The American Religion
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991. first edition. hardcover. 8vo. 288pp. first edition. from front flap: "In this strikingly bold and original work, Harold Bloom extends his investigation of the religious imagination to produce a brilliant examination of America's national soul. We think we are a Christian nation, but we are not, says Bloom, who identifies the American religion as a variation on Gnosticism. We are Americanized Gnostics, believers in a pre-Christian tradition of individual divinity. Americans believe that God knows and loves them in a personal way, and that something inside them, deeper even than a soul, is already in contact with God. The American self stands outside of creation; it is older than creation, as old as God, of which it is a part. In the American religion, to be free is to be joined in solitude with God or Jesus." Book VG: slight shelf wear boards and spine, hint of foxing to endpapers. text clean, binding tight. / DJ VG-: stain front cover else clean, unclipped. Item #3977
ISBN: 067167997X
#04043.
Price: $8.00