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the public imagination. Poring over archives with a fine- deeper than average because Templeton funded extensive
toothed comb Hernandez successfully picks up many interviews plus exercises like journaling and photographing
threads of evidence and shades of suggestion that point to meaningful places in people’s lives. Importantly, Ammer-
Jewish influences on the constellation of theological thought man is extending her previous research on Golden Rule
and practice swirling around the transatlantic system of Christianity. Ammerman’s method is using vernacular nar-
lore, politics, and devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe ratives and descriptions of practices across various domains
between Spain and Mexico. More broadly, Hernandez of life to document lived spirituality. Although the theoreti-
attempts to uncover the hidden lives of conversos and judai- cal intervention sometimes gets lost in meandering and
zantes and their possible influences on Catholic discourse repetitive middle chapters, the conclusion pointedly rejects
and practice in the Americas. As Hernandez points out, the rational choice theories, sweeping secularization models,
shared historical periods of the reconquista of Spain, the so- and the narrowness of certain Weberians. She retools Dur-
called ‘‘discovery’’ of the ‘‘New World,’’ and the rise of the kheim’s sacred/profane distinction, now conceived as a con-
Inquisition in each place point to promising lines of histori- tinuum and attuned less to consensus than to small groups
cal research concerning conversos and judaizantes— —those in everyday life. In line with common sense, Ammerman
who converted under duress to Christianity in the four- documents the multivocal practical meanings of ‘‘spiritual-
teenth and fifteenth centuries. Although the archival docu- ity’’: (1) theistic language plus associated practices like
ments that lend credence to the proposed existence of praying or participation in churches; (2) discourses about
judaizantes after the expulsion of Jews from the Iberian the sacred immanent in nature, the arts, families, or neopa-
peninsula in the late fifteenth century are sparse, Hernan- gan practice; and (3) assumptions about spirituality corre-
dez does well to interrogate both famous and forgotten lating with morality. More importantly, she emphasizes
texts to tease out tantalizing possibilities for Jewish influ- something that should become common sense: being spirit-
ence on Catholic life in the Americas. However beguiling ual is not an alternative to being religious——rather the two
the potentials of these connections, the still-present gaps typically coincide. The few people who fit a SBNR profile
and sometimes speculative conclusions that Hernandez is are mainly pious evangelicals who use Protestant rhetoric
forced to make because of the paucity of sources reminds against empty ritualism or people who in practice are nei-
readers that there is still vastly more to be discovered in ther religious nor spiritual.
the obscured histories of ‘‘New Christians’’ and their Mark Hulsether
impact on the American religious milieu. While the connec- University of Knoxville, Tennessee
tions between Jews and la Virgen are far from conclusive,
Hernandez does well to stir the pot and to challenge other
scholars to wrestle with existent sources to make visible SPIRITS REJOICE! JAZZ AND AMERICAN RELI-
the hidden histories of conversos and their most likely nota- GION. By Jason Bivins. New York: Oxford University
ble effect on the Spanish transatlantic world in the fifteenth Press, 2015. Pp. xvi 1 369; illustrations. Cloth, $105.00;
and sixteenth centuries. This book will benefit scholars and paper, $31.95. Cloth, $29.95.
graduate students who are interested in exploring avenues This ambitious book brings two and a half kinds of
for further research regarding conversos and judaizantes in evidence into dialogue. The first is descriptive data about
the Americas. Not a popular level book by any means, this how musicians understand jazz and spirituality, gleaned
type of advanced and nuanced archival research is meant through Bivins’s synthesis of published writing and his
for academic perusal. interviews with artists. He also provides an outstanding
Ken Chitwood online listening guide. Bivins ranges widely but empha-
University of Florida sizes ‘‘free’’ or otherwise abstract and innovative jazz
from the United States since the 1960s: Albert Ayler,
Anthony Braxton, late John Coltrane, Sun Ra, and dozens
The Americas: USA more. The second is meta-level theorizing on how religion
relates to sound. This includes impatience with definitions
SACRED STORIES, SPIRITUAL TRIBES: FINDING tied too closely to ‘‘normal’’ mosques, ashrams, and espe-
RELIGION IN EVERYDAY LIFE. By Nancy Ammer- cially churches. It also includes efforts to capture in poetic
man. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. writing (often profoundly eloquent, sometimes repetitive)
xvi 1 376; tables, illustrations. Cloth, $105.00; paper, what the music feels like. Although complicated by
$31.95. Bivins’s repeated insistence that neither religion nor jazz
This is an important critique of common wisdom about can be pinned down, a key point seems to be that partici-
the supposed polar differences between the ‘‘spiritual’’ and pating in improvisation and/or sonic innovation— —as player
‘‘religious’’ and by extension the upsurge of ‘‘spiritual but or listener—
—creates communities and experiences that are
not religious’’ (SBNR.) The base of evidence——95 fairly rep- mentionable as variants of religious belonging, ritual, and/
resentative although disproportionately suburbanite people or transcendence. This can lead inward toward ecstasy
from Atlanta and Boston— —sometimes feels narrow, but is and alternative subjectivities, outward toward subaltern
