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HUMANITIES 199 McLelland's essay provides an interesting and impressive account of much modern atheistic thought. But it does not, I think, provide us with the only, or even the most persuasive, account of our 'modern age.' It will, however, have to be given serious consideration by all who seek to understand our own time. (DONALD WIEBE) George A. Rawlyk. Wrapped Up in God: A Study of Several Canadian Revivals and Revivalists Welch Publishing Company 1988. xiv, 169. $15.95 paper Pursuing the theme, as well as the ecstatic metaphor, explored in his Ravished by the Spirit (1983), George A. Rawlyk's latest book provides a number of useful case-studies in Canadian religious history. Close investigation of the careers of Henry Alline, Freeborn Garrettson, Harris Harding, J.J. Sidey, and other revivalists enables Rawlyk to clarify (and occasionally to shed 'New Light' upon) the complex rivalries among Methodists and Baptists during a century and a halfofdoctrinal disputes, organizational manoeuvres, and personal animosities. While this book undoubtedly contributes fresh historical detail, however, its main interest lies in its author's broader autobiographical and historiographical reflections. Lamenting a 'secular bias' among Canadian professional historians, Rawlyk ponders the marginal role of religious history and espouses an ecumenical interdisciplinary strategy designed to rescue significant religious activities from the 'dark and distant corner ofhistorical oblivion' to which they have been 'ruthlessly and unceremoniously relegated.' Rawlyk is undoubtedly justified in adding his voice to the growing chorus of those who proclaim the historical relevance of the religious factor in Canadian life. Though equally correct in his advocacy of increased interchange between history and social science, his views in this regard may strike many scholars less as prophetic utterance than as familiar homily. The old historians' joke that 'sociology is history with the facts left out' is now rarely heard, and sociologists, happily, have abandoned their traditional rejoinder that 'history is sociology with the brains left out.' Indeed, as one American historian has recently observed: 'the real question today for academically responsible historians of religions is not whether to put the methods and insights ofsocial science to use, but how.' Of course, the uniting of theory and practice is notoriously easier in theory than in practice, and Rawlyk ought not to be unduly blamed if the contents of his substantive chapters fail to live up to the challenges posed in his introductory and concluding meditations. Nevertheless, many scholars will conclude that his laudable effort to fuse biographical 200 LEITERS IN CANADA 1989 narrative and social-scientific frameworks suffers from severe limitations. First, rather than integrating anthropological concepts into his enterprise, Rawlyk is content merely to use the insights of Wallace and Turner 'for descriptive rather than analytical purposes.' Second, he wrongly assumes that research into revivalism can still lean on the now creaky props provided by these scholars. Historical-sociological dialogue and collaboration on this topic have already proceeded apace and will, doubtless, utilize fully the sociological subdisciplines of Collective Behaviour and Social Movements. Moreover, sociologists of religion will continue to contribute to such discussions through studies of secularization, globalization , and 'New Religious Movements.' ยท The intellectual climate is improving for Rawlyk. Few social scientists now seriously doubt the role of religion as an independent variable and religious historians scrutinize sociological writings with increasing regularity . In the United States, scholars like Marsden and Noll are forging a new evangelical history while in Canada there is a growing concern with the role of religion in the evolution of our national life. Rawlyk's mission to combine historical, social-scientific, and theological perspectives, while not entirely successful in the present work, remains nonetheless a worthy undertaking. By the time his next book appears, it may be prophesied that many more Canadian historians and sociologists will share his interdisciplinary vision. (ROGER O'TOOLE) Phyllis Grosskurth. Margaret Mead: A Life of Controversy Penguin Books 1988. Lives of Modern Women Series. 96. $6.95 paper Here is another study of Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist who achieved fame at the age oftwenty-eight with Coming ofAgein Samoa, as controversial a work now as it was in 1928. A briefforeword tells us that this 'series of short biographical portraits' is meant to whet...

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