Wilderness Lost: The Religious Origins of the American MindThis book establishes that there is a consistent tradition of wilderness imagery in American literature, A psychological reading of theology is applied to the writings of such authors as Thomas Hooker, Jonathan Edwards, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Dickinson. |
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Wilderness lost: the religious origins of the American mind
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictIn this scholarly, clearly written monograph, Williams traces the influence of Calvinism on American literature and thought from the 17th century to the present. Along the way, he insightfully ... Read full review
Contents
| 9 | |
| 11 | |
The Wilderness | 23 |
New England Canaan and the Wilderness | 46 |
The Great Awakening of Fear | 83 |
Revival and Revolution | 111 |
The Transcendental Growth | 149 |
Hawthorne Very and Dickinson The Wilderness of the Mind | 180 |
Herman Melville The Watery Wilderness | 213 |
Wilderness Lost Oliver Wendell Holmes and the OneHoss Shay | 235 |
9 Conclusion | 249 |
Notes | 254 |
| 274 | |
| 287 | |
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Common terms and phrases
accept according already American Arminian Awakening became become begin behavior believed Boston called Calvinism Calvinist Canaan century Christ Christian church consciousness continued conversion Cotton cross culture darkness death determined Dickinson divine doctrine doubt Edwards Emerson England eternal existence experience faith fear feel felt forced God's grace Hawthorne heart Holmes hope human ideas identity imagery imagined interpretation Israel John Jonathan Edwards knew land language later lead letters liberty literal live look Lord madness Mary Mather means meant Melville mind mystic nature never once original perception poem political preached promised land Puritan rational reason religion religious remained saints salvation seen sense sermon sinners soul spiritual suffer symbol terror things Thoreau thought tion tradition trials true truth understanding universal vision wanted wilderness writings wrote York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Wilderness Lost: The Religious Origins of the American Mind |
| Author | David Ross Williams |
| Publisher | Susquehanna University Press, 1987 |
| ISBN | 094166421X, 9780941664219 |
| Length | 293 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |