Description
Book SynopsisThe Shakers emerge as the culmination of the century's religious quest, preserving the immediacy of spirit possession while making it the basis for the formation of an ideal Christian community.Originally published as Spirit Possession and Popular Religion: From the Comisards to the Shakers
Trade ReviewClearly written and richly detailed, Garrett's work is an excellent study of such dramatic spiritual performances, what he pictures as the sacred theater of popular religion. Journal of American Culture The description is outstanding. Nowhere else can one find such a succinct and eminently readable account that places Shakerism in its broadest context. Garrett makes character and personality come alive throughout the book, from the Prophets' strange gyrations to Mother Ann Lee's drinking problem. Journal of American History [Unravels] the subtle links among such apparently divergent manifestations of popular religion as that of the Camisards and French Prophets of the seventeenth century, German pietism, the early Methodists in England, the revivals of the Great Awakening, the Amana community, and the Shakers... Garrett's study deserves the attention of all who would understand the history and nature of ecstatic experience and its continuing presence in Western religion. Church History Shaker buffs will not find this study very comforting, but serious students of Shakerism and historians interested in other communal societies stand in Garrett's debt for his excellent contribution to the field, for his determination to address a range of important but difficult interpretive issues, and for his willingness to employ a critical approach to texts too long handled uncritically. American Historical Review A carefully researched, methodologically sophisticated, and lucidly written work. Catholic Historical Review
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction: Anthropology and History
Chapter 1. Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy
Chapter 2. The Prophetic Diaspora
Chapter 3. The Community of True Inspiration
Chapter 4. The Methodist Awakening
Chapter 5. The Transatlantic Awakening
Chapter 6. A Prophetess in Manchester
Chapter 7. The Woman in the Wilderness
Chapter 8. Into New England
Chapter 9. Spiritual Wars and Sharp Testimonies
Chapter 10. The Gathering Into Order
Notes
Index
