<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A Magnificent Storm
Review: There are books of high quality, and then their are magnificent books. This work by John Wigger is something with which to be especially pleased.The author, building on some of the themes found in Nathan Hatch's Democratization of American Religion, gives us a glimpse of the early Methodists in America, fleshing out how they were both archetypal representatives of the growth and change in the early decades of the republic and showing us many of the ways in which the Methodists shaped the very identity of Americans. Wigger, and his forerunner, Hatch, draw a strong connection between popular religion of the early 19th Century (of which Methodism was one of the chief representatives) and the development of capitalism and a popular civic sense. Essentially, Wigger's work is a further exploration of Hatch's argument, deepening it to gain understanding of one of the great religious movements of the period. The book reads very well and does not suffer from the slogging pace so common to many academic works. It deals with a number of themes and introduces the reader to a sampling of some of the interesting features of the history of the early Methodists including a look at the itinerants, how the movement was both attractive to and empowering of women and African Americans, etc. My only real criticism of the book is a regional bias in its sources of evidence. But this is true of almost any historical work, due to the realities of access to source material for a given researcher. If the reader realizes that there can be other perspectives drawn from different materials, this limitation need not be a problem. This is a superb work and is useful both to those interested in Methodism and those interested in the broader topic of early American history.
<< 1 >>
| 
