The Small Sects In America

By Elmer T. Clark

FROM THE PREFACE: “ It should also go without saying that no disparagement is meant by the word "sect." No fine distinctions of definition are drawn between churches, denominations, and sects, and the words may be found used interchangeably. As a glance at Webster will show, all religious bodies may be, and often are, referred to as sects; the "sects" in continentalEurope are the very bodies which in America are the largest denomina- tions, the Methodists, Baptists, and others.While disagreeing at many, perhaps at most, points with the attitudes, beliefs, and interpretations of these small sects, I deem them quite impor- tant in our religious milieu; I have respect for their adherents' sincerity and recognize spiritual values in their service. I have endeavored to maintain a strictly unbiased, certainly an unprejudiced a n d sympathetic, attitude, in so far as this is possible to one outside their own circle of believers. In the small sects one sees religion as it springs naturally from the naïve and simple heart that craves touch with the supernatural, and is unaffected by the conventions and the scientific leanings of a sophisti cated society.”

NY. Abingdon Press. 1937. 249p. CONTAINS MARK-UP