Emptiness : feeling Christian in America

236 Pages·2015·1.179 MB·English

by  Corrigan, John

Emptiness

Emptiness
Feeling Christian in America
John Corrigan
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
John Corrigan is the Lucius Moody Bristol
Distinguished Professor of Religion and
professor of history at Florida State University.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15  1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 23746- 6 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 23763- 3 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226237633.001.0001
Corrigan, John, 1952–  author.
Emptiness : feeling Christian in America / John Corrigan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 226- 23746- 6 (cloth : alkaline paper) —
ISBN 978- 0- 226- 23763- 3 (e- book) — 1. Christian life—
United States. 2. Christianity—United States—Customs
and practices. 3. Christian sects—United States—History.
4. Emotions—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.
BR515.C67 2015
277.3—dc23
2014034469
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
For John Kloos
Friend, collaborator, critic

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction : Emptiness and
American Christianities  1
1 Feeling  15
2 Body  41
3 Space  83
4 Time  119
5 Believers  151
Notes 179
Index 215
vii

Acknowledgments
It is a pleasure to thank the staff of the Strozier Library at
Florida State University for their diligence in helping me track
down and borrow obscure books and documents. A university
endowment named for Lucius Moody Bristol, a Floridian whose
professional interests in social systems and social justice reso-
nate with my own, enabled me to travel to conduct research.
Friends and critics who read the manuscript saved me from mis-
takes and pointed me in fruitful directions. I have been exceed-
ingly lucky to share an office hallway with Amanda Porterfield,
the most generous of colleagues and an inspirational scholar.
Her detailed comments on an early draft led to many improve-
ments, and her encouragements were much welcomed. John
Kloos, with whom I have discussed religion in America for de-
cades, delivered his typically painstaking reading and reread-
ing and asked difficult questions. I acknowledge a long- term
debt to him in the dedication of this book. I am grateful to Lau-
ren Gray for her usual excellent job of indexing and proofread-
ix