The social gospel of E. Nicholas Comfort : founder of the Oklahoma School of Religion /

Cottrell (American studies, California State Univ., Chico) profiles the career of Nick Comfort (1884-1955), a Presbyterian cleric who preached a liberal theological and social message to Oklahoma audiences. After training in social gospel theology, Comfort moved to Norman, OK, to found and direct the Oklahoma School of Religion (OSR) from 1926 to 1946. The OSR was a bold attempt to present religious ecumenicism to University of Oklahoma students, arguing that humankind needed a spiritual base in order to survive and that the "Fatherhood of God" and "Brotherhood of Man" lay at the core of all true religious faith. The author presents Comfort as a well-intentioned, albeit naive, controversialist, whose bold advocacy of radical social justice, absolute pacifism, racial integration, and a variety of left-wing causes kept him in constant hot water, and whose enemies forced him to resign. Although the OSR closed in 1948 and Comfort's name rapidly faded from public view, the author deems his crusade a worthy one. General; undergraduate; graduate; faculty. F. M. Szasz; University of New Mexico