American Unitarian
Conference™ Unitarian
History Book Shelf
The following list of books are suggested by the AUC and
many are available via the Amazon.com Associates Program.
Each purchase you make via the links on this website earns a
percentage for the AUC as long as you access the Amazon.com
website via the links on the AUC website. This list is
broken up into topical sections, just click on the category link
below. Click on the underlined title to go to the
Amazon.com entry for more information and to order. Your
order will be through Amazon.com, not the AUC.
The
Unitarians and the Universalists - David Robinson A
narrative text, an extensive series of biographical
sketches, and a comprehensive bibliographical essay, thus
recommending itself as an essential part of any reference
collection. The narrative itself is a very able analysis
of the intellectual and theological development of
Unitarianism and Universalism in America. What it does, it
does extremely well, and is highly recommended as a
reference tool and a contribution to the history of
American religious thought.
George Willis Cooke (1848-1923), born
in Comstock, Michigan, was a Unitarian minister, writer,
editor, and lecturer best known now for his landmark
history of the Unitarian movement in the 19th century and
for his work on transcendentalist writers and
publications. This book, first published in 1902, was the
standard work on 19th century Unitarianism for some time
and is still the major source of information on Unitarian
developments in the early decades after the Unitarian
controversy.
An
American Reformation: A Documentary History of Unitarian
Christianity - Sydney E. Ahlstrom
(editor), Jonathan Sinclair Carey The work discusses the rise, apogee and
redirection of American Unitarian thought and its
Trinitarian brethren. It includes Sermons by many leading
Unitarian ministers.
An account of the
struggle between proponents of Calvinism and the champions
of Christian liberty in 18th century New England, which
set the stage for American Unitarianism.
The
English Unitarian confrontation with the late 18th century
political establishment is reflected in published sermons,
pamphlets, and parliamentary debates. Price and Priestley
were only the most notorious members of a well-educated,
close-knit, and highly articulate intellectual opposition,
all the more formidable for dominating the major literary
reviews. Focusing on many lesser-known dissenting
polemicists, this study uncovers unexpected continuities
in Unitarian critiques of government policies and
questions whether Burke was justified in equating
antitrinitarians with French republicans.
Joseph
Priestley was a Unitarian minister and inventor who came
to colonial America after he fled England when his chapel
and office was burned out of religious persecution.
Comprising
twenty essays by leading scholars, this insightful
collection provides the best recent writing on the
Transcendentalists, the New England religious reformers
and intellectuals who challenged both spiritual and
secular orthodoxies between the 1830s and the 1850s. The
volume addresses Transcendentalism from many directions,
illuminating the movement more clearly than ever before.
The contributions consider aspects of the relationship
between the Transcendentalists and their intellectual and
social world, assess the movement's cultural legacy, and
place Transcendentalism in the context of historical and
literary scholarship, past and present.
Dean
Grodzins offers a compelling account of the remarkable
first phase of Parker's career, when this complex
man--charismatic yet awkward, brave yet insecure--rose
from poverty and obscurity to fame and notoriety as a
Transcendentalist prophet. Grodzins reveals hitherto
hidden facets of Parker's life, including his love for a
woman who was not his wife, and presents fresh
perspectives on Transcendentalism. Grodzins explores
Transcendentalism's religious roots, shows the profound
religious and political issues at stake in the
"Transcendentalist controversy," and offers new
insights into Parker's Transcendentalist colleagues,
including Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott. He
traces, too, the intellectual origins of Parker's epochal
definition of democracy as government of, by, and for the
people.
As a volume
in the Great American Orators series, the focus is on
Parker's oratory and its effect upon theology and the
social structures of the mid-19th century. Biographical
information pertains to those aspects of Parker's life
that influenced and shaped his elocution and ideas.
Parker's rhetoric and rhetorical techniques are examined.
Three of Parker's important speeches are included, each
with an introduction that places it in its proper context.
Defining
"yesterday's radicals" as 19th-century Anglican
Broad Churchmen and Unitarians, this text shows how they
influenced each other over issues such as biblical
criticism and inspiration. It shows the affinity between
them, as they tried to grapple with the problems of their
day. The author takes the reader through the ramifications
and complexities of biblical criticism, and discusses the
answers given to the problems of biblical inspiration,
miracles and other subjects. He shows how Unitarians and
Broad Churchmen influenced each other, and reveals that
much which is now taken for granted in enlightened
theological circles was developed by yesterday's radicals.
The study was awarded the Earl Morse Wilbur Prize for
Historical Research.
Vividly set in the social and political
events of the age, America's God is replete with the figures
who made up the early American intellectual landscape, from
theologians such as Jonathan Edwards, Nathaniel W. Taylor,
William Ellery Channing, and Charles Hodge and religiously
inspired writers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Catherine
Stowe to dominant political leaders of the day like
Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.
As the first entry in
a projected three-volume series on American liberal
Christianity, this masterfully written work offers a
biographical narrative of the 19th-century figures who,
while influenced by English and German ideas, shaped an
indigenous theology. Writers such as William E. Channing,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Bushnell, Henry Ward Beecher,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charles Briggs, and Borden Parker
Bowne are all featured here.
When William James went to the University
of Edinburgh in 1901 to deliver a series of lectures
on "natural religion," he defined religion
as "the feelings, acts, and experiences of
individual men in their solitude, so far as they
apprehend themselves to stand in relation to
whatever they may consider the divine."
Considering religion, then, not as it is defined
by--or takes place in--the churches, but as it is
felt in everyday life, he undertook a project that,
upon completion, stands not only as one of the most
important texts on psychology ever written, not only
as a vitally serious contemplation of spirituality,
but for many critics one of the best works of
nonfiction written in the 20th century. Reading The
Varieties of Religious Experience, it is easy to see
why. Applying his analytic clarity to religious
accounts from a variety of sources, James elaborates
a pluralistic framework in which "the divine
can mean no single quality, it must mean a group of
qualities, by being champions of which in
alternation, different men may all find worthy
missions." It's an intellectual call for
serious religious tolerance--indeed, respect--the
vitality of which has not diminished through the
subsequent decades.
Eliade's extensive studies in comparative
religion penetrates to the core of the human
condition, our existence and constant search for
meaning. This is a great book to open dialogue about
the nature of religion, it's development, and
evolution.
Among his many gifts, Joseph Campbell's
most impressive was the unique ability to take a
contemporary situation, such as the murder and
funeral of President John F. Kennedy, and help us
understand its impact in the context of ancient
mythology. Herein lies the power of The Power of
Myth, showing how humans are apt to create and live
out the themes of mythology. Based on a six-part PBS
television series hosted by Bill Moyers, this
classic is especially compelling because of its
engaging question-and-answer format, creating an
easy, conversational approach to complicated and
esoteric topics.
The
History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam - by Karen Armstrong
Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun,
guides us along one of the most elusive and
fascinating quests of all time--the search for God.
Like all beloved historians, Armstrong entertains us
with deft storytelling, astounding research, and
makes us feel a greater appreciation for the present
because we better understand our past. Be warned: A
History of God is not a tidy linear history. Rather,
we learn that the definition of God is constantly
being repeated, altered, discarded, and resurrected
through the ages, responding to its followers'
practical concerns rather than to mystical mandates.
Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam have overlapped and influenced one
another, gently challenging the secularist history
of each of these religions. --Gail Hudson of
Amazon.com
The
Battle for God - by Karen Armstrong
About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that
religion would become a weaker force and people
would certainly become less zealous as the world
became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the
opposite has proven true, according to theologian
and author Karen Armstrong, who documents how
fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of
the world's major religions, such as Christianity,
Islam, and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism,
Hinduism, and Confucianism have developed
fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a
technologically driven world with liberal Western
values, fundamentalists have not only increased in
numbers, they have become more desperate, claims
Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing,
violent anti-abortion crusades, and the
assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence
of dangerous extremes.
Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how
fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge
each other on to greater excesses. To "prevent
an escalation of the conflict, we must try and
understand the pain and perception of the other
side," she pleads. With her gift for clear,
engaging writing and her integrity as a thorough
researcher, Armstrong delivers a powerful discussion
of a globally heated issue. Part history lesson,
part wake-up call, and mostly a plea for healing,
Armstrong's writing continues to offer a religious
mirror and a cultural vision. --Gail Hudson of
Amazon.com
If the book you want is not listed in
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Other book
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The following links are especially
useful for used book searches. These sellers do not have
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but they do offer alternatives for those hard to find volumes.
