Product Description
Bylaws of Foursquare Gospel Church ... Read more

Book Description

From the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Rock to Christian Coalition canvassers working for George W. Bush, Americans have long sought to integrate faith with politics. Few have been as successful as Hollywood evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.

During the years between the two world wars, McPherson was the most flamboyant and controversial minister in the United States. She built an enormously successful and innovative megachurch, established a mass media empire, and produced spellbinding theatrical sermons that rivaled Tinseltown's spectacular shows. As McPherson's power grew, she moved beyond religion into the realm of politics, launching a national crusade to fight the teaching of evolution in the schools, defend Prohibition, and resurrect what she believed was the United States' Christian heritage. Convinced that the antichrist was working to destroy the nation's Protestant foundations, she and her allies saw themselves as a besieged minority called by God to join the "old time religion" to American patriotism.

Matthew Sutton's definitive study of Aimee Semple McPherson reveals the woman, most often remembered as the hypocritical vamp in Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry, as a trail-blazing pioneer. Her life marked the beginning of Pentecostalism's advance from the margins of Protestantism to the mainstream of American culture. Indeed, from her location in Hollywood, McPherson's integration of politics with faith set precedents for the religious right, while her celebrity status, use of spectacle, and mass media savvy came to define modern evangelicalism.

Customer Reviews (2)

fantastic book
This is an incredible biography of Aimee Semple McPherson, one of America's most important religious leaders. It is a fabulous read (I breezed through it on a long plane ride); it tells amazing stories of supposed kidnappings and faith healings, of sexual intrigue and flappers, of patriotism and anti-Communism. Every chapter was fascinating. Professor Sutton shows how Sister Aimee played a pivotal role in helping to create what we call today the Christian Right. Its ability to connect old-time religion, media ingenuity, and American nationalism does seem to build from McPherson. Great book for the classroom, the airplane, or the beach.

Aimee Semple McPherson
I was very curious about the "real" Aimee.I grew up hearing tales about her and her lifestyle.Book was very interesting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Aimee
From her parents' farm in Canada to the Angelus Temple pulpit in Los Angeles, she pitched her tents, preached the gospel, and ministered to all who would hear. Her reputation traveled around the globe, and in this book she reveals her own impressions and recounts the facts that made her activities such a sensational media attraction.

Aimee Semple McPherson did the seemingly impossible for a woman in the first half of the twentieth century. She refused to be daunted by obstacles, large or small, and held tenaciously to her faith in the reality of the unchanging Christ. The story of her life gives insight not only into the humanness of a woman who became a legend in her own lifetime, it also paints a portrait of a religious movement she founded which today, over thirty-five years after her death, continues to grow and expand throughout the world.
--- from book's back cover ... Read more