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A Hindu Temple Comes to Town

Paul D. Numrich

in The Faith Next Door: American Christians and Their New Religious Neighbors

In 1985, a proposal to build the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple stirred lively public debate among Christians in a blue-collar suburb of Chicago. The evangelical magazine Christianity Today covered ... More

In 1985, a proposal to build the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple stirred lively public debate among Christians in a blue-collar suburb of Chicago. The evangelical magazine Christianity Today covered the story, which prompted a rebuttal from Hinduism Today. Some Christians wished to ban the idolatrous presence in order to avoid God's displeasure, others wished to evangelize the Hindus in the new mission field of America, and still others welcomed the opportunity to learn about an unfamiliar religious tradition through dialogue. This chapter follows the debate, quotes community members on all sides of the issue, and examines the theological and civic issues involved. In the end, the temple was built, the first of three Hindu temples now in that city.Less

Evangelicalism and Religious Pluralism in Contemporary America: Diversity Without, Diversity Within, and Maintaining the Borders

William Vance Trollinger

in Gods in America: Religious Pluralism in the United States

The question of increased religious pluralism, and the concomitant legal and cultural support for such pluralism, has sparked a great deal of discussion among evangelical Protestants, the largest ... More

The question of increased religious pluralism, and the concomitant legal and cultural support for such pluralism, has sparked a great deal of discussion among evangelical Protestants, the largest block of Christians in the United States. Judging by the discourse in the flagship publication Christianity Today, evangelicals are becoming more comfortable with increased diversity within Christianity itself, perhaps because they confidently presume that the emerging global Church is an evangelical Church. They do, however, express deep ambivalence, even discomfort, with religious pluralism within the United States, which they see as eroding their own moral authority. At the same time, pluralism is also deeply inscribed in American Evangelicals’ theological DNA, imparting a freedom to create a variety of ecclesiastical and social arrangements. Evangelicals’ concern to define their boundaries over against diversity may issue from a sense that a younger generation of believers may not find pluralism as disquieting as do their elders.Less

Lex Rex: Neoevangelicalism, Biblical Law, Dominion

Michael J. McVicar

in Christian Reconstruction: R. J. Rushdoony and American Religious Conservatism

This chapter discusses how Christian Reconstructionism had grown out of Rushdoony’s hostile relationship with the editors of Christianity Today, most notably Carl F. H. Henry, as he tried to ... More

This chapter discusses how Christian Reconstructionism had grown out of Rushdoony’s hostile relationship with the editors of Christianity Today, most notably Carl F. H. Henry, as he tried to challenge other conservative Christians to see Mosaic law as the antidote to the perceived lawlessness of the 1960s. After failing to create an expedient alliance with businessman and philanthropist J. Howard Pew in an attempt to influence Christianity Today and the neoevangelical coalition it represented, Rushdoony turned his attention to fully articulating his vision of Biblical law as an alternative to the “law and order” discourse emerging among his fellow conservatives. He argued that Biblical law could provide the necessary mechanism to reconstruct America into a neofeudal Protestant state that would eventually usher in Christ’s second coming.Less

The Contested Center

Elesha J. Coffman

in The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline

Christianity Today’s combination of distasteful theology, robust financial support, and sparing but strong elite connections put the Century on the defensive. The same elements ... More

Christianity Today’s combination of distasteful theology, robust financial support, and sparing but strong elite connections put the Century on the defensive. The same elements combined even more powerfully during Billy Graham’s massive 1957 evangelistic crusade in New York City. Writers for the Century, especially Harold Fey and young staffer Martin Marty, recognized both the magazine launch and the urban crusade as threats to the Century’s status as the most influential Protestant magazine in America. Graham and Christianity Today constructed their authority on the basis of popular support and actual capital rather than cultural capital. The Century could not compete on those terms, but it would not give up its position at the perceived center of American religious life without a fight—even if that meant decoupling the establishment quest for cultural authority from the effort to “win America” for Protestantism.Less

Corporate Convictions: Billy Graham, Big Business, and the New Evangelicalism

Darren E. Grem

in The Blessings of Business: Corporate America and the Rise of Conservative Evangelicalism

Focusing on the business elites and ideas behind Billy Graham’s early career, this chapter shows the expanding network of businessmen behind postwar fundamentalism as it transitioned into a more ... More

Focusing on the business elites and ideas behind Billy Graham’s early career, this chapter shows the expanding network of businessmen behind postwar fundamentalism as it transitioned into a more socially engaged, pragmatic, and results-minded form, namely the “new evangelicalism.” Graham is also reinterpreted in this chapter as more than a religious figure but also as a savvy big businessman who used corporate culture to frame, advance, and order his ministry in the 1950s and 1960s. The contributions of businessmen like oil tycoon J. Howard Pew to evangelical startups like Christianity Today magazine and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association also receive attention in this chapter.Less

Inventing the Old-Time Religion

John W. Compton

in The End of Empathy: Why White Protestants Stopped Loving Their Neighbors

This chapter examines the founding and rise to prominence of Christianity Today, the most important religious magazine of the 1960s and 1970s. It details the magazine’s founding by the revivalist ... More

This chapter examines the founding and rise to prominence of Christianity Today, the most important religious magazine of the 1960s and 1970s. It details the magazine’s founding by the revivalist Billy Graham and his father-in-law L. Nelson Bell, both of whom envisioned a periodical that would target ministers with a mix of theological content and conservative political commentary. With financial backing from J. Howard Pew and long list of conservative businessmen, the magazine soon outpaced its liberal rivals; and under the editorial guidance of Carl Henry, a noted theologian, it developed a novel critique of mainline religious authority that may well have exacerbated the divide between mainline elites and average churchgoers. Yet Henry’s insistence that evangelicals were obligated take notice of social problems such as racial discrimination ultimately created an inbridgable rift between the magazine’s editor and its financial backers, and in 1967 Henry was forced to relinquish his post.Less

That They All May Be One

Neil J. Young

in We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics

This chapter focuses on the response of evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons to the ecumenical movement in mainline Protestantism and the nation’s growing ethos of pluralism. Rather than embracing ... More

This chapter focuses on the response of evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons to the ecumenical movement in mainline Protestantism and the nation’s growing ethos of pluralism. Rather than embracing these religious trends, Catholics, Mormons, and evangelicals rejected ecumenism and asserted their own distinct faiths as the only authentic expression of Christianity and the sole path to salvation—positions that not only dismissed ecumenism but also challenged each other’s claims. The LDS Church led by David O. McKay expanded its national presence through a vigorous missionary campaign and a strident anti-ecumenism. Evangelicals organized across denominations, contrasting their “spiritual unity” against the “church unionism” of the ecumenical movement and establishing para-church organizations like the National Association of Evangelicals and Christianity Today. The Catholic Church silenced John Courtney Murray’s ecumenical musings, insisting that Catholicism alone provided Christ’s true path of salvation.Less

Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? Christian Music and the Secular Marketplace

in Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Conservative Evangelical Culture

This chapter examines the evangelical industry's growth and increasing inroads into the wider secular marketplace. Christian music and music video provide an excellent illustration of how ... More

This chapter examines the evangelical industry's growth and increasing inroads into the wider secular marketplace. Christian music and music video provide an excellent illustration of how evangelicals have created cultural products of uneven and ambiguous spiritual intensity. There are some people in the Christian music industry who position their work first and foremost as art rather than as evangelism per se. To some extent, evangelicals see their music as a reaction against secular youth culture, which they claim “preaches” politics and values to vulnerable audiences. Evangelicals outside the music business have certainly asked critical questions about Christian music. Christianity Today often contains articles questioning the mission of the Christian music industry.Less

Conclusion

David E. Settje

in Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars

This concluding chapter looks at the decline of foreign policy debates, and the collapse of South Vietnam. By 1975, much of America had grown tired of foreign policy debates and many entities lost ... More

This concluding chapter looks at the decline of foreign policy debates, and the collapse of South Vietnam. By 1975, much of America had grown tired of foreign policy debates and many entities lost interest in global issues. Indeed, Christian sources that had previously contained numerous and lengthy articulations of foreign affairs viewpoints had much less of such discussions. Yet other Christians remained aware of both the Cold and Vietnam wars in their print media, assemblies, and churchwide discussions. The collapse of South Vietnam spurred Christianity Today to appeal for assistance for the refugees who swarmed out of that country. Ultimately, the influx of refugees united Christians in a humanitarian outpouring of goodwill for these people, demonstrating that “whatever one thinks about the Vietnam War, the refugees should be extended a genuine welcome as fellow human beings.”Less

“You Cannot Fool the Electronic Eye”: Billy Graham and Media

Elesha Coffman

in Billy Graham: American Pilgrim

Billy Graham navigated the intersection of media and evangelism adeptly as he advanced his two great goals: the evangelization of the world, and the establishment of evangelicalism as a religious ... More

Billy Graham navigated the intersection of media and evangelism adeptly as he advanced his two great goals: the evangelization of the world, and the establishment of evangelicalism as a religious tradition. This chapter chronicles Graham’s media ventures, such as his Hour of Decision radio broadcasts, and illustrates how he used and was used by mainstream journalists, usually to mutual benefit. It argues that Graham was able to maintain a balance between savvy and slick because he was sincere in ways suited to the media-saturated culture of postwar America. His personal probity, remarked upon by journalists, helped. But Graham also found medium-specific ways to communicate authenticity, ranging from the chatty tone of his “My Answer” newspaper columns to the mixture of zoom and wide-angle shots in televised crusades. To achieve his goals in the second half of the twentieth century, Graham had to use media. To use media for good, he also had to use it well.Less