6. The Roman Catholic TraditionChapter 7. Western Catholicism from the Time of ConstantineC. The Reformation Era: The Sundering of Western ChristendomChapter 8. The Lutheran TraditionChapter 9. The Anglican TraditionChapter 10. Calvinism and the Reformed TraditionChapter 11. The Radical Reformation and the Anabaptist TraditionPart II: Early America: Europeans, Colonials, and Traditional Peoples before the RevolutionChapter 12. Colonial AnglicansChapter 13. New England PuritansChapter 14. Presbyterians and Other Reformed ChurchesChapter 15. The Society of Friends (Quakers)Chapter 16. John Wesley and the Rise of MethodismChapter 17. The Great Awakening and the Baptist TraditionChapter 18. The Origins of Modern Religious LiberalismChapter 19. Anabaptists and Pietists in PennsylvaniaChapter 20. Jews and Catholics in Early AmericaIllustrations: Houses of Worship: From Old World to NewChapter 21. Christian Missions to the North American IndiansPart III: Religious Community Formation in the New RepublicChapter 22. The Revolution and the ConstitutionChapter 23. The Second Great Awakening(s)Chapter 24. Moral Reform, Antislavery, and Civil WarChapter 25. The Culture of Antebellum EvangelicalismChapter 26. Liturgical Protestantism: Lutherans and Episcopalians in Changing WorldsChapter 27. Religion in the Slave CommunityChapter 28. Unitarianism, Transcendentalism, and UniversalismChapter 29. New World Space and Time: Restorationist, Millennial, and Communitarian MovementsChapter 30. New World Revelation: Joseph SmithPart IV: The End of the Frontier and the Rise of the CItyChapter 31. Victorian EvangelicalsChapter 32. Protestant Liberalism and the Social GospelChapter 33. Anglican RenaissanceChapter 34. Reactions to Modernity: Fundamentalism, Holiness, PentecostalismChapter 35. Religion in the SouthChapter 36. American Catholicism: From Ethnic Pluralism to Institutional UnityChapter 37. Eastern Christianity in AmericaChapter 38. Ethnic Diversity and Denominationalism in American JudaismChapter 39. Native American New ReligionsChapter 40. Black Nationalism and New Urban ReligionsIllustrations: American JudaismChapter 41. Health, Wealth, and MetaphysicsPart V: The Twentieth Century and Beyond: Further Encounters with Modernity and PluralismChapter 42. Neo-Orthodoxy and Ecumenism: The Foundations of "Mainline" ProtestantismChapter 43. "Mainline" Protestantism in the Twenty-first CenturyChapter 44. Conservative Protestantism: Culture and PoliticsChapter 45. Mormons and the "Mainstream"Chapter 46. Traditions and Structures in the American Jewish CommunityChapter 47. Jewish Identity and Jewish Culture in Modern AmericaChapter 48. Vatican II and the End of the Catholic "Ghetto"Chapter 49. Roman Catholic Education, Thought, and CultureChapter 50. The Religions of Spanish-Speaking PeoplesChapter 51. African American Christianity: "Eyes on the Prize"Chapter 52. Islam in the United StatesChapter 53. Asian Traditions and American TransformationsChapter 54. Liberalism, Radicalism, and SecularismChapter 55. Popular Religion in New KeysConclusion: Culture Wars and Great AwakeningsFurther ReadingIndex