American Evangelicalism

American Evangelicalism PDF Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022622922X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 325

Book Description
“An excellent study of evangelicalism” from the award-winning sociologist and author of Souls in Transition and Soul Searching (Library Journal). Evangelicalism is one of the strongest religious traditions in America today; twenty million Americans identify themselves with the evangelical movement. Given the modern pluralistic world we live in, why is evangelicalism so popular? Based on a national telephone survey and more than three hundred personal interviews with evangelicals and other churchgoing Protestants, this study provides a detailed analysis of the commitments, beliefs, concerns, and practices of this thriving group. Examining how evangelicals interact with and attempt to influence secular society, this book argues that traditional, orthodox evangelicalism endures not despite, but precisely because of, the challenges and structures of our modern pluralistic environment. This work also looks beyond evangelicalism to explore more broadly the problems of traditional religious belief and practice in the modern world. With its impressive empirical evidence, innovative theory, and substantive conclusions, American Evangelicalism will provoke lively debate over the state of religious practice in contemporary America. “Based on a three-year study of American evangelicals, Smith takes the pulse of contemporary evangelicalism and offers substantial evidence of a strong heartbeat . . . Evangelicalism is thriving, says Smith, not by being countercultural or by retreating into isolation but by engaging culture at the same time that it constructs, maintains and markets its subcultural identity. Although Smith depends heavily on sociological theory, he makes his case in an accessible and persuasive style that will appeal to a broad audience.” —Publishers Weekly

Evangelicals Embattled

Evangelicals Embattled PDF Author: Martin Wellings
Publisher: Paternoster
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Book Description
In the closing years of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, Anglican evangelicals faced a series of challenges. In responding to Anglo-Catholicism, liberal theology, Darwinism and biblical criticism, the unity and identity of the Evangelical school were severely tested. - Publisher.

Christian America?

Christian America? PDF Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520234707
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
This extensive study of American evangelicals explores the beliefs, values, commitments and goals of the ordinary men and women who make up this often misunderstood religious group.

The Scandal of Evangelicals and Homosexuality

The Scandal of Evangelicals and Homosexuality PDF Author: Mark Vasey-Saunders
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317016688
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
English evangelicals give the appearance of being a community at war, with each other and with the world around them. The issue of homosexuality is one of the key battlegrounds. How has this issue become so significant to evangelicals? Why is it provoking such violent responses? How is it changing evangelicals, and what might this mean for the future? This book examines the history of evangelical responses to the issue of homosexuality, setting them in a wider historical and cultural context and drawing on the work of Rene Girard to argue that the issue of homosexuality has come to symbolise deeply-held convictions within evangelicalism. The conflict over the issue that is now becoming apparent within evangelicalism reveals deep divisions within the evangelical community that will have great significance for the future. The Scandal of Evangelicals and Homosexuality offers an alternative perspective, seeking not to present an answer to the ethical question, but rather to examine the way the debate has become scandalised and consider the cost. It offers a window into contemporary English evangelicalism and provides an important contribution to international and ecumenical debate.

Evangelicals and Democracy in America

Evangelicals and Democracy in America PDF Author: Steven G. Brint
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610445929
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Book Description
Separation of church and state is a bedrock principal of American democracy, and so, too, is active citizen engagement. Since evangelicals comprise one of the largest and most vocal voting blocs in the United States, tensions and questions naturally arise. In the two-volume Evangelicals and Democracy in America, editors Steven Brint and Jean Reith Schroedel have assembled an authoritative collection of studies of the evangelical movement in America. Religion and Politics, the second volume of the set, focuses on the role of religious conservatives in party politics, the rhetoric evangelicals use to mobilize politically, and what the history of the evangelical movement reveals about where it may be going. Part I of Religion and Politics explores the role of evangelicals in electoral politics. Contributor Pippa Norris looks at evangelicals around the globe and finds that religiosity is a strong predictor of ideological leanings in industrialized countries. But the United States remains one of only a handful of post-industrial societies where religion plays a significant role in partisan politics. Other chapters look at voting trends, especially the growing number of higher-income evangelicals among Republican ranks, how voting is influenced both by "values" and race, and the management of the symbols and networks behind the electoral system of moral-values politics. Part II of the volume focuses on the mobilizing rhetoric of the Christian Right. Nathaniel Klemp and Stephen Macedo show how the rhetorical strategies of the Christian Right create powerful mobilizing narratives, but frequently fail to build broad enough coalitions to prevail in the pluralistic marketplace of ideas. Part III analyzes the cycles and evolution of the Christian Right. Kimberly Conger looks at the specific circumstances that have allowed evangelicals to become dominant in some Republican state party committees but not in others. D. Michael Lindsay examines the "elastic orthodoxy" that has allowed evangelicals to evolve into a formidable social and political force. The final chapter by Clyde Wilcox presents a new framework for understanding the relationship between the Christian Right and the GOP based on the ecological metaphor of co-evolution. With its companion volume on religion and society, this second volume of Evangelicals and Democracy in America offers the most complete examination yet of the social circumstances and political influence of the millions of Americans who are white evangelical Protestants. Understanding their history and prospects for the future is essential to forming a comprehensive picture of America today.

