Mark Twain: Preacher, Prophet, and Social Philosopher

by Gary Scott Smith

Mark Twain's literary works have intrigued and inspired readers from the late 1860s to the present. His varied experiences as a journeyman printer, river boat pilot, prospector, journalist, novelist, humorist, businessman, and world traveller, combined with his incredible imagination and astonishing creativity, enabled him to devise some of American literature's most memorable characters and engaging stories.Twain had a complicated relationship with Christianity. He strove to understand, critique, and sometimes promote various theological ideas and insights. His religious perspective was often inconsistent and even contradictory. While many scholars have overlooked Twain's strong interest in religious matters, others disagree sharply about his religious views—with many labelling him a secularist, an agnostic, or an atheist. In this compelling biography, Gary Scott Smith shows that throughout hislife Twain was an entertainer, satirist, novelist, and reformer, but also functioned as a preacher, prophet, and social philosopher. Twain tackled universal themes with penetrating insight and wit including the character of God, human nature, sin, providence, corruption, greed, hypocrisy, poverty,racism, and imperialism. Moreover, his life provides a window into the principal trends and developments in American religion from 1865 to 1910.

267 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2021

About the author

Gary Scott Smith chaired the History Department and coordinated the Humanities Core at Grove City College where he taught from 1978 to 2017. His specialty is American religious history, and he is an avid sports fan. In 2001, he was named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He is the author or editor of nineteen books. His books include Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2006), Heaven in the American Imagination (Oxford University Press, 2011), Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents (Oxford University Press, 2015), Suffer the Children: What We Can Do to Improve the Lives of the World’s Impoverished Children (Cascade Books, 2017), and religious biographies of Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, and Hillary Clinton. His most recent book is The Greatest of All-Time: Fifteen Fantastic Athletes. Smith is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He served five congregations as an interim or stated supply pastor and is currently a parish associate at Saint Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.