CHRISTIAN HISTORY Issue 102 People of Faith How America’s many churches shaped “one nation under God.” IFC_POFad_CHM102_CHM102 4/27/12 10:28 AM Page 1

Survey the history of Christianity in America from before the Pilgrims to the present in this stunning DVD series. You’ll gain valuable perspective on the people and ideas that shaped America and see how it came to be the first nation in history based upon the ideal of religious liberty. In this six-episode series you’ll meet the spiritual visionaries, leaders, and entrepreneurs who shaped Christianity across the centuries and dramatically influenced the culture we live in today, including Jonathan Edwards, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Billy Graham among many others. Learn about the key events, movements, and controversies that continue to shape us today such as the Great Awakening, the abolitionist movement, 19th-century Catholic immigration, the Prohibition era, modernism and $ 99 fundamentalism, and the social gospel, civil rights, and pro-life 29. #501437D movements, and more. Well researched, balanced, fast paced, and insightful, People of Faith features expert commentary from an array of scholars such as Martin Marty, Mark Noll, Thomas Kidd, Kathryn Long, and many others. Produced and created by the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College, this amazing resource will help you discover the importance of Christian history as we consider the future of the church in America.

The two-DVD set includes • six half-hour segments, • study and discussion questions, • script transcripts, • additional interviews with scholars, and • optional English subtitles. www.peopleoffaithseries.com

THREE WAYS TO ORDER: • Call 1-800-523-0226 Please mention source code CHM102PF when ordering. • Go to www.visionvideo.com Please reference code CHM102PF in catalog source field. • Mail to (include $3.99 s/h) Vision Video, Dept. CHM102PF, PO Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490

This series was made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Editor’s note

AmericAn christiAnity is, at the very least, defined themselves as people who came here seeking odd. How odd is not always apparent to those of us religious freedom and who are still, despite everything, who live inside it, for whom the story of denomina­ a religious people. tional competition, freedom from an established While this story is true, it is true in more com­ church linked with governmental power, and a plicated ways than we imagine. Christian History has market place of religious choices is the norm. devoted many issues to exploring those complicated and Yet for some two centuries now, outside observers diverse stories—from Spanish missions in California, have been remarking on its oddity, ever since St. John to con versions on the western frontier, to businessmen de Crevecoeur wrote in 1782: “When any considerable kneeling to pray in unexpected revivals, to the faith of number of a particular sect happen to dwell con­ American presidents. (Some links to those specific sto­ tiguous to each other, they immediately erect a temple, ries can be found in the “Recommended resources” on and there worship the Divinity agreeably to their own pages 21 and 41). peculiar ideas. Nobody disturbs them. If any new sect In this issue of Christian History, we step back and useum

m springs up in Europe, it may happen that many of its take a look at two main themes running through all professors will come and settle in America. As they these narratives. American Christianity is, and has been haling bring their zeal with them, they are at liberty to make from its inception, diverse. It has thrived in unexpected proselytes if they can, and to build a meeting and to ways and places. It has also been an active faith which follow the dictates of their consciences; for neither the has felt itself entitled to change society and has tried very

ew Bedford w government nor any other power interferes. If they are hard to roll up its sleeves and do just that. But precisely peaceable subjects, and are industrious, what is it to because of our diversity, we have had dif ferent visions of their neighbors how and in what manner they think what it means to thrive and how best to reform society. fit to address their prayers to the Supreme Being?” Those visions have often clashed, in ways described G. K. Chesterton once said that the United States specifically by this issue’s writers. And the religious and is “the only nation in the world that is founded on a political situation in 2012 presents no evidence that we creed.” In many ways, that creed is a religious one. The have come to any consensus about these matters. eeting: Courtesy of the n United States itself is seen as something to have reli­ While this issue alone will not bring us to con­ gious faith in. Over the years, many Americans have sensus, it is the editors’ hope that it will help us to 1839 Camp m

Issue 102 1 Christian History magazine is back in print bringing you something old and something new! You’ll find engaging articles, lively images, and special features, as in the original publication begun 30 years ago. Each issue explores a single topic in depth, bringing you right into the heart of the matter. Whether it’s a memorable biography, a unique event, or a sweeping historical movement, you can count on our editorial team to draw on the best scholarship available to bring you the stories and history you’ve come to enjoy. Now for “something new.” Each of our publi-

understand how we got where we are today and cations is also available as a free online flipbook to think about productive ways to move forward. with special “live” features at www.christianhistory What did the founding fathers really think about magazine.org. Here you will discover links to video the separation of church and state, and how has clips, audio interviews, and related articles from that separation been seen differently throughout the back issues. years? What did early settlers think about religious We are currently working on an issue devoted freedom—what were they being freed from, and to early African Christianity. Though we don’t often what were they being freed for? How did the vision of America as a “Christian nation” translate in prac- think of such church fathers as Tertullian, Origen, tice into its being a Protestant nation, and how did and Augustine as African, they were, and the African Protestants react when they realized that immigra- “landscape” they worked in was formative for all tion and religious diversity threatened that vision? of world Christianity. We are also considering a What social issues have Christians fought for over keepsake Christmas issue this fall to explore the the years, and why do we so often find ourselves historical story behind many facets of our familiar, fighting on opposite sides? What is God’s vision for the future of Christianity in America? Will it con- beloved Christian holiday. tinue to grow, thrive, and try to change the world, or Christian History magazine is a reader-

is the future not so clear? supported publication. Your regular donations are heaton College w This issue is published as a companion to the crucial to keeping the magazine alive and well, for Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals’ years to come. Donations may be made through: People of Faith DVD set (available from Vision

www.christianhistorymagazine.org vangelICals,

Video), which also considers these issues and takes e the viewer deeper into the ways in which religious or by mail to: history has been central to American history. We Christian History Institute recommend the DVDs and the ISAE website at PO Box 540 http://isae.wheaton.edu as additional resources Worcester, PA 19490 tudy of aMerICan for continued exploration of these questions. Meanwhile, listen in on the conversation here, and see what it has to tell us about how Christianity has changed America—and how America has changed Help us get the word out about the new tute for the s Christianity. Christian History magazine!

Jennifer Woodruff Tait www.facebook.com/ChristianHistoryMagazine Project Editor, Issue 102 TwEET to the world about our free sign-up! www.christianhistorymagazine.org/index.php/subscribe t: Courtesy of the Inst I pa C

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2 Christian History People of faith 16 Diversity Social Impact

4 OVERVIEW: From Pueblos 24 OVERVIEW: A nation on a hill? to Pentecostals The history of church-state relations in America has America has always had a diverse religious landscape. been both complicated and contentious. Angela Tarángo Gary Scott Smith 32 CASE STUDY: Taking back America 4 How fundamentalism engaged the culture of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries Chris R. Armstrong nc. i 36 FORUM: Crusades and reformers ducation,

e What is the task of the church?

cience 41 RECOMMENDED RESOURCES enter for s c ational 12 CASE STUDY: Catholics in America The test of “freedom of religion” Catherine A. Brekus hoto courtesy of the n

P 16 FORUM: American religion 2.0 What will survive? What will die? 32 What will be transformed? nellenberger; omain s d 21 RECOMMENDED RESOURCES arl

Founder Advisory Editor Layout ©2012 Christian History Institute. Cover: “Way of the Cross” procession Kurtz / zuma Press Dr. A. K. Curtis Dr. James D. Smith III Tara M. Smith in Manhattan commemorates Good Friday (Stephen Chernin / Reuters). Christian History is published by Christian History Institute, P.O. Box 540, Managing Editor Topic Advisor Print Coordinator Worcester, PA, 19490. Subscriptions are available on a donation basis by

