Search Results

This book shows how a simple message embedded in the New Testament and also handed on in a Christian oral tradition has been expressed consistently through ancient Christian communities (Catholic and Orthodox churches), churches of the Protestant family, and Evangelical Christian communities. The book begins by examining the New Testament and the primitive expressions of the early Christian message that are embedded in New Testament documents. Using formal doctrinal statements of churches and more informal ways in which church teachings have been “received” in churches, the book highlights the single unifying core of faith that almost all Christian churches and communities have shared. The book examines not only Christian scriptures, traditional creeds, and doctrinal statements, but also forms of worship (liturgy), hymns, Gospel music, and contemporary Christian music to understand how they have conveyed this same message. It shows, moreover, how this message has been expressed in the ecumenical movement, the movement that has sought the unity of Christian churches since the early twentieth century.

The book is the first in-depth ethnographic study of churched religion in the Pacific Northwest. It describes and explains how Protestant churches survive and thrive in the most unchurched region of the country. The study is based on nearly 450 interviews from thirty-four vital liberal and evangelical Protestant churches in the Pacific Northwest. These two sets of congregations embody separate moral worldviews and the study shows how these moral worldviews conflict, compete, and, on rare occasions, find common ground in five areas: ideology; religious beliefs; organizational and ritual life; mission (both local and international), and finally, how each relates to the politics of the region and nation. Evangelicals have dominated the public discourse on American religious life and politics over the last decade; it has become popular to accuse them of advocating an American theocracy. There was no evidence for this claim in the data from this study. Evangelicals do want influence — focusing intense energy on a political culture to nurture families — but they express the same intense distrust of the government that was found among liberals. Moreover, the study found relative disinterest on the part of liberals in influencing the public square. There was little consensus among liberals in protesting the Iraq War. Nonetheless, liberals were committed to a “moral culture” like evangelicals, though with distinctively different values — embracing a culture of inclusiveness and hospitality for homosexuals, the homeless, and the hungry.

Nathaniel William Taylor (1786–1858) was arguably the most influential American theologian of his generation. Despite his tremendous national influence, however, his views were chronically misunderstood. He and his associates always declared themselves to be Edwardsian Calvinists – working in the train of “America's Augustine,” Jonathan Edwards – but very few people, then or since, have believed them. In this revisionist study, Douglas A. Sweeney examines why Taylor and his associates counted themselves Edwardsians. He explores what it meant to be an Edwardsian minister and intellectual in the nineteenth century, how the Edwardsian tradition evolved after the death of Edwards himself, how Taylor promoted and eventually fragmented this tradition, and the significance of these developments for the future of evangelical America. Sweeney argues that Taylor's theology has been misconstrued by the vast majority of scholars, who have depicted him as a powerful symbol of the decline of Edwardsian Calvinism and the triumph of democratic liberalism in early national religion. Sweeney instead sees Taylor as a symbol of the vitality of Edwardsian Calvinism throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, a vitality that calls into question some widely held assumptions about this era. Charting Taylor's contribution to the modification, diversification, and ultimate dissolution of the Edwardsian tradition, Sweeney demonstrates his role in the translation of Edwardsian ideals to the ever‐expanding evangelical world that would succeed him. The Edwardsian tradition did not die out in the early nineteenth century, but rather grew rapidly until at least the 1840s. Nathaniel W. Taylor, more than anyone else, laid the theoretical groundwork for this growth – contributing, to be sure, to the demise of New England Theology, but at the same time making it accessible to an unprecedented number of people.

It is now a common refrain among liberals that Christian Right pastors and television pundits have hijacked evangelical Christianity for partisan gain. This book challenges this notion, arguing that the hijacking metaphor paints a fundamentally distorted picture of how evangelical churches have become politicized. The book reveals how the powerful coalition between evangelicals and the Republican Party is not merely a creation of political elites who have framed conservative issues in religious language, but is anchored in the lives of local congregations. Drawing on research at evangelical churches near the U.S. border with Canada, this book compares how American and Canadian evangelicals talk about politics in congregational settings. While Canadian evangelicals share the same theology and conservative moral attitudes as their American counterparts, their politics are quite different. On the U.S. side of the border, political conservatism is woven into the very fabric of everyday religious practice. The book shows how subtle partisan cues emerge in small group interactions as members define how “we Christians” should relate to others in the broader civic arena, while liberals are cast in the role of adversaries. It explains how the most explicit partisan cues come not from clergy but rather from lay opinion leaders who help their less politically engaged peers to link evangelical identity to conservative politics. This book demonstrates how deep the ties remain between political conservatism and evangelical Christianity in America.

In the autumn of 1834, New York City was awash with rumors of a strange religious cult operating nearby, centered around a mysterious, self-styled prophet named Matthias. It was said that Matthias the Prophet was stealing money from one of his followers; then came reports of lascivious sexual relations, based on odd teachings of matched spirits, apostolic priesthoods, and the inferiority of women. At its climax, the rumors transformed into legal charges, as the Prophet was arrested for the murder of a once highly regarded Christian gentleman who had fallen under his sway. This book recaptures the strange tale, providing a window into the turbulent movements of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening—movements which swept up great numbers of evangelical Americans and gave rise to new sects like the Mormons. Into this teeming environment walked a down-and-out carpenter named Robert Matthews, who announced himself as Matthias, prophet of the God of the Jews. His hypnotic spell drew in a cast of unforgettable characters: the meekly devout businessman Elijah Pierson, who once tried to raise his late wife from the dead; the young attractive Christian couple, Benjamin Folger and his wife Ann, who seduced the woman-hating Prophet; and the shrewd ex-slave Isabella Van Wagenen, regarded by some as “the most wicked of the wicked.” None was more colorful than the Prophet himself, a bearded, thundering tyrant who gathered his followers into an absolutist household, using their money to buy an elaborate, eccentric wardrobe, and reordering their marital relations. By the time the tensions within the kingdom exploded into a clash with the law, Matthias had become a national scandal.

Central American transnational youth gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha and the Eighteenth Street gang promote a hyper-machismo that idealizes violent, risk-prone codes of conduct and lifelong affiliation. Central American evangelical churches promote a strict piety that prohibits drinking and promotes domestic ideals of marriage and fatherhood. Yet several studies suggest that conversion to evangelical Christianity is a common pathway out of the gang. Using semi-structured interviews with sixty-four former gang members in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, this book examines why many ex-gang members consider joining an evangelical or Pentecostal church the safest and most effective means of leaving the gang. Religious conversion provides former gang members with new access to social and symbolic resources crucial for keeping safe, building trust, and finding work after leaving the gang. But more than strategic use of cultural “tools” is involved in religious conversion. In some cases, emotional conversion experiences actually helped to bring about gang exit by occasioning embodied, emotional experiences that violated the macho feeling rules of the gang. Highly public emotional conversion experiences also provided some exiting gang members with opportunities for discharging chronic shame. The author argues that an important factor in the ongoing popularity of Pentecostal-ized evangelical Christianity in Central America is its promotion of ritual contexts for effectively dealing with shame. While progressive Catholicism seeks to attack the social sources of shame, evangelical-Pentecostalism offers powerful interaction rituals for dealing with the emotion itself at the individual level.

John Stott was one of the most influential leaders of the evangelical movement during the second half of the twentieth century. Called the pope of evangelicalism by many, he did as much as anyone to shape a global religious movement that was growing rapidly during his career. This is the first scholarly biography of Stott and is based on research in his personal papers. The story begins in England and explores how Stott's education, social class, and involvement in the Church of England shaped him. There are chapters on his ministry to students, his work at All Souls Langham Place, London, and his attempts to increase evangelical influence in the Church of England. By the mid-1970s, Stott was feted much more abroad than he was at home. The book looks at Stott's leadership in the evangelical Lausanne movement, which gathered evangelicals from almost every country in the world. It recounts Stott's struggles to help evangelicals forsake conservatism and anti-intellectualism. Along the way, the book presents a picture of a movement that was as dysfunctional as it was dynamic.

