Moses, Jesus, and the Trickster in the Evangelical South

Paul Harvey

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Paul Harvey uses four characters that are important symbols of religious expression in the American South to survey major themes of religion, race, and southern history.The figure of Moses helps us better understand how whites saw themselves as a chosen people in situations of suffering and war and how Africans and African Americans reworked certain stories in the Bible to suit their own purposes. By applying the figure of Jesus to the central concerns of life, Harvey argues, southern evangelicals were instrumental in turning him into an American figure. The ghostly presence of the Trickster, hovering at the edges of the sacred world, sheds light on the Euro-American and African American folk religions that existed alongside Christianity. Finally, Harvey explores twentieth-century renderings of the biblical story of Absalom in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom and in works from Toni Morrison and Edward P. Jones.Harvey uses not only biblical and relig

GenresHistory

182 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Paul Harvey

15 books10 followers

Paul Harvey (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1992) is Professor of History and Presidential Teaching Scholar at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He researches, writes, and teaches in the field of American history from the 16th century to the present. Harvey is the creator and “blogmeister” of the nationally known professional scholarly blog Religion in American History, and is a contributor to the online journal Religion Dispatches. He is the author/editor of eleven books and numerous articles.

Honors and Awards

In 2008, Harvey was designated as the Lamar Lecturer in Southern History at Mercer University; the lectures he gave there have been published as Moses, Jesus and the Trickster in the Evangelical South (University of Georgia Press). In 2009, Harvey was named a Presidential Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado, and from 2007-09, he served as the Senior Mentor to the Young Scholars in American Religion program at IUPUI in Indianapolis.

In 2006, Harvey received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Colorado. In 2008, Harvey received the Outstanding Teaching Award from UCCS. In 2009, Harvey received the designation of Presidential Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado, a system-wide award recognizing specially designated scholar/teachers throughout the University of Colorado system. Paul has also received the UCCS Chancellor's Award, and served as a Senior Mentor to the Young Scholars in American Religion Program at IUPUI in Indianapolis.

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