The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805-1900 - Softcover

Dorrien, Gary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0664223540 ISBN 13: 9780664223540

Publisher: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001

Synopsis

In this first of a three-volume, comprehensive series, Gary Dorrien mixes theological analysis with historical and biographical detail to present the first comprehensive interpretation of American theological liberalism. Arguing that the indigenous roots of American liberal theology existed before the rise of Darwinism, Dorrien maintains that this tradition took shape in the nineteenth century and was motivated by a desire to map a progressive "third way" between authority-based orthodoxies and atheistic rationalism. Dorrien characterizes American liberal theology by its openness to historical criticism and evolutionary theory, its commitment to the authority of individual reason and experience, its conception of Christianity as an ethical way of life, and its commitment to make Christianity credible and socially relevant to modern people.

About this title

Synopsis:

The first in a three-volume history, this text identifies the indigenous roots of American liberal theology and uncovers a wider, longer-running tradition than has been thought. Taking a narrative approach the text provides a biographical reading of important religious thinkers of the time, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry ward Beecher, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Charles Briggs. It notes that although liberal theology moved into elite academic institutions, its conceptual foundations were laid in the pulpit rather than the classroom.

About the Author:

Gary Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University in New York City. An Episcopal priest, he is the author of eleven books and over one hundred articles that range across the fields of theology, philosophy, social theory, politics, ethics, and history.

About this edition

• Publisher: Westminster/John Knox Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0664223540
• ISBN 13: 9780664223540
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 285