Darkness Falls on the Land of Light - (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American Histo) by Douglas L Winiarski (Paperback)

About the Book

"This ... history of popular religion in eighteenth-century New England examines the experiences of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. Drawing on an unprecedented quantity of letters, diaries, and testimonies, Douglas Winiarski recovers the pervasive and vigorous lay piety of the early eighteenth century"--

Book Synopsis

This sweeping history of popular religion in eighteenth-century New England examines the experiences of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. Drawing on an unprecedented quantity of letters, diaries, and testimonies, Douglas Winiarski recovers the pervasive and vigorous lay piety of the early eighteenth century. George Whitefield's preaching tour of 1740 called into question the fundamental assumptions of this thriving religious culture. Incited by Whitefield and fascinated by miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit -- visions, bodily fits, and sudden conversions -- countless New Englanders broke ranks with family, neighbors, and ministers who dismissed their religious experiences as delusive enthusiasm. These new converts, the progenitors of today's evangelical movement, bitterly assaulted the Congregational establishment.

The 1740s and 1750s were the dark night of the New England soul, as men and women groped toward a restructured religious order. Conflict transformed inclusive parishes into exclusive networks of combative spiritual seekers. Then as now, evangelicalism emboldened ordinary people to question traditional authorities. Their challenge shattered whole communities.

Review Quotes

"[Winiarski] weaves together biographies of believers seeking spiritual refreshment and by turns finding in New England's established religion a font of joy or an empty, arid, and spiritless desert. Essential."--CHOICE

"A remarkable scholarly achievement. . . . Winiarski embeds the religious lives of New Englanders firmly in their world and readers are provided with a narrative that weaves the colonists' religious experiences into the fabric of their lives. . . . [A] magnificent work of history that greatly enriches our understanding of a subject that has already received considerable scholarly attention."--Anglican and Episcopal History

"Admirably models how the methods and gaze of lived religion can expand and humanize well established narratives."--Reading Religion

"An absolute must-read for students, scholars, pastors, and laypeople who care about the legacy of the Great Awakening."--Gospel Coalition

"An exhaustive survey of the religious lives of eighteenth-century New Englanders. . . . [Winiarski's] book provides one story after another, almost all of them fascinating glimpses into the lives of ordinary families. I would expect that anyone interested in eighteenth-century life would enjoy perusing this book, whether they were specialists in the Great Awakenings or not."--H-Net Reviews

"By parsing the distinctive vocabularies and rich tropes that ordinary New Englanders devised to describe their tumult within, [Winiarski] lends freshness and immediacy to the familiar narrative of the Awakening."--Christine Heyrman, Reviews in American History

"Essential reading for students of early American 'evangelicalism.''--Patheos

"The most compelling history of the Awakening in New England we have. . . . Nowhere else in studies of religious practice in early America is social behavior so thoroughly mapped. And nowhere else have vernacular descriptions of religious experience been so acutely analyzed."--David D. Hall, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture

"The scope of Winiarski's research is remarkable, far surpassing the work of other historians before him."--Southeastern Theological Review

"Winiarski's breathtaking research and writing share the vocabularies and religious experiences through richly analyzed extended examples."--American Historical Review