Heaven in the American Imagination - Smith, Gary Scott
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Does heaven exist? If so, what is it like? And how does one get in? Throughout history, painters, poets, philosophers, pastors, and many ordinary people have pondered these questions. Perhaps no other topic captures the popular imagination quite like heaven. In this book, Gary Scott Smith looks at heaven through an American lens, tracing the history of heaven in the American imagination from the Puritans to the present. Concepts of heaven, he argues, are ever-changing, constantly adapting to the spirit of the age. In the colonial era, heaven focused primarily on the glory of God. For the…mehr

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Produktbeschreibung
Does heaven exist? If so, what is it like? And how does one get in? Throughout history, painters, poets, philosophers, pastors, and many ordinary people have pondered these questions. Perhaps no other topic captures the popular imagination quite like heaven. In this book, Gary Scott Smith looks at heaven through an American lens, tracing the history of heaven in the American imagination from the Puritans to the present. Concepts of heaven, he argues, are ever-changing, constantly adapting to the spirit of the age. In the colonial era, heaven focused primarily on the glory of God. For the Victorians, heaven was a warm comfortable home where people would live forever with their family and friends. Today, heaven has less Christian identity; many see it as a celestial entertainment center or a paradise where everyone can reach their full potential. Drawing on an astounding array of sources, including works of art, music, sociology, psychology, folklore, liturgy, sermons, poetry, fiction, and devotional books, Smith paints a sweeping, provocative portrait of what Americans--from Jonathan Edwards to Mitch Albom--have thought about heaven.
Gary Scott Smith poses two major questions: How have Americans viewed heaven? And how have they believed people get there? He argues that Americans in all periods have agreed about some aspects of heavenly life, but that the predominant conception of heaven has varied from era to era because of the close connection of depictions of paradise with social, economic, political, and cultural trends during different periods.
Autorenporträt
Gary Scott Smith is Professor of History at Grove City College, in Pennsylvania. He is the author, most recently, of Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush.