About the Author:
James Hudnut-Beumler is the Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the author of several books, including In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar.
Review:
This rich, warm book wears its learning lightly, telling fascinating stories of diversity in the expression of contemporary Christianities in the South. The diversity here is very real—snake-handlers, Civil War reenactors, post-Katrina victims, megachurch attendees, Catholics, homeschoolers, LGBT-friendly congregations, creationists, and political figures ranging from right to left. While Christianity continues to dominate the culture of the southern states, Christianities represent many different kinds of people."—Paul Harvey, co-author of The Color of Christ
In a lively portrayal of southern Christian communities' witness to their faith, Hudnut-Beumler dispels long-standing stereotypes about this multifaceted region and offers rich insights about its history as well as contemporary realities. Natives will discover new dimensions of the place they call home, while newcomers to the South and those outside of it will encounter new revelations and quite a few surprises."—Jan Love, dean of Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Highlighting the everyday voices of people within and outside of churches in the South, James Hudnut-Beumler provides a new look at what 'southern religion' means in the twenty-first century. What he finds out about the complicated legacies of southern religion—hospitable, in spite of a painful and difficult history regarding race, gender, and sexuality—will be of great interest to southerners and nonsoutherners alike."—Anthea D. Butler, author of Women in the Church of God in Christ
Consulting a bounty of people and places throughout his travels in the South, Hudnut-Beumler opens new vistas for interpretation of southern religion. With strong sensitivity to the different perspectives he encounters—whether, for example, Hispanic immigrant families flocking to a revitalized Catholic parish or believers wrestling with issues of spirituality and sexual identity—his experiences as a pastor, as well as a professor, help him to get inside what he finds, and then to show its richness to the reader."—Charles H. Lippy, author of Do Real Men Pray?
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