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9780813366128

Stairways To Heaven Drugs In American Religious History

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780813366128

  • ISBN10:

    0813366127

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2000-04-14
  • Publisher: Basic Books

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Summary

From Native Americans' use of tobacco for solemnizing oaths to the spread of New Age religious beliefs in Haight-Ashbury coffeehouses, drugs have been intimately associated with American spirituality. InStairways to Heaven, Robert Fuller presents a rarely considered but very important dimension of American religious historythe use of mind-altering substances as an aid to spiritualityin a clear, engaging style. Fuller's entertaining narrative illustrates how such substances as peyote, jimson weed, hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD, marijuana, wine, and coffee have stimulated ecstatic revelations of spiritual truth and strengthened the social bonds that sustain communities of faith.Stairways to Heavenis unique in the study of American religious history in two ways: first, it demonstrates that the ritual use of mind-altering substances has contributed to the innovation and diversity that characterize American religious life; second, it uses interdisciplinary research into the religious uses of drugs to shed light on the controversial legal, ethical, and spiritual controversies that surround drug use in the contemporary United States. The book's final chapter assesses the usefulness of drugs in the quest for a mature, life-affirming, community-building, creative spirituality.

Author Biography

Robert C. Fuller is a preeminent historian and interpreter of American religious life. He is professor of religious studies at Bradley University. His previous books include Mesmerism and the American Cure of Souls, Alternative Medicine and American Religious Life, Americans and the Unconscious, and Religion and Wine.

Table of Contents

Preface vii
From the Plant Kingdom to the Kingdom of God
1(16)
The Native American Heritage
17(34)
Psychedelics and Metaphysical Illumination
51(40)
Wine and the Varieties of American Religious Life
91(32)
Drugs, Aesthetics, and Unchurched Spirituality
123(32)
The Quest for Ecstasy
155(40)
Notes 195(22)
Bibliography 217(6)
Index 223

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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