Appalachian Mountain Religion

by Deborah Vansau McCauley

This book is a genuine breakthrough in understanding both the type of protestant religion intrinsic to the Appalachian area and the origin of that peculiar type of religion.

584 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This academic treatment of Christian sects in Appalachia falls a little short. Problems in the accuracy of treatment of the branches of the Stone-Campbell movements with which I am very familiar make me wonder how many other problems exist. McCauley's focus appears to be on the more independent and fundamentalist Baptist groups and upon holiness churches of various sorts. I suspect she concentrated her research on those groups and failed to thoroughly understand other groups mentioned. The academic tone will limit the book's appeal a great deal. While she mentioned snake-handling churches, she barely did so. (I'm just glad she didn't offer pictures of these people "lifting up the serpent.")

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mess of a book. But with a ton of information.

[Hailey Carmichael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not name or describe a single argument made in this book. There were so many claims made in this book without appropriate definitions or support. I couldn’t tell you if any of these were related to the author’s arguments because I, once again, have no idea what they were. I cried actual tears while reading chapters from this book. Not because I was moved, but because I was so confused.
Is there a lot of information in this book? Yes.
Do I think the author really tried to do something good here? Yes.
Would I recommend this book to anyone trying to understand Appalachian religion? Absolutely not.

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to read this book for school, and it is absolutely TERRIBLE! It is so hard to read, too much nonsense instead of getting straight to the facts.