llustration by e Dr. Chris R. Armstrong Dr. Larry Eskridge Deb Landis i calling 1-800-468-0458, or at www.christianhistorymagazine.org. Let- Executive Editor Editorial Coordinator Proofreader ters to the editor may be sent to Chris Armstrong, editor, Christian History ree: t Bill Curtis Dawn Moore Meg Moss magazine, P.O. Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490. Permissions: Requests to reprint material should be directed to Dawn Moore, editorial coordinator, Christian Project Editor Art Director Publisher History Institute, P.O. Box 540, Worcester, PA, 19490. Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait Doug Johnson Christian History Institute atholic Procession: Jac K volution Peaceable Kingdom: Wikipedia /Public c e Find us online at www.christianhistorymagazine.org. Image Researcher Jennifer Trafton Peterson

Issue 102 3 From Pueblos to

Spain. In modern-day New Mexico, they encountered Pentecostals sophisticated indigenous people groups, whom they called “Pueblos.” AmericA hAs AlwAys hAd A diverse Almost immediately, the Spanish met resistance— sparked by the soldiers’ own bad behavior—and religious lAndscApe bru tally put it down, instigating an uneasy truce. Barely suppressed hostilities simmered for the next hundred Angela Tarángo years. While the Franciscan missionaries aimed to stamp out all forms of native religion, many Pueblos resisted Spanish authority and continued to practice their tradi- Before the United StateS was even a glimmer tional religions in secret. In 1680 the Pueblos revolted

of an idea, it was already multinational, multilingual, and drove the Spanish out of the region for 12 years. oto ew York

and multiracial; European, African, native, mestizo, Ultimately, however, the conquerors prevailed. n and mulatto; Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and more. It Intermarriage, rape, and concubinage between tion, already hinted at the religious diversity and market- Pueblos and Spaniards created on the frontier of New

place of religious ideas yet to come. Spain a mestizo (“mixed”) society—in terms of both race rnesto Perales s and religion. It is often said that the counter- Reformation ranger Colle C

missed New Spain, and aspects of medieval Spanish g Diversity in the early west ain

In what came to be the desert Southwest, the first inter- Catholicism blended with native cultures in both the he mingling of New and Old World religions came through American Southwest and Latin America. The result of

Spanish exploration and conquest. The Spanish mili- this was a long-enduring legacy of racial and religious Wikipedia /Photo b Y e

tary, accompanied by Franciscan missionaries, crossed mestiaje (“mixing”) in the Southwest, still visible today ers: Quaker Meeting: t Dan C into the grueling terrain of the deserts of northern New through the devotion of the region’s people to La Virgen Wikipedia /Publi C DoM

4 Christian History peaceable kingdom Left: The painter of the 1843 Peaceable Kingdom, Quaker minister Edward Hicks, rejoiced in the haven of religious liberty founded by William Penn (pictured making treaty with Native

Americans), linking it with the “lion and lamb” prophecy Diversity o of Isa. 11:6. Right: Philadelphia Quaker meeting. Below: The Matachines dance (“Dance of the Moors and Chris- tians”), performed from Peru to Northern New Mexico.

de Guadalupe, the presence of the Matachines dances (see photo and text on this page), and the pervasive verview blending of folk religions, healing traditions, Roman Catholicism, and ethnic forms of Protestantism and Pentecostalism.

