Devoted to Nature explores the religious underpinnings of American environmentalism, tracing the theological character of American environmental thought from its Romantic foundations to contemporary... Read More
Description
Devoted to Nature explores the religious underpinnings of American environmentalism, tracing the theological character of American environmental thought from its Romantic foundations to contemporary nature spirituality. During the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, religious sources were central to the formation of the American environmental imagination, shaping ideas about the natural world, establishing practices of engagement with environments and landscapes, and generating new modes of social and political interaction. Building on the work of seminal environmental historians who acknowledge the environmental movement’s religious roots, Evan Berry offers a potent theoretical corrective to the narrative that explained the presence of religious elements in the movement well into the twentieth century. In particular, Berry argues that an explicitly Christian understanding of salvation underlies the movement’s orientation toward the natural world. Theologically derived concepts of salvation, redemption, and spiritual progress have not only provided the basic context for Americans’ passion for nature but have also established the horizons of possibility within the national environmental imagination.
Details
- Price: $29.95
- Pages: 272
- Carton Quantity: 32
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Imprint: University of California Press
- Publication Date: 21st July 2015
- Trim Size: 6 x 9 in
- ISBN: 9780520285736
- Format: Paperback
- BISACs:
SCIENCE / Environmental Science (see also Chemistry / Environmental)
HISTORY / Social History
RELIGION / Christian Theology / General
Reviews
- CHOICE"A significant scholarly contribution to understanding environmentalism . . . Recommended."
- Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture"Devoted to Nature is a delightful read that opens a very different window on an important period of American history. It provides valuable new insights on how turn- of-the-century popular Christianity contributed to the particular shape the American environmentalist movement has in the present. In doing so it offers key insights on how best to move forward."
- Agricultural History"Berry’s exclusive attention to recreation rather than labor may not immediately engage readers interested in agriculture, but his deft ability to show the ways that Christian theology permeated ostensibly secular organizations should encourage agricultural historians to re-examine their own subjects with a view toward religion. . . . his rich argument about the spiritual and social motivations of the early American environmentalists is persuasive and should receive wide attention."
- Environmental History". . . [Devoted to Nature] provide[s] excellent models for further scholarship, particularly for expanding on the interrelationships between theology, religious culture, and environmental activity during the mid- to late twentieth century to which both point, but neither sufficiently addresses."
- Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality". . . for those of us working at the intersections of Christian spirituality, Theology, and environmental concern Berry’s book is an essential read. Not only does it have impressive documentation and historical analysis of a critical moment in our recent spiritual history, but it should also inspire in us a critical questioning of our own work. . . . Devoted to Nature is an accessible read appropriate to undergraduate, graduate, and professional researchers. It would be at home in any historical, sociological, or theological inquiry into American environmentalism."
Author Bio
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Whither Religion?
1. Recreation and Soteriology
2. Congregating around Nature
3. Sacred Space and the American Environmental Imagination
4. Recreation and Spiritual Experience
Conclusion: The Mechanics of Religious Change
Notes
For Further Reading and Research
Index
Introduction: Whither Religion?
1. Recreation and Soteriology
2. Congregating around Nature
3. Sacred Space and the American Environmental Imagination
4. Recreation and Spiritual Experience
Conclusion: The Mechanics of Religious Change
Notes
For Further Reading and Research
Index
Devoted to Nature explores the religious underpinnings of American environmentalism, tracing the theological character of American environmental thought from its Romantic foundations to contemporary nature spirituality. During the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, religious sources were central to the formation of the American environmental imagination, shaping ideas about the natural world, establishing practices of engagement with environments and landscapes, and generating new modes of social and political interaction. Building on the work of seminal environmental historians who acknowledge the environmental movement’s religious roots, Evan Berry offers a potent theoretical corrective to the narrative that explained the presence of religious elements in the movement well into the twentieth century. In particular, Berry argues that an explicitly Christian understanding of salvation underlies the movement’s orientation toward the natural world. Theologically derived concepts of salvation, redemption, and spiritual progress have not only provided the basic context for Americans’ passion for nature but have also established the horizons of possibility within the national environmental imagination.
- Price: $29.95
- Pages: 272
- Carton Quantity: 32
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Imprint: University of California Press
- Publication Date: 21st July 2015
- Trim Size: 6 x 9 in
- ISBN: 9780520285736
- Format: Paperback
- BISACs:
SCIENCE / Environmental Science (see also Chemistry / Environmental)
HISTORY / Social History
RELIGION / Christian Theology / General
– CHOICE"A significant scholarly contribution to understanding environmentalism . . . Recommended."
– Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture"Devoted to Nature is a delightful read that opens a very different window on an important period of American history. It provides valuable new insights on how turn- of-the-century popular Christianity contributed to the particular shape the American environmentalist movement has in the present. In doing so it offers key insights on how best to move forward."
– Agricultural History"Berry’s exclusive attention to recreation rather than labor may not immediately engage readers interested in agriculture, but his deft ability to show the ways that Christian theology permeated ostensibly secular organizations should encourage agricultural historians to re-examine their own subjects with a view toward religion. . . . his rich argument about the spiritual and social motivations of the early American environmentalists is persuasive and should receive wide attention."
– Environmental History". . . [Devoted to Nature] provide[s] excellent models for further scholarship, particularly for expanding on the interrelationships between theology, religious culture, and environmental activity during the mid- to late twentieth century to which both point, but neither sufficiently addresses."
– Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality". . . for those of us working at the intersections of Christian spirituality, Theology, and environmental concern Berry’s book is an essential read. Not only does it have impressive documentation and historical analysis of a critical moment in our recent spiritual history, but it should also inspire in us a critical questioning of our own work. . . . Devoted to Nature is an accessible read appropriate to undergraduate, graduate, and professional researchers. It would be at home in any historical, sociological, or theological inquiry into American environmentalism."
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Whither Religion?
1. Recreation and Soteriology
2. Congregating around Nature
3. Sacred Space and the American Environmental Imagination
4. Recreation and Spiritual Experience
Conclusion: The Mechanics of Religious Change
Notes
For Further Reading and Research
Index
Introduction: Whither Religion?
1. Recreation and Soteriology
2. Congregating around Nature
3. Sacred Space and the American Environmental Imagination
4. Recreation and Spiritual Experience
Conclusion: The Mechanics of Religious Change
Notes
For Further Reading and Research
Index