Ulster-American Religion : Episodes in the History of a Cultural Connection

by Livingstone, David N.; Wells, Ronald A.

• ISBN13: 9780268043032
• ISBN10: 0268043035
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

Ulster-American Religion recounts the attempt by Presbyterian leaders to use their religious belief as a self-chosen ground on which to contend for societal leadership. In Ulster and America over the last century and a half, a hoped-for Presbyterian dominion was seen as the desire to give society moral leadership. Livingstone and Wells suggest that this leadership offered by Presbyterians was, over time, accorded increasingly less welcome by outside organizations in the two societies. Both conservative and evangelical Presbyterians came to believe that the tide of history in the modern world was against them and their moral vision. Those who saw themselves as naturally appointed leaders in education, science, theology, and politics were puzzled, even saddened, by challenges to that leadership. For them, it was essential to maintain the boundaries of the mind, the spirit, and the nation. Ulster-American Religion is a salient observation on the history of the cultural connections between Ulster and America for students of history, theology, politics, sociology, and Irish studies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
Culture and Curriculum: The Belfast-Princeton Connection	7	(24)
Science and Scripture: Transatlantic Transactions	31	(20)
Contending for the Faith: Presbyterians Face Up to Modernity in America and Ireland	51	(30)
Keeping the Covenant: Militant Protestantism and the State in Ulster and America	81	(22)
Populist Ideology and Revivalism: W. P. Nicholson and the Forging of a Unionist Identity	103	(36)
Conclusion	139	(6)
Appendix: Irish Students at Princeton Seminary: An Example of the Ulster-American Connection	145	(10)
Peter Wallace
Notes	155	(30)
Select Bibliography	185	(8)
Index	193