George Bourne was one of the early American republic's first immediate abolitionists, an influential figure who paved the way for the campaign against slavery in the antebellum period. His approach to reform was shaped by a conservative Protestant outlook that became increasingly hostile to Catholicism. In To Preach Deliverance to the Captives, Ryan C. McIlhenny examines the interplay of Bourne's pioneering efforts in abolitionism and his intensely anti-Catholic views.
McIlhenny portrays Bourne as both a radical and a conservative, a reformer who desired to get back to the roots of Christianity for the purpose of completely dismantling slavery. Bourne's commentary on a variety of controversial topics, slavery, race, and citizenship; the role of women; Christianity and republicanism; the importance of the Bible; and the place of the church in civil society, put him at the center of many debates. He remains a complex figure: a polymath situated within the political, social, and cultural possibilities of an early republic that he was eager to play a part in shaping.
Bourne's religious radicalism gave rise to his hope for an emerging post-revolutionary republic that would focus mainly on its religious foundations. The strength of the American nation, in Bourne's mind, rested not only on institutions indicative of a republican form of government but also on a pure Christianity, exemplified best in historical Protestantism. To Bourne, the future of the fledgling nation depended not only on principles and institutions but also on the activism of Protestant leaders like himself.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Ryan McIlhenny has written a compelling book about an individual with passions difficult to categorize by contemporary ethical standards. That figure, George Bourne, was militantly anti-Catholic, but even more militantly opposed to slavery. Bourne's life and the considerable influence of his dramatic career make up a story told very well in this exceptionally well-researched and clearly written study. Historians of the antebellum era have long noted the symbiotic relationship between anti-Catholic and abolitionist ideologies. No previous scholarship, however, approaches the depth and sophistication of Ryan McIlheney's analysis of how and why these belief systems interacted so compellingly and so explosively. He accomplishes this, moreover, by giving us a superb biography of the theological visionary and endlessly combative controversialist,George Bourne, a long-overlooked but nevertheless a driving force in the interwoven development of strident anti-Catholicism and radical white abolitionism.
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Maße
Höhe: 235 mm
Breite: 157 mm
Dicke: 21 mm
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ISBN-13
978-0-8071-7266-7 (9780807172667)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Ryan C. McIlhenny is professor of liberal arts and humanities at Xing Wei College in Shanghai, China.
