AltaMira Press
Pages: 296
Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-0-7591-0353-5 • Hardback • October 2003 • $138.00 • (£106.00)
978-0-7591-0354-2 • Paperback • September 2003 • $55.00 • (£42.00)
978-0-7591-1607-8 • eBook • October 2003 • $52.00 • (£40.00)
Margaret M. Poloma is professor emerita of sociology at the University Akron, is also the author of Assemblies of God at the Crossroad and The Charismatic Movement.
Chapter 0 Interlude
0 Bibliography
Chapter 1 The Toronto Blessing, Mysticism and Revitilization: An Introduction
Chapter 1 Prelude
Part 1 THE MYSTICAL SELF
Chapter 2 The Faces of God in Revival: Music, Metaphor and Myth
Part 2 THE MYSTICAL BODY
Chapter 3 The Spirit at Play: The Body and the Mystical Self
Chapter 4 Divine Healing: Memories, Relationship and Medical Maladies
Chapter 5 Hearing the Voice of God: Prophecy and the Mystical Self
Chapter 6 Water, Wind, and Fire: Prophetic Narrative and Recent Revivals
Chapter 7 Digging the Wells of Revival: The Los Angeles Story
Chapter 8 One in the Spirit: The Rise of the City Church
Chapter 9 Mysticism in Service: Taking Revival to the Streets
Chapter 10 Narrative and Reflexive Ethnography: A Concluding Account
I've now finished Main Street Mystics and I think it's just great. No one writes this kind of on-the-ground ethnography with the verve of Margaret Poloma. She has leaped into a fascinating and significant current religious movement armed with an impressive grasp of religious history, and she tells a story well. A really fine and timely book.
— Harvey Cox, (Harvard University) Author of Fire From Heaven
This is a fascinating work, especially given Poloma's unique perspective, which combines the intimacy of first-hand and sustained involvement in the movement she is describing with the studied distance of a social-scientific investigator. The generous inclusion of quoted experiential material, much of it from sources not readily available, and her overall narrative approach greatly add to the books accessibility, interest, and value. This well-written and highly readable book will undoubtedly attract a wide readership...
— David M. Wulff, (Wheaton College, Massachusetts)
Margaret Poloma has a wonderful and insightful understanding of the various dynamics of revival and the way in which the Holy Spirit moves. I shall never forget her lesson to me about the tension that exists between the free flowing charisma of the Spirit vs. the forces of institutionalisation. I highly recommend this book to you.
— John Arnott, pastor, Toronto Area Christian Fellowship
Illuminating case studies of the influence of the Toronto Blessing for churches.
— J.H. Rubin, St. Joseph College; Choice Reviews, May 2004
Poloma's honesty and critical awareness make the text very appealing....I do heartily recommend this book for those with an interest in a new wave of mystical spirituality, and the new organizational forms it is producing.
— Karen A. Bradley, Central Missouri State University; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
This is a fascinating work, especially given Poloma's unique perspective, which combines the intimacy of first-hand and sustained involvement in the movement she is describing with the studied distance of a social-scientific investigator. The generous inclusion of quoted experiential material, much of it from sources not readily available, and her overall narrative approach greatly add to the books accessibility, interest, and value. This well-written and highly readable book will undoubtedly attract a wide readership.
— David M. Wulff, (Wheaton College, Massachusetts)