To say that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Latin American and Jesuit to occupy the chair of Peter is to assert the most important facts about him. Francis; Bishop of Rome focuses on the most revelatory features of his life and times; highlighting key facets of Pope Francis rich background using primary Spanish-language sources that include interviews with key players from his formative years in religious life and pastoral ministry. The picture emerging is one of a complex human being; a work in progress; and an intrepid reformer focused on moving the Church into the third millennium in ways that few would have ever imagined. While making history; moreover; he seems to be actually having fun doing it.
#187695 in Books Hill and Wang 2004-06-21 2004-06-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 207.77 x 16.26 x 5.51l; .50 #File Name: 0809016354240 pagesGreat product!
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. There are better books for understanding the religious milieu of the time ...By JSInteresting historical take; but it's clear that he's not a scholar of religion. There are better books for understanding the religious milieu of the time but Johnson's argument remains important to the historiography of Jacksonian America.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Laura N. Oliverfast shipping and perfect for up coming class1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A Must for Economic and New York Historians!By RDDPaul E. Johnson uses his book; A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester; New York; 1815-1837; to examine the causes of the Second Great Awakening from a Marxist perspective. Johnson writes; “The Rochester revival was generated in the problem of social class.†Johnson argues that the culture of religious fervor and revivalism stemmed from the interaction of the economic and religious motives of Rochesterians rather than from purely religious motives. Johnson’s self-appointed task in examining religion and economic forces is “to define how they made each other in history.†Johnson structures his argument to explain how the economic forces at work in Rochester fostered a revivalist culture; eventually forcing the bourgeoisie to adopt the evangelical language of the proletariat and use it to their advantage. Johnson divides his argument into six sections: Economy; Society; Politics; Impasse; Pentecost; and Christian Soldiers. In Economy; Johnson illustrates Rochester’s burgeoning market culture; in which the bourgeoisie mingled with the proletariat. Johnson begins to lay out how religion became a tool of the upper class; writing; “More than others; Finney’s converts were firmly engaged in the country trade and in the elaborate and stability-inducing relationships through which it was conducted.†Johnson writes in Society about effect of the economic transition from household to factory; arguing; “The whole pattern of society…separated class from class: master and wage earner inhabited distinct social worlds.†Johnson uses Politics and Impasse to write about the social and political movements that grew from the distancing of the classes; including the Anti-Masonic Party and the “introduction of organized party warfare into village politics.†Johnson demonstrates how religion; as Marx understood it; worked to the advantage of the bourgeoisie. Johnson writes of the wealthy temperance reformers; “They preferred to translate power into authority.†The propaganda “promised masters social peace; a disciplined and docile labor force; and an opportunity to assert moral authority over their men.†Johnson writes in Pentecost; “Charles Finney’s revival was strongest among entrepreneurs who bore direct responsibility for disordered relations between classes.†The bourgeoisie; having disrupted the traditional order; felt responsible for the proletariat that had once lived in their house under the old patriarchal order. Finney’s message of individual salvation absolved the bourgeoisie of their guilt; laying the responsibility for the proletariat’s salvation in the proletariat’s own hands. Finally; in Christian Soldiers; Johnson writes; “The Rochester elite had divided on the question whether working men could or should be reformed by force.†The elite instead combined economic with religious power and limited credit to those who met their religious standards; thereby regulating “the membership of their own class; and to a large extent of the community as a whole.†Through Finney; the bourgeoisie realized the power of religion in economics.Johnson; echoing Marx’s lamentations for the loss of the old feudal order; writes; “a nascent industrial capitalism became attached to visions of a perfect moral order based on individual freedom and self-government; and old relations of dependence; servility; and mutuality were defined as sinful and left behind.†Johnson explains the fervent religiosity Rochester experienced in the early nineteenth century through economic and class. Johnson argues that religion served as a new class-bound means of social control. To Johnson; Rochesterians; while outwardly preparing their community for the second coming were more interested in implementing social controls in the burgeoning proletariat as the city industrialized.