The Gospel of Climate Skepticism

The Gospel of Climate Skepticism PDF Author: Robin Globus Veldman
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520972805
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Book Description
Why are white evangelicals the most skeptical major religious group in America regarding climate change? Previous scholarship has pointed to cognitive factors such as conservative politics, anti-science attitudes, aversion to big government, and theology. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, The Gospel of Climate Skepticism reveals the extent to which climate skepticism and anti-environmentalism have in fact become embedded in the social world of many conservative evangelicals. Rejecting the common assumption that evangelicals’ skepticism is simply a side effect of political or theological conservatism, the book further shows that between 2006 and 2015, leaders and pundits associated with the Christian Right widely promoted skepticism as the biblical position on climate change. The Gospel of Climate Skepticism offers a compelling portrait of how during a critical period of recent history, political and religious interests intersected to prevent evangelicals from offering a unified voice in support of legislative action to address climate change.

Evangelicals Around the World

Evangelicals Around the World PDF Author: Thomas Nelson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1401678793
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Book Description
There are an estimated 600 million Evangelicals in the world today, crossing cultures, histories, languages, politics, and nationalities. Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century introduces the fastest-growing segment of the global Christian church to the world and to each other. Bringing together a team of multi-disciplined scholars, writers, activists, and leaders from around the world, this handbook provides a compelling look at the diverse group we call Evangelicals. In this guide, written by those who know the movement the best, the issues that divide and the beliefs that unite this global Christian movement are presented in a journalistic fashion. Evangelicals Around the World describes the past and the present, the unique characters, and the powerful ministries of Evangelicals. With a large trim size and colorful page design, this beautiful book is the perfect choice for laypeople and scholars alike. Features include: Essays written by senior leaders of the movement and newer voices with fresh perspectives Articles written by journalists convey diverse and creative perspectives on ministry Essays provide the demographic details of Evangelicals in regions around the world Maps, graphs, photographs, quotes, and mini-profiles of evangelical heroes throughout time

The Other Evangelicals

The Other Evangelicals PDF Author: Isaac B. Sharp
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467464090
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Book Description
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “evangelical”? For many, the answer is “white,” “patriarchal,” “conservative,” or “fundamentalist”—but as Isaac B. Sharp reveals, the “big tent” of evangelicalism has historically been much bigger than we’ve been led to believe. In The Other Evangelicals, Sharp brings to light the stories of those twentieth-century evangelicals who didn’t fit the mold, including Black, feminist, progressive, and gay Christians. Though the binary of fundamentalist evangelicals and modernist mainline Protestants is taken for granted today, Sharp demonstrates that fundamentalists and modernists battled over the title of “evangelical” in post–World War II America. In fact, many ideologies characteristic of evangelicalism today, such as “biblical womanhood” and political conservatism, arose only in reaction to the popularity of evangelical feminism and progressivism. Eventually, history was written by the “winners”—the Billy Grahams of American religion—while the “losers” were expelled from the movement via the establishment of institutions such as the National Association of Evangelicals. Carefully researched and deftly written, The Other Evangelicals offers a breath of fresh air for scholars seeking a more inclusive history of religion in America.

Evangelicals Incorporated

Evangelicals Incorporated PDF Author: Daniel Vaca
Publisher:
ISBN: 0674980115
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
American evangelicalism is big business. It is not, Daniel Vaca argues, just a type of conservative Protestantism that market forces have commodified. Rather evangelicalism is an expressly commercial practice, in which the faithful participate, learn, and develop religious identities by engaging corporations and commercial products.

Embattled Ecumenism

Embattled Ecumenism PDF Author: Jill K. Gill
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
ISBN: 9780875804439
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Vietnam War and its polarizing era challenged, splintered, and changed The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC), which was motivated by its ecumenical Christian vision to oppose that war and unify people. The NCC's efforts on the war exposed its strengths and imploded its weaknesses in ways instructive for religious institutions that bring their faith into politics. Embattled Ecumenism explores the ecumenical vision, anti- Vietnam War efforts, and legacy of the NCC. Gill's monumental study serves as a window into the mainline Protestant manner of engaging political issues at a unique time of national crisis and religious transformation. In vibrant prose, Gill illuminates an ecumenical institution, vision, and movement that has been largely misrepresented by the religious right, dismissed by the secular left, misunderstood by laity, and ignored by scholars outside of ecumenical circles. At a time when the majority of scholarly work is committed to looking at the religious right, Gill's groundbreaking study of the Protestant Left is a welcome addition. Embattled Ecumenism will appeal to scholars of U.S. religion, politics, and culture, as well as historians of evangelicalism and general readers interested in U.S. history and religion.