Heart Religion

"This collection of essays on a critical phase in the history of Protestant spirituality arose from the seventh annual one-day conference of the Dr Williams's Centre for Dissenting Studies, held in 2011"--Preface.

Drawing on a random survey of 1,200 men and women across the United States, this book sheds new light on how Americans wake up to the reality of divine love and how that transformative experience expresses itself in concrete acts of benevolence.

In 'The Religion of the Heart,' Campbell provides a critical but sympathetic analysis of the European and British pietistic movements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Campbell shows that a definitive form of religious life emerged during the period of inter-Christian warfare in the seventeenth century that was characterized by personal affection for God. Campbell explores these religious movements parallel to the rise of Enlightenment thought and examines their importance in relation to our understanding of modern religious movements.

"When you're in New York" the sculptor Louise Nevelson once said, "you're in perpetual resurrection." She might have said the same thing about St. Peter's Lutheran Church, set in the heart of midtown Manhattan. In the 1970s the church made a radical move, scrapping its neo-gothic building for a sleek modern structure in the shadow of a skyscraper. The transformation was not just architectural. Inside, Nevelson created a shimmering chapel, while over the years artists and designers such as Willem de Kooning, Kiki Smith, and Massimo and Lella Vignelli produced works for the sanctuary. This fusion of modern art, architecture, and design was complemented by an innovative jazz ministry, including funerals for Billy Strayhorn and John Coltrane, and performances by Duke Ellington and other jazz legends. For the first time, this volume examines the astounding cultural output of this single church. Just as importantly, the story of St. Peter's serves as a springboard for wider reflections on the challenges and possibilities which arise when religion and art intersect in the modern city. Working from a wide range of disciplines, including art history, theology, musicology, and cultural studies, a distinguished group of scholars demonstrate that this church at the center of New York City deserves an equally central place in contemporary scholarship.

"This written narrative recovers the emotional experiences of individuals from a wide array of little-used sources, including diaries, journals, correspondence, and public records. From such sources, Corrigan discovers that for these Protestants the expression of emotion was a matter of transaction. They saw emotion as a commodity and conceptualized relations between people, and between individuals and God, as transactions of emotion governed by contract. Religion became a business relation with God - with prayer as its legal tender. Entering this relationship, they were conducting the "business of the heart.""--BOOK JACKET.

These 11 essays trace the development of religions of the heart, especially in the United States. They trace the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of the German Pietists, the African-American tradition, the Holiness movement, and the experiences of women in American Methodism. They also consider the state of heart religion today, centering the discussion on issues like preaching, education, the passions, faith and grace, and orthopathy. Contributors include ministers, philosophers, theologians, and behavioral scientists. c. Book News Inc.