Interfaith Marriage in America The Transformation of Religion and Christianity [Hardcover]

Seamon explores the historical, theological, and societal dynamics of religious intermarriage as a way to introduce scholars to the myriad of factors that have contributed and will continue to contribute to the complete transformation of religion and Christianity in the twenty-first century.PART I: HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS INTERMARRIAGE: A STORY OF LIBERATION AND SHIFTING BOUNDARIES Seeds of Liberation: Theological and Legal Doors Open in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries An Era of Intra-Religious Marriage: Societal Doors Begin to Open in the Nineteenth Century An Era of Interreligious Marriage: Societal Doors Open in the Twentieth Century PART II: CONTEMPORARY INTERMARRIAGES: A STORY OF NEGOTIATION, INNOVATION, AND THE DEFIANCE OF BOUNDARIES Boundaries and Parameters: Normative Boundaries among Religions and between the Religious and Secular Stories of Contemporary Intermarriages: Paradox and Ambiguity An Era of Interfaith Marriage: The Defiance of Boundaries Transforming Religion and Christianity: The Emergence of Interfaith Space

Interfaith Marriage in America is a fascinating and well-researched book about a phenomenon that is of significance not only to a growing number of Americans, but also to our understanding of American religion itself. Adding value to this work is the impressive historical and theological sophistication of Seamon's analysis. - Robert Wuthnow, author of America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity

Here is a scholarly work that looks more positively upon the growing phenomenon of interfaith marriages in the United States than do most commentators. Individuals in these marriages, Erika Seamon notes, are religious innovators: they are building bridges across traditions and in doing so are renegotiating and redefining social and theological boundaries practices that are transforming how many Americans live and practice their faith. An important book for religion scholars and religious leaders allã·