The award-winning companion film to: Spirit and Flesh
See our Documentary page for more about the film the critics call "the best documentary about the Moral Majority yet made."
|
About the Book Praise Invitation to Read View Table of Contents Purchase the Book |
"One of the 5 best nonfiction
books of the year!"
"The best single-volume explanation of why American fundamentalist Christianity thrives among certain people . . . and will not die out."
—THE WASHINGTON POST, September 5, 2004"Masterfully combines narrative with careful, frequently groundbreaking analysis."
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review"An important contribution to one of the greatest problems facing the world today."
—Karen Armstrong, author of THE BATTLE FOR GODAn unprecedented exploration of abiding and, to many Americans, baffling phenomena in American life Christian fundamentalism and new right conservatism.
In an attempt understand the growing influence of the Christian right, sociologist and documentary filmmaker James Ault spent three years inside the world of a Massachusetts fundamentalist church he came to know while studying a wider range of new right groups. He observed and‹where possible‹participated in the daily lives of church members. His book takes us into worship services, home Bible studies, youth events, men's prayer breakfasts, Sunday family dinners, and bitter conflicts leading to a church split. He introduces us to the principal members of the congregation, as well as its shadow community of ex-members. We see how they use the Bible as a "handbook for life," applying moral absolutes taken from it‹more or less successfully‹to both quotidian and extraordinary events. He makes clear how the church, embodying traditional extended-family life, provides the security of like-mindedness and community to its members. And finally, Ault describes his own, surprising journey of discovery and belief during and beyond his three years studying this community and making an intimate documentary about it.
Having experienced its life personally and in depth, James Ault is remarkably placed to guide us through the world of Christian fundamentalism. In the course of telling his story, he builds a useful framework for better understanding the popularity of Christian fundamentalism and new right conservatism and their distinctive place in American life.
"One of the 5 best nonfiction books of the year."
—The Christian Science Monitor, November 23, 2004"The best single-volume explanation of why American fundamentalist Christianity thrives among certain people, what needs it fulfills and why it will not die out . . . as rewarding to the beach reader as to the graduate student."
—The Washington Post, September 5, 2004"Ault masterfully combines narrative with careful, frequently groundbreaking, analysis . . . " —Publisher's Weekly in a starred review, July 26, 2004
"Ault just may have written the seminal opus for bridge-building between fundamentalists and liberals."
—Booklist"It is vital that we learn to see fundamentalists in all traditions as human beings like ourselves. If we simply dismiss them as either evil or hopelessly irrational, we contribute to the polarization that is putting us all in such deadly peril. James Ault has traced his own journey from disbelief to understanding, and will take his readers with him. This book has made an important contribution to one of the greatest problems facing the world today."
—Karen Armstrong, author of The Battle for God"I was swept into Ault's absorbing narrative right away. The book is a superb combination, a sympathetic portrayal of real people involved in a fundamentalist Baptist church woven together with a well-informed portrayal of an increasingly important element in thereligious and political life of America. His brave and courageous inclusion of his own journey as he worked on this project deepens and enriches the story."
—Harvey Cox, Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, and author of FireFrom Heaven"Ault is a masterful participant observer who acquires a sympathy for this movement's basic beliefs while retaining a scholar's analytical eye. A community study that reads like a novel (with a surprise ending), Spirit and Flesh is a remarkable American story."
—Joel Carpenter, author of Revive Us Again:The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism"Compelling for its intimate portrayal . . . and valuable for its insights into the larger culture of Christian fundamentalism. This book takes readers into a world far beyond the common stereotypes."
—Gustav Niebuhr, Correspondent and Associate Professor of Religion and Media Syracuse University "...not just a first-rate piece of sociological journalism. Ault weaves his own story into the book, and the gradual coming together of the Harvard graduate and his fundamentalist research subjects gives Spirit and Flesh a warmth and humanity that set it apart." —The San Francisco Chronicle, September 19, 2004"This brilliant book is essential for anyone who wants to better understand fundamentalism —or for fundamentalists who desire to understand how they are viewed by others."
—Christianity Today, October, 2004