by [compiled and introduced by] David E. Shi (1986)
Since colonial days Americans have greatly admired, variously defined, and occasionally practiced the simple life. In doing so they have provided a significant shaping force in the history of American values. Though quickly displaced by the cult of more and more, the simple life has remained an elevated ideal for a resolute few. For some it has meant a life of pious austerity; for others it has entailed conscientious consumption and aesthetic creation; for a few it has resulted in withdrawal from the larger society. Yet whatever form of simplicity has been adopted, those promoting the ideal have been animated by the same common purpose: to subordinate material desires to 'higher' activities. This richly illustrated anthology presents a fascinating and compelling array of original writings, woven together with Shi's illuminating commentary. -- publisher
Ragan Sutterfield
This biography of Wendell Berry shows his "coherent vision for the lived moral and spiritual life that helps us remember our givenness. It is a vision that can be practiced and lived--a vision that is grounded in the knowledge that our lives, and our world, are gifts."--Jacket flap.
Theodore R. Weber
"Was John Wesley the "fanatical Tory" conservative of many political portraits, with his loyalty to the British monarchy, his support of taxation without representation, and his severe criticism of American independence? Or was he an emergent political liberal, condemning slavery, defending the rights and liberties of the British people, and urging government intervention in the economy to relieve hunger and poverty? This historical and theological study of Wesley's political thought concludes that he is understood best neither as Tory nor as liberal (both of which he was, in important respects), but as a staunch champion of limited constitutional government and of the subordination of power to law - in the context of the "Glorious Revolution" and the organic unity of the British community. Wesley's understanding of rights is a mixture of the historical and the natural, but is closer to the adaptive conservatism of Edmund Burke than to natural rights individualism in the following of John Locke.". "Weber argues further that Wesley's deliberate exclusion of the people from politics can be challenged from within his own theology by recovering and developing his concept of the political image and integrating it with his understanding of the order of salvation. This process of recovery and integration discloses the political vocation for all humankind, and opens the way to an authentically Wesleyan political language. It has significant implications also for rethinking Wesley's theology as such, and not only the Wesleyan language of politics."--BOOK JACKET.
Richard T. Hughes
The idea of the United States as a Christian nation is a powerful, seductive, and potentially destructive theme in American life, culture, and politics. Many fundamentalist and evangelical leaders routinely promote this notion, and millions of Americans simply assume the Christian character of the United States. And yet, as Richard T. Hughes reveals in this powerful book, the biblical vision of the "kingdom of God" stands at odds with the values and actions of an American empire that sanctions war instead of peace, promotes dominance and oppression instead of reconciliation, and exalts wealth and power instead of justice for the poor and needy. With conviction and careful consideration, Hughes reviews the myth of Christian America from its earliest history in the founding of the republic to the present day. Extensively analyzing the Old and New Testaments, Hughes provides a solid, scripturally-based explanation of the kingdom of God--a kingdom defined by love, peace, patience, and generosity. Throughout American history, however, this concept has been appropriated by religious and political leaders and distorted into a messianic nationalism that champions the United States as God's "chosen nation" and bears little resemblance to the teachings of Jesus. Pointing to a systemic biblical and theological illiteracy running rampant in the United States, Hughes investigates the reasons why so many Americans think of the United States as a Christian nation despite the Constitution's outright prohibition against establishing any national religion by law or coercion. He traces the development of fundamentalist Christianity throughout American history, noting especially the increased power and widespread influence of fundamentalism at the dawn of the twenty-first century, embodied and enacted by the administration of President George W. Bush and America's reaction to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Timely and provocative, Christian America and the Kingdom of God illuminates the devastating irony of a "Christian America" that so often behaves in unchristian ways.
Brian J. Braman
"The language of self-fulfilment, self-realization, and self-actualization (in short, 'authenticity') has become common in contemporary culture. The desire to be authentic is implicitly a desire to shape one's self in accordance with an ideal, and the concern for what it means to be authentic is, in many ways, the modern form of the ancient question 'what is the life of excellence?' However, this notion of authenticity has its critics: Christopher Lasch, for instance, who equates it with a form of narcissism and Theodor Adorno, who views it as a glorification of privatism." "Brian J. Braman argues, despite such criticisms, that it is possible to speak about human authenticity as something that addresses contemporary concerns as well as the ancient preoccupation with the nature of the good life. He refers to the work of Bernard Lonergan and Charles Taylor, thinkers who place a high value on the search for human authenticity. Lonergan discusses authenticity in terms of a threefold conversion - intellectual, moral, and religious - while Taylor views authenticity as a rich, vibrant, and important addition to conversations about what it means to be human." "Meaning and Authenticity is an engaging dialogue between these two thinkers, both of whom maintain that there is a normative conception of authentic human life that overcomes moral relativism, narcissism, privatism, and the collapse of the public self."--BOOK JACKET.