Oxford University Press , 1999.
Visual culture is in, and it is red-hot.
The main theme of this book is the change in the attitude of evangelical Protestants toward religious imagery during the nineteenth century. Each of these parts bears out a conclusion set forth in Chapter One, namely that many Protestant denominations eagerly seized upon the new mass medium of printing to spread their visions of the word of God. Chapter one precedes the four parts that explore the episodes, and it offers general observations and hypotheses that guide readers through the eight chapters that follow. This was essential to achieving the Protestant states of mind and existence which were crucial, first, for making the American Republic the great last age for humanity, and second,for preparing for Christ's imminent return. These very different goals distinguished postmillennialists who belonged to mainstream Protestant denominations from premillennialists like the Adventists.