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Beyond Nationalism
| Article
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13427 |
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Section : |
BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1987 |
5,701 Words |
| Author
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Richard E. Wentz
Richard E. Wentz is professor of religious studies at Arizona
State University. His books include The Saga of the American
Soul, and Why Do People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion? |
The essays assembled in Religion and Republic: The American circumstance are vintage Martin Marty. I suppose a collection of essays, many of which (though revised) have appeared else-where during the past two decades, is one indication that we are dealing with the thought of a senior scholar whose work is made available that we may discern the signs of the times. It is also true that Marty's status among clergy, some academics, and intellectuals is such that a publisher knows the volume will sell.
Inasmuch as my own jaded career parallels the days of Marty, I am shocked to realize that he might now be considered a senior statesperson of religion in America. Is Martin E. Marty the "dean" of American religious historians? He holds court at the University of Chicago, which has furnished us with previous "deans" like William Warren Sweet and Sidney E. Mead. Certainly no other scholar of religion has the visibility of Marty. He has been a prolific author of historical works, theological essays, and books of spirituality. Historical volumes like Righteous Empire and Pilgrims in Their Own Land have been award-winning books, and he has recently completed the first volume of a projected four-volume work on American religion from 1893 to the present.
Wherever one turns, he runs into Marty. He writes articles for scholarly journals, essays for journals of opinion, serves as a general editor for several series of books, and is a frequent lecturer at colleges, church meetings, and public forums. Many readers will know him as a long-standing book review editor and frequent contributor to The Christian Century, or as one of the editors of Church History. Anyone who knows anything about religion knows Martin Marty. Only Billy Graham or the telecelebrity religionists are more widely known to the American public - to their misfortune, of course.
Marty is already a legend in his own time. We know, of course, that a legend is history filled with meaning. A legend tells us how important a person is to the people; it reflects the values and convictions of an era. Meaning and event-person are inseparable in a legend. Historians often spend a lifetime trying to sort out the "facts" from legendary accounts. What they may fail to realize is that the legend can be more historically significant than what they assume they have "uncovered."
Marty is a legend because he is a symbol of success among other scholars of religion. In a time of considerable intellectual indifference to religion, Marty is a religious scholar respected in the
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