Ttc - Prof. Patrick N Allitt - American Religious History =link= (2025)

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For any student of history, religion, or American culture, this Great Courses series offers an insightful, engaging, and deeply enriching journey. It helps explain not just a past era, but the very present we inhabit today—a present still profoundly shaped by the faith of generations past.

Before diving into the content of the course, it is essential to understand the lecturer. Prof. Patrick N. Allitt is a fascinating figure in American academia. Born and educated in England, he moved to the United States for graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He brings the fresh eyes of an immigrant to a subject most Americans take for granted. TTC - Prof. Patrick N Allitt - American Religious History

is a complex tapestry woven from diverse faiths, intense revivals, and a unique constitutional landscape. One of the most comprehensive guides to this history is the lecture series produced by The Teaching Company (TTC) / The Great Courses , titled American Religious History , taught by the acclaimed scholar Prof. Patrick N. Allitt .

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As the 20th century dawned, Darwin shook the foundations. Allitt’s lectures on the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy are worth the price of the course alone. He explains the "Five Points of Fundamentalism" (inerrancy of Scripture, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, and historical reality of miracles) and how they became a rallying cry against higher criticism and evolution.

Prof. Allitt’s American Religious History is highly regarded because it avoids taking sides. It does not treat religion as a series of superstitions, nor does it act as an endorsement for any specific creed. Instead, Allitt treats faith as a powerful, dynamic historical force. To understand the United States—its politics, its culture, and its national identity—one must understand its religious past. This TTC course provides the definitive roadmap for that journey. You can find through several legitimate channels: For

This is where the course truly catches fire. The Second Great Awakening (1790–1840s) democratized American religion. Allitt describes the "burned-over district" of upstate New York, where spiritual fervor was so intense that it produced everything from Mormonism (Joseph Smith) to the Seventh-day Adventists (Ellen White) to the Shakers.

While high school history textbooks often lump the colonists together, Allitt meticulously dissects the theological differences between the Puritans of New England, the Anglicans of Virginia, and the Quakers of Pennsylvania. He paints a picture of a "haven for hell-raisers"—a place where religious dissenters who couldn't fit into the rigid structures of European society came to build their own versions of utopia. Born and educated in England, he moved to

What sets this lecture series apart from a standard textbook is Prof. Allitt’s distinctive approach. He transforms the study of history from an abstract exercise into a rich, multi-sensory exploration. For instance, he encourages listeners to think about religion not just in terms of theology, but as a physical experience to be seen in the architecture of a New England meeting house, heard in the a cappella hymns of a Primitive Baptist church, or even tasted in the culinary traditions that have grown up around religious practice, humorously noting why "the casserole may be the most 'Protestant' of all dishes". This technique grounds grand historical forces in the tangible reality of everyday life.

Allitt does not focus solely on mainstream Protestantism. He gives significant attention to Catholicism, Judaism, Native American traditions, and minority faiths, illustrating the true pluralism of American society.