When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism, Scopes and American Intellectuals
With characteristic eloquence and insight, prominent historian Paul K. Conkin explores large, indeed cosmic issues in When All the Gods Trembled. Conkin focuses his analysis on the numerous challenges in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to age-old beliefs in the existence of a god, in a world that exhibits some extrinsic or intrinsic purpose, in the divine origin and special destiny of humans, and in transcendent moral values. By the 1920s, these challenges had created a major...
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When All the Gods Trembled narrates the drama of the famous Scopes _Monkey Trial,_ and describes the varied attempts by early 20th century Americans to accommodate Darwinism into their religious traditions. Conkin's sweeping narrative about this complex relationship is destined to change the way all Americans think about Darwin, the Scopes trial, and American religious and intellectual thought. Booknews This is a paperbound reprint of a 1998 book. Six essays by Conkin (history, Vanderbilt U.) focus on the crisis of faith that came to a head in the mid-1920s. After an introduction on Christian cosmologies, three essays outline arguments against monotheistic ideas (expeditiously named the "Semitic cosmology") from bible studies and the natural sciences. A chapter on Darwin indicates that he had the most eroding impact on the Semitic cosmology, fracturing Christianity into its present camps. Chapters on the Scopes trial of 1925 and the intellectual debates of the twenties round out the volume. The book ends with thinkers who rejected any version of theism and harshly evaluated Christian modernism. No notes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Introduction: Christian Cosmologies Chapter 3 What Darwin Wrought Chapter 4 Evangelicals, Fundamentals, and Modernists Chapter 5 The Scopes Trial Chapter 6 A Dialogue among Christian Intellectuals Chapter 7 Beyond Theism Chapter 8 The Gods Still Tremble: An Update Chapter 9 Index
\ Books & CultureConkin provides a sensitive sociocultural description of the residents of Dayton, who were humiliated by their portrayal in the national media. He is critical of the caricatures provided by those who conspired to uncover, maximize, and even manufacture a kind of 'cultural warfare.'\ — Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa\ \ \ \ \ Books and CultureConkin provides a sensitive sociocultural description of the residents of Dayton, who were humiliated by their portrayal in the national media. He is critical of the caricatures provided by those who conspired to uncover, maximize, and even manufacture a kind of 'cultural warfare.'\ — Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa\ \ \ ChoiceWhen All the Gods Trembled does a fine job of identifying the specific elements in the Judeo-Christian tradition that evolutionary theory tended to undermine.\ \ \ \ \ CHOICEWhen All the Gods Trembled does a fine job of identifying the specific elements in the Judeo-Christian tradition that evolutionary theory tended to undermine.\ \ \ \ \ Georgia Historical QuarterlyDense typesetting allows the book's short length to conceal a surprising amount of text. With a sympathetic, dense, and readable style that accepts no nonsense, Conkin provides a wide-ranging analysis in this compact, useful volume.\ — Randall L. Hall, Wake Forest University\ \ \ \ \ Journal of American HistoryThe book is a crisp and handy guide to the story of American religious belief in the early part of the twentieth century.\ \ \ \ \ Journal of Church and StateDistinguished historian Paul Conkin has given us a provocative book surveying a key period in America's intellectual history. Conkin deserves credit for writing an eminently readable overview with keen insights into important issues such as Darwinism, fundamentalism, and modernism.\ — Barry Hankins, Baylor University\ \ \ \ \ Journal Of Church and StateDistinguished historian Paul Conkin has given us a provocative book surveying a key period in America's intellectual history. Conkin deserves credit for writing an eminently readable overview with keen insights into important issues such as Darwinism, fundamentalism, and modernism.\ — Barry Hankins, Baylor University\ \ \ \ \ Journal Of Southern HistoryThe real contribution of Conkin's book lies in the chapters that examine the profound issues at stake in the conflict between religious faith and scientific naturalism that the Scopes trial came to symbolize. For its recasting of the putative conflict between faith and science in these unfamiliar terms plus its remarkable incisiveness on the contributing issues, this book is recommended to anyone interested in twentieth-century American intellectual life.\ \ \ \ \ Journal of The History of BiologyConkin provides a useful introduction to the cultural crises of the 1920s.\ \ \ \ \ Journal Of The History Of BiologyConkin provides a useful introduction to the cultural crises of the 1920s.\ \ \ \ \ The BookwatchA well-balanced, intellectual, and thoughtful discourse on the very serious and perplexing questions that science poses to faith When All the Gods Trembled is highly recommended reading for both students and general readers with an interest in the impact of 19th and 20th sciences on religious belief in the United States.\ \ \ \ \ The Journal of Southern HistoryThe real contribution of Conkin's book lies in the chapters that examine the profound issues at stake in the conflict between religious faith and scientific naturalism that the Scopes trial came to symbolize. For its recasting of the putative conflict between faith and science in these unfamiliar terms plus its remarkable incisiveness on the contributing issues, this book is recommended to anyone interested in twentieth-century American intellectual life.\ \ \ \ \ The Journal Of Southern HistoryThe real contribution of Conkin's book lies in the chapters that examine the profound issues at stake in the conflict between religious faith and scientific naturalism that the Scopes trial came to symbolize. For its recasting of the putative conflict between faith and science in these unfamiliar terms plus its remarkable incisiveness on the contributing issues, this book is recommended to anyone interested in twentieth-century American intellectual life.\ \ \ \ \ The North Carolina Historical ReviewA worthwhile addition to the literature of the Scopes trial and of the evolution controversy in the United States.\ \ \ \ \ The Review Of PoliticsBoth satisfying and enjoyable. . . . I am glad that I had an opportunity to review When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism, Scopes, and American Intellectuals.\ — Michael Ruse\ \ \ \ \ The Review of PoliticsBoth satisfying and enjoyable. . . . I am glad that I had an opportunity to review When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism, Scopes, and American Intellectuals.\ — Michael Ruse\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsThis is a paperbound reprint of a 1998 book. Six essays by Conkin (history, Vanderbilt U.) focus on the crisis of faith that came to a head in the mid-1920s. After an introduction on Christian cosmologies, three essays outline arguments against monotheistic ideas (expeditiously named the "Semitic cosmology") from bible studies and the natural sciences. A chapter on Darwin indicates that he had the most eroding impact on the Semitic cosmology, fracturing Christianity into its present camps. Chapters on the Scopes trial of 1925 and the intellectual debates of the twenties round out the volume. The book ends with thinkers who rejected any version of theism and harshly evaluated Christian modernism. No notes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