This wide-ranging and original book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Church of England in the eighteenth century. It explores the nature of the Restoration ecclesiastical regime, the character of the clerical profession, the quality of the clergy's pastoral work, and the question of Church reform through a detailed study of the diocese of the Archbishops of Canterbury. In so doing the book covers the political, social, economic, cultural, intellectual and pastoral functions of the Church and, by adopting a broad chronological span, it allows the problems and difficulties often ascribed to the eighteenth-century Church to be viewed as emerging from the seventeenth century and as continuing well into the nineteenth century. Moreover, the author argues that some of the traditional periodisations and characterisations of conventional religious history need modification. Much of the evidence presented here indicates that clergy in the one hundred and seventy years after 1660 were preoccupied with difficulties that had concerned their forebears and would concern their successors. In many ways, clergy in the diocese of Canterbury between 1660 and 1828 continued the work of seventeenth-century clergy, particularly in following through, and in some instances instigating, the pastoral and professional aims of the Reformation, as well as participating in processes relating to Church reform, and further anticipating some of the deals of the Evangelical and Oxford Movements. Reluctance to recognise this has led historians to neglect the strengths of the Church between the Restoration and the 1830s, which, it is argued, should not be judged primarily for its failure to attain the ideals of these other movements, but as an institution possessing its own coherent and positive rationale.

Charles Wesley has been a problem figure for church historians. The great hymn‐writer's contribution to Methodism and the 18^th century Evangelical Revival has frequently been seen primarily in terms of his poetic work. His vital role in other aspects has been undervalued and often seen through a filter imposed by denominational historians who have Charles's brother John Wesley as the main focus of attention.

This book examines Charles's relationship with his brother and role in Methodist affairs. In particular, Charles has often been portrayed as being isolated and out of touch with the needs and wishes of the Methodist people during the last thirty years of his life. This book shows that this view is a distortion and that he was in fact representative of a considerable body of opinion within the Wesleyan societies. The Church‐Methodist viewpoint that he championed against those who wished to separate from the Anglican Church had as great an impact on Methodist evolution as the better‐known opinions of his opponents. Out of this struggle came a denomination with an identity that was rooted in its Anglican past but with an evangelical dynamic that produced one of the great success stories of the 19^th century Christian Church. Extensive use is made of neglected primary sources to present a substantial reappraisal of Charles Wesley's ministry, which in turn permits a new interpretation of aspects of the history of early Methodism, the 18^th century Church of England and the way that Methodists have viewed their Church's past.

Tracing the intersection of religion, race, and power in Texas from Reconstruction through the rise of the Religious Right and the failed presidential bid of Governor Rick Perry, this book illuminates American history since the Civil War in new ways, demonstrating that Texas's story is also America's. In particular, the book shows how distinctions between “us” and “them” are perpetuated and why they are so often shaped by religion and politics. Early settlers called Texas a rough country. Surviving there necessitated defining evil, fighting it, and building institutions in the hope of advancing civilization. Religion played a decisive role. Today, more evangelical Protestants live in Texas than in any other state. They have influenced every presidential election for fifty years, mobilized powerful efforts against abortion and same-sex marriage, and been a driving force in the Tea Party movement. And religion has always been complicated by race and ethnicity. The book tells the stories of ordinary men and women who struggled with the conditions they faced, conformed to the customs they knew, and on occasion emerged as powerful national leaders. We see the lasting imprint of slavery, public executions, Jim Crow segregation, and resentment against the federal government. We also observe courageous efforts to care for the sick, combat lynching, provide for the poor, welcome new immigrants, and uphold liberty of conscience.

Even though they are immersed in sex-saturated society, millions of teens are pledging to remain virgins until their wedding night. How are evangelical Christians persuading young people to wait until marriage? This book looks closely at the language of the chastity movement and discovers a savvy campaign that uses sex to “sell” abstinence. Drawing from interviews with evangelical leaders and teenagers, the book examines the strategy to shift from a negative “just say no” approach to a positive one: “just say yes” to great sex within marriage. The book sheds new light on an abstinence campaign that has successfully recast a traditionally feminist idea—“my body, my choice”—into a powerful message, but one that the author suggests may ultimately reduce evangelicalism's transformative power. Focusing on the United States, the study also includes a comparative dimension by examining the export of this evangelical agenda to sub-Saharan Africa.