The Rise of Protestant Evangelical Churches in America

Dear CIOT Participants,

In September we’ll focus on distant and recent history to assess the rise of Protestant evangelical churches in America. From the start, let’s think for a moment about the terms: by “Protestant” we clearly mean Christian denominations outside of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox fold, i.e., the direct or indirect heirs of the Protestant Reformation that began in the sixteenth-century; by “evangelical” we may mean many things, not least because certain Catholics, too, are beginning to be discussed in terms of “evangelical Christianity.” “Evangelical” in this sense implies taking the Bible literally and, among other things, pursuing a specific socio-political-economic agenda that has become known as the “religious right.” This latter point is important, depending on the eye of the beholder: some Catholics are now being considered either (positively) as members of a true Christian revival or (negatively) as members of an insidious attempt to theocratize American government, support a certain socio-economic agenda, etc.

For that reason, the readings below move from historical moments in the development of American (Protestant) religious history to current events. Even though many Catholics are now aligned (at least politically and in many ways religiously) with Evangelical Protestants, the latter are the product of a distinctly American historical development to which Catholics may be considered late-comers. I’ve chosen some detailed book reviews to bring you up to date on the best in American religious historical scholarship (the work of Nathan Hatch and George Marsden) concerning “American” Christianity and the rise of fundamentalism. Then I’ve added a number of pieces and reviews of books that critique the rise of evangelical Protestantism (as most people understand it—these critiques, after all, come from people who consider themselves evangelical Protestants). Finally, turning to that trusted friend that is the National Catholic Reporter, I’ve included some reflections on this trend from a (particular not universal) Catholic perspective, including a piece on “Catholic evangelicism.”

It should be obvious that, as far as the current political arena and the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dodson, etc. (see the list at the end of the article by Margot Patterson below), all of us already have opinions; and each of us can easily surf the net for any number of their websites or those of their detractors etc.

Finally, for those who want to explore some of the internal, Protestant dissenters who claim that Falwell and the like have hijacked their religion, please refer to the extensive review by Sean Michael Lewis where, in the first footnote, every recent book written from this perspective is listed (e.g., Gregory A. Boyd, Jim Wallis, Chris Mooney, Robin Meyers, etc.).

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again after a long hiatus!

John

Getting Started: The Historical Perspective—What’s Distinct about American Protestantism? (as opposed to traditional European Protestantism)

The standard book is by Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (Yale UP, 1989). The review by Stephen J. Stein (American Quarterly 44,2; June 1992; pp. 262-70) aptly summarizes and critiques the work.

Master historian George M. Marsden (Notre Dame) produced the work on fundamentalism, taking a historical perspective that begins at the turn of the nineteenth-century. A short review from the Antlantic Monthly by Benjamin Schwarz (May 2006) summarizes the book; more importantly, Marsden, who finished this work before the election of President Reagan, has now added an additional chapter that reflects on the results of his research in light of the past 25 years—“Fundamentalism Yesterday and Today.”

Internal (and External Dissent): Challenging and Re-Defining Protestant Evangelicism

There are any number of articles and books that followed in the wake of Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994); like Noll, some of the best dissenters have come from the evangelical Protestant camp. Here are a few forums and review articles that summarize and engage the arguments:

G. Wacker, et al. “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: A Symposium.” First Things 51 (March 1995) 35-41. Wacker and 3 other evangelical scholars discuss the importance and implications of Noll’s work.

Sean Michael Lucas, “God and Country American Style,” Westminster Theological Journal 69 (2007) 185-97.

Ross Douthat, “Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocracy.” First Things Aug/Sept 2006.

Finally, among the more trenchant of critics, the evangelical scholar D.G. Hart has had a slew of recent works. See the review of three of them by Jonathan R. Baer, “Confessions of a Non-Evangelical,” Reviews in Religion and Theology 2005, 213-221.

Catholic Perspectives

Margot Patterson, “The Force of Fundamentalism: Conservative Christians are Making their Mark on American Culture,” National Catholic Reporter 23 Sept. 2005.

John L. Allen, “The Triumph of Evangelical Catholicism,” National Catholic Reporter 31 August 2007.

John L. Allen, “Liberal Catholicism Endures in Pastoral Church,” ibid.