Van Engen co-edits book on emotion in religion

Abram Van Engen, professor of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has co-edited a new collection of essays about religious feeling in early American history and literature. 

Portrait
Van Engen

“Feeling Godly: Religious Affections and Christian Contact in Early North America” (University of Massachusetts Press) includes essays from scholars in literary studies, Native American studies, African American history and religious studies. Among the contributors are WashU’s Stephanie Kirk, professor of Spanish, of comparative literature, and of women, gender and sexuality studies, all in Arts & Sciences; and Mark Valeri, the Reverend Priscilla Wood Neaves Distinguished Professor of Religion and Politics.

Van Engen and co-editor Caroline Wigginton take their title from a 1746 book by Jonathan Edwards about the process of Christian conversion called “A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections,” in which Edwards argued that true conversion is accompanied by affections that change a person’s nature.

Read more on the Arts & Sciences website.

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