Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister (Library of Religious Biography | LRB)
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Overview
One of the most influential and dynamic evangelists of the 20th century, Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944) was a complex, controversial figure with a flair for the dramatic. Against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, Sister Aimee, as she was widely known, cultivated her ministry, preaching the “old-time religion” and calling for a return to simple biblical Christianity. A religious leader who strongly identified with ordinary folk, McPherson attracted thousands of fiercely loyal followers throughout the United States and Canada.
Edith Blumhofer’s thorough biography is grounded in extensive research and academic scholarship. The book offers unique insights into McPherson’s Canadian and Salvation Army roots and her relationship with Pentecostalism. Significantly, Blumhofer had access to selected minutes of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a resource not available to previous biographers, and contact with both of McPherson’s children, Roberta Semple Salter and Rolf McPherson. Dozens of photographs also help to illustrate McPherson’s multiple roles as missionary, radio broadcaster, editor, mother, wife, and—above all—colorful and inspiring evangelist.
In the Logos edition, Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Powerful searches help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
Key Features
- Offers a thorough biography on Aimee Semple McPherson
- Illuminates popular Protestantism in the twentieth century
- Demonstrates clearly the residual faith that has prospered in America beyond ecclesiastical barriers
Top Highlights
“Her complex weaving of the sacred and the secular can be analyzed compellingly in apparently contradictory ways. One can make a strong case that the critics who charged that she trivialized religion were right—that she drew crowds with sensationalism and theatrics and was nothing more than a talented entertainer. Her life, then, can be explained in terms of the 1920s craze for Hollywood, the stage, and stardom.” (Page 8)
“This, then, is the story of an ordinary woman with an ordinary message whose extraordinary determination and flair in a particular cultural moment struck a responsive chord with a cross-section of Americans and catapulted her to prominence and an enduring place in the unfolding of twentieth-century American evangelicalism.” (Pages 21–22)
“She spent Halloween with Etter and attended a small but highly charged meeting at the Etter Tabernacle that night. If there was to be a succession of female evangelists, Aimee clearly stood next in line: she had begun to run with the torch, and she would carry it farther than Etter ever dreamed.” (Page 140)
“Aimee—who had just turned seventeen—was certainly as fascinated with Robert Semple as she was with Pentecostalism; it is likely that her interest in Pentecostalism was deepened by her infatuation with Robert.” (Page 68)
“way. Robert—over six feet tall, blue-eyed, wavy-haired, personable, and nine years her senior—swept Aimee off her feet” (Page 68)
Praise for the Print Edition
Edith L. Blumhofer is to be congratulated for her detailed, scholarly study. . . . Aimee McPherson is an important figure in the history of North American religion and merits attention as a woman who had a major effect on our culture. Yet she has received only modest attention and nothing to match this work, distinguished as it is by a searching and comprehensive scholarship, a rare biography that exists neither to praise nor to bury its subject.
—American Historical Review
Blumhofer has written the most complete and well-grounded biography of McPherson to date. . . . In Blumhofer, Sister has found a scholar who has done her justice. . . . Blumhofer has set an admirable standard for all that would follow.
—Fides et Historia
This book is narrative history at its best, and it should appeal to both scholarly and popular audiences.
—International Bulletin of Missionary Research
American survey instructors should consider the book as a way to introduce students to a strong female religious leader; researchers in the field will be impressed by Blumhofer’s excellent bibliographical essay.
—The Journal of American History
In this engaging, well-researched, and sensitive biography, Edith Blumhofer has succeeded not only in producing a definitive work on her subject but also in opening up new ways of thinking about the popular culture of 20th century American Protestantism.
—The Journal of Southern History
Product Details
- Title: Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister
- Author: Edith L. Blumhofer
- Series: Library of Religious Biography (LRB)
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 1993
- Pages: 445