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institution building, and into diverse cross-pollinations gentry, who take center stage in the book, acquiesced to this
that reconfigure boundaries between jazz and religion. The hostile environment, ever mindful to avoid antagonism with
book is a multileveled exploration of the possibilities. The their Protestant neighbors. Shrewdly, they maintained a low
bonus half-source is that Bivins is a musician with practi- profile and, when possible, continued to exercise economic
cal knowledge to deepen both sides of his dialogue. The muscle. While parts of the narrative have previously been
overall results are not systematic— —whether as survey of told, Curran’s study provides an informative single volume
jazz, theoretical intervention, or sui generis poetic evoca- on the entire Catholic experience in British North America,
tion——but they create a hybrid that is consistently including a chapter devoted to Roman Catholics in the Carib-
stimulating. bean islands. Catholic population statistics are also useful,
Mark Hulsether and Catholics who made significant contributions to both set-
University of Tennessee, Knoxville tlement and the American Revolution, previously overlooked,
are given a fuller accounting. Furthermore, the inclusion of
an ethnic dimension, particularly Germans, Irish, and Scots,
JONATHAN EDWARDS ON GOD AND CREATION. speaks to colonial Catholic diversity. With the coming of revo-
By Oliver D. Crisp. New York: Oxford University Press, lution, colonial Catholics overwhelmingly cast their lot with
2012. Pp. xi 1 260. Hardcover, $73.00. the patriots, and successfully made the transition from aliens
Crisp is broadly published on subjects of philosophical to citizens. However, more attention given to circuit-riding
and historical theology; in this work those areas of expertise clergy, who administered to rural populations under severe
come together. It is the second of three works that he has writ- hardship, would have provided a more balanced account of
ten or edited on Edwards, and his most penetrating analysis the Catholic experience. Denied an institutional presence,
of Edwards’s theology per se. Crisp takes up two of the most this clerical network kept the faith alive in scattered commun-
fundamental and controverted (if not to say vexing) elements ities. A significant contribution to early American Catholi-
of Edwards’s thought, the doctrines of God and creation, two cism, Curran’s work is a first-rate resource for students of
of his most fundamental interests. Crisp sets out to take the colonial religious history.
measure of Edwards’s mature thinking on these integrally A. J. Scopino Jr.
related issues, simultaneously locating that thought within Central Connecticut State University
classical Christian, Reformed, and early modern schools of
interpretation and offering correctives to the contemporary
scholarly interpretation of Edwards. In particular Crisp pro- MOJO WORKIN': THE OLD AFRICAN AMERICAN
vides a sustained critique of Sang Lee’s dispositional under- HOODOO SYSTEM. By Katrina Hazzard-Donald. Urbana:
standing of Edwards’s ontology (other topics include the University of Illinois Press, 2013. Pp. xxi 1 234. Paper,
divine nature, freedom, aseity, and excellency, as well as the $30.00.
Trinity and the consummation of all things). Contrary to Hazzard-Donald begins this book by describing Hoodoo
much recent Edwards scholarship, which has sought to res- as ‘‘the reorganized remnants of what must have been, albeit
cue Edwards from the charge of having a less than orthodox short-lived, a full-blown syncretized African-based religion
doctrine of God, Crisp concludes that Edwards’s doctrine was among African American bondsmen.’’ As she describes it,
a form of panentheism, although he argues that it is possible this remnant continues to incorporate many of the aspects
to reconcile this aspect of his thought with classical theism. found in other African-based traditions in the Americas
Beyond the measured analysis and fairness of Crisp’s including spirit possession, ancestor reverence, water
approach, what is perhaps most striking and welcomed about immersion, herbal medicine, music, dancing, and a shamanic
this work is it willingness to engage Edwards as a serious priesthood. Tracing this tradition from its West African ori-
interlocutor. This is not a hagiographical championing of gins through slavery, emancipation, World War II, and the
Edwards for modern theology, but an attempt to consider postwar period, she reveals the relationships between it and
both the weaknesses and the strengths of his thought, so as to other African-based traditions as well as with the Christian
discover the potential contributions Edwards might make to church, revealing previous hidden and unconsidered aspects
current theological discussion. of the Hoodoo system. This tradition has been little studied
Robert E. Brown especially within the field of religious studies. Instead it has
James Madison University been left to anthropologists, sociologists, and certain popular
cultural reports to present what have been incomplete and
often offensive materials. This work has done an exemplary
PAPIST DEVILS: CATHOLICS IN BRITISH AMER- job of correcting that lacuna. Even though, as Hazzard-
ICA, 1574–1783. By Robert Emmett Curran. Washing- Donald admits, some of her conclusions are speculative, the
ton, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2014. careful tracing the interplay between what the old Black Belt
Pp. xvi 1 315. N.p. Hoodoo and the commercially marketed forms makes a sig-
Curran’s work examines the turbulent times experienced nificant contribution to the literature of African-based tradi-
by colonial Catholics throughout British America. Catholic tions in the United States.
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This book is highly recommended for libraries and effort would be. Instead, Wacker uses Graham himself as
graduate programs but could be profitably incorporated a lens to talk about evangelicalism, culture, politics, and
into undergraduate coursework in either a general Reli- American history in the latter two-thirds of the twentieth
gion in America or African American religious traditions. century. By so doing, we see Americans becoming born
Mary Ann Clark again, becoming celebrity-obsessed, boldly reaching
Yavapai College toward progressive ideologies, and battling mightily with
what it meant to be American and also religiously Ameri-
can. Wacker does an admirable job trying to pilot his nar-
TOCQUEVILLE, DEMOCRACY, AND RELIGION: rative between the temptations of hagiography and
CHECKS AND BALANCES FOR DEMOCRATIC castigation that have plagued other authors who have writ-
SOULS. By Alan S. Kahan. New York: Oxford University ten about Graham. He is even-handed in lauding Graham
Press, 2015. Pp. x 1 246. Hardcover, $50.00. where appropriate and criticizing him where necessary.
Kahan has written a clear and succinct treatment of What results is a nuanced approach to Graham that helps
Tocqueville’s understanding of the relationship between scholars better understand his success, better separate
democracy and religion, the first that brings together in a him from other politically prominent ministers of the
systematic way his scattered commentary on religion and times, and better appreciate that Graham was not a stock
its significance to political life. Tocqueville is typically figure so easily described but a complicated one who
struggled with the changing times and his own changing
known as a political theorist, one who analyzed the prom-
fortunes. There is wistfulness to this tale, whether Wacker
ise and perils of democracy, particularly in America.
intended it or not. Graham’s time has passed or is passing.
Kahan argues that Tocqueville was primarily interested in
Although Wacker does not comment on this development
democracy as a means to a greater end: civic freedom.
positively or negatively, we see Graham himself struggling
Such freedom possessed a still greater end: it provided the
with age and legacy as we reach the end of the book. This
necessary conditions for human greatness, in the sense of
humanness in Wacker’s subject shines through the book
virtue. Like democracy, religion has a functional value for
and makes it an excellent example of the utility of biogra-
Tocqueville. As it moves people toward ideals that counter
phy to our understanding of American religion.
desires for power (material gain, and sovereignty), religion
Todd M. Brenneman
enables people to live in a society characterized by a kind
Faulkner University
of humane self-interest; it provides a moral philosophy
and structure that restrains the potential for abuse that
exists in any polity rooted in liberty. Tocqueville’s reli-
gious biography factored importantly into the development
East Asia
of his theory. An observant Catholic, his personal beliefs
ETAT,
RELIGION ET REPRESSION EN ASIE:
mirrored those of quietist deism. Nonetheless, he saw in
CHINE, COREE, JAPON, VIETNAM (XIIIE–XXIE
Jesus’s teachings the foundation for the kind of democracy
SIECLES). Edited by Arnaud Brotons, Yannick Bruneton,
he envisioned: universal human dignity and equality, and
and Nathalie Kouame. Paris: Editions Karthala, 2011. Pp.
a call to a virtue and greatness not coerced, but chosen.
354. Paper, e29.00.
Robert E. Brown The seven papers in this volume exemplify state-
James Madison University orchestrated repression vis-a
-vis religion(s) and its actors in
East Asia. In her introduction, Kouame (pp. 7–25) stresses
the religio-cultural common ground of the countries con-
AMERICA'S PASTOR: BILLY GRAHAM AND THE
cerned, and the structural reasons facilitating conflict. She
SHAPING OF A NATION. By Grant Wacker. Cam- outlines ‘‘four great models’’ (quatre grands modèles) that
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014. Pp. 413. moulded the ideological vocabulary, in both past and pres-
$27.95. ent, through which the states articulated their relationship
Wacker, professor emeritus of Christian history at with the religious domain: the Chinese, the Japanese, the
Duke Divinity School, provides a richly researched but Russo-Soviet, and the Western-Occidental models. Brotons
readable biography of perhaps the most famous evangeli- (pp. 29–71) elucidates the action taken against the Jodoshu
cal in the twentieth century. Wacker recounts Graham’s founder Honen (1133–1212), culminating in his banishment
life through a series of lenses instead of presenting a chro- in 1207. Next, Bruneton (pp. 73–147) investigates King
nological biography. Graham as preacher, icon, South- T’aejong’s (r. 1400–1418) anti-Buddhist politics in the initial
erner, entrepreneur, architect, pilgrim, pastor, and years of Neo-Confucian Choson dynasty. In the third paper,
patriarch provides the reader the opportunity to see the Kouame (pp. 149–182) revisits the common understanding
summative effect of the multifaceted nature of Graham’s behind Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (1537–1598) anti-Christian pol-
persona and work. But Wacker is not just interested in itics. Goossaert (pp. 183–221), in a revised version of a paper
telling the story of Graham’s life——as important as such an from 2009, sheds light on the destruction of ‘‘immoral
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