Blessed assurance

by M. Jean Heriot

Based on fourteen months of research in a Southern Baptist congregation in rural South Carolina, Blessed Assurance investigates a central paradox in evangelical salvation. How, in the context of "this world," can one know that one is saved, or born again, by the grace of Jesus Christ? Through ethnographic and linguistic analyses, M. Jean Heriot examines the specific means that believers use to construct the paradox of salvation itself and how they seek practical resolutions. Her explorations encompass a variety of intriguing questions. What is the basis of the equation between belief in salvation and commitment to the church? How does the pastor use the sermon to urge the congregation to be saved and to manifest that salvation through action? What are the implications of the "altar call," which asks members to enact their beliefs in a ritually charged atmosphere? How do congregation members try to "live" conversion day to day? In seeking answers to these questions, Heriot offers a weal