God and the Atlantic

America, Europe, and the Religious Divide

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Reference, History
Cover of the book God and the Atlantic by Thomas Albert Howard, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Albert Howard ISBN: 9780191624834
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: January 20, 2011
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Thomas Albert Howard
ISBN: 9780191624834
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: January 20, 2011
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, the United States and Western Europe's paths to modernity have diverged sharply with respect to religion. In short, Americans have maintained much friendlier ties with traditional forms of religion than their European counterparts. What explains this transatlantic religious divide? Accessing the topic though nineteenth and early twentieth-century European commentary on the United States, Thomas Albert Howard argues that an 'Atlantic gap' in religious matters has deep and complex historical roots, and enduringly informs some strands of European disapprobation of the United States. While exploring in the first chapters 'Old World' disquiet toward the young republic's religious dynamics, the book turns in the final chapters and focuses on more constructive European assessments of the United States. Acknowledging the importance of Alexis de Tocqueville for the topic, Howard argues that a widespread overreliance on Tocqueville as interpreter of America has had a tendency to overshadow other noteworthy European voices. Two underappreciated figures here receive due attention: the Protestant Swiss-German church historian, Philip Schaff, and the French Catholic philosopher, Jacques Maritain. While the transatlantic religious divide has received commentary from journalists and sociologists in recent decades, this is the first major work of cultural and intellectual history devoted to the subject.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, the United States and Western Europe's paths to modernity have diverged sharply with respect to religion. In short, Americans have maintained much friendlier ties with traditional forms of religion than their European counterparts. What explains this transatlantic religious divide? Accessing the topic though nineteenth and early twentieth-century European commentary on the United States, Thomas Albert Howard argues that an 'Atlantic gap' in religious matters has deep and complex historical roots, and enduringly informs some strands of European disapprobation of the United States. While exploring in the first chapters 'Old World' disquiet toward the young republic's religious dynamics, the book turns in the final chapters and focuses on more constructive European assessments of the United States. Acknowledging the importance of Alexis de Tocqueville for the topic, Howard argues that a widespread overreliance on Tocqueville as interpreter of America has had a tendency to overshadow other noteworthy European voices. Two underappreciated figures here receive due attention: the Protestant Swiss-German church historian, Philip Schaff, and the French Catholic philosopher, Jacques Maritain. While the transatlantic religious divide has received commentary from journalists and sociologists in recent decades, this is the first major work of cultural and intellectual history devoted to the subject.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Darwin the Writer by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Global Basic Rights by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Abuse of Process by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Medieval Philosophy by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book India and the British Empire by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Blackstone's Police Station Handbook by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book A Dictionary of Weather by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book The Computer: A Very Short Introduction by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Equality and Opportunity by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Fiction and Narrative by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Epicurean Ethics in Horace by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Studies in Buddhist Philosophy by Thomas Albert Howard
Cover of the book Exposure Assessment in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology by Thomas Albert Howard
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy