Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age

by Catherine L. Albanese, Martin E. Marty (Designed by)

This ground-breaking study reveals an unorganized and previously unacknowledged religion at the heart of American culture. Nature, Albanese argues, has provided a compelling religious center throughout American history.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Indigenous, Spirituality, Nature, Ecology

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Elizabeth Vilchis · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I don't necessarily hate any of her theories, I feel like her "American Nature Religion" is appropriated in many places of the Indigenous natural elements of religion. She almost lost me on the recurring references to the traveling folk-singing family. I almost couldn't get past that. It was way too repetitive. She incorporated Whitman, Thoreau, and Muir, which is honorable, but I don't think it tied to the rest of her points like she wanted it to. The transcendentalism that she tried to tie across all of these drastically different traditions was overgeneralization. Then, she acted shocked, floored, and amazed that Indigenous authors had "found their tongues and pens...". Yikes.

[Janie Panagopoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit dry concerning a very rich subject. I learned lots of information but it was difficult to keep my interest.

[Jess Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for a lot of reasons, but perhaps most significantly because it traces the connections between nature and religion in America not only through transcendentalism, liberals and the margins, but shows the importance of nature to mainstream Americans, yet also their ambivalence or requisite moderate posture toward it.
I'm very sorry that this was never assigned in of my coursework and seminars, and I think that although her new work develops her theory about metaphysics and America, this is still her more powerful argument for the centrality of nature in the "center(s)" of American culture and religion.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to read this book again in a few years, when I don't have small children constantly distracting me. It was really interesting, but it definitely requires sustained concentration to follow the arguments. I'd also like to be more familiar with the primary sources, particularly the Transcendentalists.