Democratic Religion - Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785-1900 (Hardcover, New)

Democracy has not always fostered anti-authoritarian individualism. No American denomination identified itself more closely with the nation's democratic ideal than the Baptists. Most antebellum southern Baptist churches allowed women and slaves to vote on membership matters and preferred populist preachers who addressed their appeals to the common person. Paradoxically, no denomination wielded religious authority as zealously as the Baptists. Between 1785 and 1860 they ritually (and democratically) excommunicated forty to fifty thousand church members in Georgia alone. Wills demonstrates how a denomination of freedom-loving individualists came to embrace an exclusivist spirituality - a spirituality that continues to shape Southern Baptist churches in contemporary conflicts between moderates who urge tolerance and conservatives who require belief in scriptural inerrancy. Wills's analysis advances our understanding of the interaction between democracy and religious authority, and will appeal to scholars of American religion, culture, and history, as well as to Baptist observers.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Religion in America
Release date:	November 1996
First published:	November 1996
Authors:	Gregory A. Wills (Adjunct Professor of Church History)
Dimensions:	241 x 167 x 21mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	206
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-510412-7
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Baptist Churches Books > History > American history > General Books > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Baptist Churches Books > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Baptist Churches
LSN:	0-19-510412-9
Barcode:	9780195104127

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