Dissent in American Religion

by Edwin S. Gaustad

Dissent in American Religion, originally published in 1973, was the first book to present religious dissent in the United States as a pervasive but hidden and often-ignored stream in American life. The first volume in the Chicago History of American Religion series, it reviewed the history of our nation’s longest dissenting tradition—a tradition older and richer in the realm of religion than in any other facet of national life. Indeed, Edwin Scott Gaustad argued that religious dissent was essential to the character of the American religious experience and stood in profound disagreement with society’s orthodox values and beliefs.

This new edition, which reinaugurates the Chicago History of American Religion series under the new editorship of John Corrigan, features new commentary by Gaustad and Corrigan on the past thirty years of American religious history and the importance of understanding dissent in American religion today.

“This is an important and erudite work which shows the originality and scope which scholarship can bring to human experience.” —Los Angeles Times

“We shall understand the religious past and present better for reading Gaustad’s brief, well-written, helpful book.” —Commonweal

Genres: History, Christian

196 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

A leading scholar of American religious history, Edwin Scott Gaustad was Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside. He earned his B.A. in history from Baylor University (1947), and his M.A. (1948) and Ph.D. (1951) in History of Religions from Brown University.

Reviews

[Amelia and John]

Consent makes institutional religion possible, dissent makes institutional religion meaningful.

So, what is dissent in American religion? Dissent is going against the norm, the status quo. It's taking a leap of faith when all eyes are on you and all stones cast against you. And sometimes, it's worth it.

Gaustad writes with conviction. The question of whether consensus uncriticized is a consensus worth accepting persists throughout Gaustad's case-by-case analysis of religious dissent in American history. The material is perhaps dated by now, but the text is still relevant towards discussions of ecumenism and ecclesiology.

[Tracy]

Despite the new cover, this book remains a product of 1973. This means that it provides a good overview of older developments, but that its perspective on events must be balanced against the time of its writing. The approach is an interesting one for a quick survey of dissent in American religion. Gaustad identifies three large types: Schismatics, Heretics, and Misfits, and then subcategorizes each one and provide illustrative examples. That approach makes this book a poor choice for a comprehensive overview of the topic or of any of the groups or persons mentioned therein, but a good one for a quick read as a refresher or to find more topics of interest for deeper research.