Secularism in Antebellum America

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book Secularism in Antebellum America by John Lardas Modern, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John Lardas Modern ISBN: 9780226533254
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: November 11, 2011
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: John Lardas Modern
ISBN: 9780226533254
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: November 11, 2011
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

Ghosts. Railroads. Sing Sing. Sex machines. These are just a few of the phenomena that appear in John Lardas Modern’s pioneering account of religion and society in nineteenth-century America. This book uncovers surprising connections between secular ideology and the rise of technologies that opened up new ways of being religious. Exploring the eruptions of religion in New York’s penny presses, the budding fields of anthropology and phrenology, and Moby-Dick, Modern challenges the strict separation between the religious and the secular that remains integral to discussions about religion today.

Modern frames his study around the dread, wonder, paranoia, and manic confidence of being haunted, arguing that experiences and explanations of enchantment fueled secularism’s emergence. The awareness of spectral energies coincided with attempts to tame the unruly fruits of secularism—in the cultivation of a spiritual self among Unitarians, for instance, or in John Murray Spear’s erotic longings for a perpetual motion machine. Combining rigorous theoretical inquiry with beguiling historical arcana, Modern unsettles long-held views of religion and the methods of narrating its past.

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

Ghosts. Railroads. Sing Sing. Sex machines. These are just a few of the phenomena that appear in John Lardas Modern’s pioneering account of religion and society in nineteenth-century America. This book uncovers surprising connections between secular ideology and the rise of technologies that opened up new ways of being religious. Exploring the eruptions of religion in New York’s penny presses, the budding fields of anthropology and phrenology, and Moby-Dick, Modern challenges the strict separation between the religious and the secular that remains integral to discussions about religion today.

Modern frames his study around the dread, wonder, paranoia, and manic confidence of being haunted, arguing that experiences and explanations of enchantment fueled secularism’s emergence. The awareness of spectral energies coincided with attempts to tame the unruly fruits of secularism—in the cultivation of a spiritual self among Unitarians, for instance, or in John Murray Spear’s erotic longings for a perpetual motion machine. Combining rigorous theoretical inquiry with beguiling historical arcana, Modern unsettles long-held views of religion and the methods of narrating its past.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Cultural Misunderstandings by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Readings in Russian Civilization Rev Ed Vol 2 by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Book Was There by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Art and Truth after Plato by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Philanthropy in Democratic Societies by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book The Great Prince Died by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book The Great Cat and Dog Massacre by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Empowering Science and Mathematics Education in Urban Schools by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Beethoven's Symphonies by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Socrates and the Jews by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Planet of Microbes by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Making Hispanics by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book Essays in Ancient and Modern Historiography by John Lardas Modern
Cover of the book In Quest of the Ordinary by John Lardas Modern
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