Heaven in the American Imagination

by Smith, Gary Scott

• ISBN13: 9780199738953
• ISBN10: 0199738955
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Does heaven exist? If so, what is it like? And how does one get in? Throughout history, painters, poets, philosophers, pastors, and many ordinary people have pondered these questions. Perhaps no other topic captures the popular imagination quite like heaven. In this book, Gary Scott Smith looks at heaven through an American lens, tracing the history of heaven in the American imagination from the Puritans to the present. Concepts of heaven, he argues, are ever-changing, constantly adapting to the spirit of the age. In the colonial era, heaven focused primarily on the glory of God. For the Victorians, heaven was a warm comfortable home where people would live forever with their family and friends. Today, heaven has less Christian identity; many see it as a celestial entertainment center or a paradise where everyone can reach their full potential. Drawing on an astounding array of sources, including works of art, music, sociology, psychology, folklore, liturgy, sermons, poetry, fiction, and devotional books, Smith paints a sweeping, provocative portrait of what Americans--from Jonathan Edwards to Mitch Albom--have thought about heaven.

Author Biography

Gary Scott Smith is Professor of History at Grove City College, in Pennsylvania. He is the author, most recently, of Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Puritans: Celebrating the Glory of Heaven	p. 10
Jonathan Edwards the First Great Awakening: Heaven Is a World of Love	p. 29
The Early National Era and the Second Great Awakening	p. 47
Heaven as Home: The Victorians and Heaven, 1830-1870	p. 70
Slavery, the Civil War, and Heaven	p. 87
Heaven in the Gilded Age: Dwight L. Moody and the Princes of the Pulpit	p. 109
Heaven in the Progressive Years: Personal Growth, Service, and Reform	p. 134
Shifting Conceptions of Heaven from the Roaring Twenties to the Fabulous Fifties	p. 158
New Currents and Old Streams, 1960-2000	p. 177
Heaven in a Postmodern, Anxiety-Ridden, Entertainment-Oriented, Therapeutic, Happiness-Based Culture	p. 204
Conclusion	p. 227
Notes	p. 239
Index	p. 317
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