Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America. Stephen Prothero

Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America



Download Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America



Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America Stephen Prothero. pdf ebook
Publisher:
Language: English
Page: 280
ISBN: 0520236882, 9780520236882

From Library Journal

As Prothero (religion, Boston Univ.) states in the introduction, "what Americans usually do is bury." In this outstanding work, he delves deeply into a subject that is often avoided: death and, most specifically, cremation. He reads ancient texts, showing how the likes of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid discussed cremation. As Christianity rose in the West, cremation disappeared, and from the late fourth century C.E. until the 17th century burial was the accepted way to dispose of the dead. Prothero cites English physician Sir Thomas Browne's 1658 book on cremation as critical to the modern cremation movement. But Prothero focuses mainly on cremation in America. Starting in the late 1800s, when the first modern American cremations took place, Prothero traces the changing views about cremation in America up to the present. Now almost a quarter of the populace chooses cremation, and cultural icons such as John Lennon and President Kennedy have been cremated without a second thought. Some of the more interesting sections of the book consider the interplay of cremation and public health and the centrality of the immortality of the soul to cremationists. This very interesting book is highly recommended for larger public, academic, and theological libraries.DJay Stephens, Roanoke Higher Education Ctr. Lib., VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From

Social scientists often produce fascinating studies by focusing on seemingly obscure subjects (cod, for example, or bowling alone); this survey of cremation's U.S. history by a Boston University religion professor illuminates many aspects of the nation's social and cultural history. Conventional wisdom might attribute cremation's rise--from less than 4 percent of U.S. deaths in 1963 to 24 percent in 1998--to secularization. Prothero is not so sure: "Whether to bury or to burn," he maintains, raises key philosophical and theological issues, including "perceptions of the self, attitudes toward the body, views of history, styles of ritual, and beliefs in God and the afterlife." Prothero identifies three periods of cremation in the U.S.: the introduction of this "radical" European idea (1874-1896); a period of consolidation as cremation facilities and institutions (including crematories' relationships with the funeral industry) were formed (1896-1963); and the recent boom (1963-present). Today cremation is winning acceptance as a simpler approach that allows survivors to design customized death rituals particularly meaningful to them. Intriguing analysis of changes in social mores. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



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