Communities of Dissent: A History of Alternative Religions in America

Stein, Stephen J.

ISBN 10: 0195158253 / ISBN 13: 9780195158250

Published by Oxford University Press, 2003

About this Item

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Seller Inventory # G0195158253I4N00

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Communities of Dissent: A History of Alternative Religions in America
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195158253
• ISBN 13: 9780195158250
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 0.6 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Alternative religious groups have had a profound influence on American history-they have challenged the old and opened up new ways of thinking about healing, modes of meaning, religious texts and liturgies, the social and political order, and the relationships between religion and race, class, gender, and region. Virtually always, the dramatic, dynamic history of alternative religions runs parallel to that of dissent in America. Communities of Dissent is an evenhanded and marvelously lively history of New Religious Movements in America. Stephen J. Stein describes the evolution and structure of alternative religious movements from both sides: the critics and the religious dissenters themselves. Providing a fascinating look at a wide range of New Religious Movements, he investigates obscure groups such as the 19th-century Vermont Pilgrims, who wore bearskins and refused to bathe or cut their hair, alongside better-known alternative believers, including colonial America's largest outsider faith, the Quakers; 17th- and 18th-century Mennonites, Amish, and Shakers; and the Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Black Muslims, and Scientologists of today. Accessible and comprehensive, Communities of Dissent also covers the milestones in the history of alternative American religions, from the infamous Salem witch trials and mass suicide/murder at Jonestown to the positive ways in which alternative religions have affected racial relations, the empowerment of women, and American culture in general.

About the Author

Stephen J. Stein is a professor of religious studies at Indiana University. His books include Jonathan Edwards's Writings: Text, Context, Interpretation, The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers, and The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism: Apocalypticism in the Modern Period and the Contemporary Age (editor).