Knowledge and belief in America
Subtitle: enlightenment traditions and modern religious thought
By: edited by William M. Shea and Peter A. Huff.
Contributors: Shea, William M., 1935-; Huff, Peter A.
Series: Woodrow Wilson Center series
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: [Washington, D.C.]; Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 360
Subjects: Enlightenment -- Influence; United States -- Religion
Description: The Enlightenment values of individual autonomy, democracy, and secularizing reason appear to conflict with the religious traditions of community, authority, and traditional learning. Yet in American history the two heritages have been intertwined since the colonial era: The development of the Enlightenment has been influenced by community-based thinking, and religious institutions have adopted to some extent critical methods and a democratic ethos even within their own walls.

This volume brings together the work of a distinguished group of theologians, intellectual historians, literary critics, and philosophers to explore the interaction between Enlightenment ideals and American religion. The Enlightenment's effect on the major religious traditions, including the Catholic Church, evangelical Protestantism, and Judaism, is examined.

Also highlighted is religion in the thinking of such representative figures as Edwards, Franklin, Emerson, Lincoln, Santayana and the pragmatists, Stevens, and Eliot. The collection concludes with a three-part discussion of the nature of the "post-Enlightenment."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.