Review by Choice Review
Inspired by Lawrence Cremin's proposal that all social agencies that form thought and character be treated as part of a people's ``educational'' system, this study pursues the pedagogical dimension of a 19th-century career in religion and reform. It focuses upon Lyman Beecher (1775-1863), that evangelical Calvinist dynamo who did much to lead Protestant America into the era of religious voluntarism. Inspired by hope that the millennium would dawn in a thoroughly civilized, Christianized, and republican America, he strove to promote those conditions-especially in the unformed West-through revivals, a learned pastorate, voluntary benevolence societies, religious magazines, common and collegiate schools, and theological seminaries. Woven together in a common purpose, these agencies would shape the popular consciousness in preparation for the coming kingdom. Although failing to ring in the millennium, they did much to create an informal Protestant establishment of religion. Clearly written and argued, this volume provides a convincing demonstration of Cremin's point. It should be of interest to many students of 19th-century religious and educational history. Footnotes and annotated bibliography. An appropriate acquisition for graduate, undergraduate, community college, and public libraries.-T.D. Bozeman, University of Iowa
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