east coast dissent Meanwhile, strict, highly educated Reformed Puri­ Much to the chagrin of Rhode Island’s Congre­ tans set the tone for East Coast religion. In 1630 John gationalist neighbors to the north, Williams’s vision Winthrop led a group of Puritans to the shores of for his colony emerged as the winning one. Just present­day Massachusetts with a vision to build south of Williams, in the middle colonies of New a “City on the Hill” and set an example for the York, New Jersey, and Delaware, a motley influx of Church of England. Their errand into the wilder­ settlers brought a variety of faiths with them, also ness, however, proved to be far more terrifying and distressing to the Dutch Reformed Church and lonely than they could have ever imagined—beset later the English authorities. “Religious diversity by by inner and outer personal turmoil and theologi­ immi gration” set the tone, and the middle colonies cal battles. The powerful Congregationalist Church remained among the most pluralistic areas of the establishment worked hand­in­hand with a civic New World. order assumed to be biblically mandated down to Pennsylvania made this pluralism a matter of prin­ the details of its law code. ciple as Quaker William Penn opened his “Penn’s But dissenter Roger Williams would have none of it. Woods” for settlement to all religious dissenters flee­ Preaching against the right of any church to dictate the ing Europe, giving a home to a variety of Quakers, religious practice of all in its territory, Williams made Anabaptist groups, Moravians, Jews, Catholics, himself so unwelcome that he was forced to flee south. Presbyterians, and early Baptists. Penn wrote, “That There he founded Rhode Island on the principle of there is such a Thing as Conscience, and the Liberty freedom of religion. Sniffed at as “the latrine of the col­ of it, in Reference to Faith and Worship towards God, onies” by Massachusetts Puritan leader Cotton Mather, must not be denied . . .” Rhode Island was New England’s first experiment in Still further south, wealthy and aristocratic land­ religious freedom. owners kept colonies Anglican—though in the vast territories outside of Virginia, this was mainly in name only. Anglican ministers, stretched to the limit keeping even a few parishes going, wrote back to the mother church to plead for help. Maryland enjoyed a brief dalliance with Cathol­ i cism before folding into the Anglican order, and in the Carolinas and Georgia, Anglican planters did

oto little to convert their African slaves, for fear that bap­ ew York

n tism would lead their “property” to argue that one

tion, Christian should not own another. Yet, in what would become North Carolina, a

rnesto Perales s variety of Protestant dissenters began to settle in the Piedmont, giving the area a rich taste of the evangeli­ ranger Colle C

g calism that would soon take root and flower. ain he seeking salvation

Wikipedia /Photo b Y e The strict Calvinism of New England Congregation­

ers: alists meant that many believers struggled with the Quaker Meeting: t Dan C Wikipedia /Publi C DoM doctrine of predestination; were they among the elect

Issue 102 5 revival: love it or hate it Left: Invited to America by the Congregationalist preacher-theologian Jonathan Edwards in the 1740s, Anglican George Whitefield stirred up the Great Awakening in New England. Below left: Boston Congregationalist Charles Chauncy, known as “Old Brick,” critiqued the Awakening as “irrational.” He would later become a Unitarian.

first star preacher The ideas of gifted Anglican preacher George Whitefield complemented those of Edwards. He believed in predestination but also preached that an emotional salvation expe- rience could reveal that one was among the elect. He was the first superstar preacher to emerge in the New World, rising to celeb- rity status across the colonies and touring the c olonial countryside preaching at whatever church would have him, on side lawns, or in nearby fields. or not? Their only assurance of their eternal destiny was Whitefield was known for his extemporane- to reach back into Scripture and history to affirm God’s ous speaking skills, emotionally powerful theatrical care for his covenant people. phrasing, and the power to project his voice to huge But Methodism and its crowds before the age of electronic amplification (Ben emphasis on salvation for Franklin once calculated the size of a Whitefield audi- all had come to the New ence to the nearest thousand). Connecticut farmer World. So did the mystical Nathan Cole described the scene at one of Whitefield’s and intensely personal prac- revivals: “When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the lett suB tices of German Pietism, and Scaffold he Lookt [sic] almost angelical.” rary

the Enlightenment with its Whitefield’s preaching transformed many, and enneth liB

emphasis on rational thought, his emotional style forever changed Christianity in rt a

freedom of conscience, and America. He also codified the three-step conversion an the freedom to choose one’s experience, which later came to be known as being ourtesy of k own religious destiny. By the “born again.” Whitefield preached “conviction,” the 1740s, all of these influences realization of one’s sinfulness; “evangelical humilia- he Bridge M flowed together into a potent tion,” praying and waiting for salvation and prostrating tion / t fuel feeding the flames of religious revival. oneself before God; and finally “regeneration,” begin- Scholars continue to debate whether an actual ning in the moment when the Holy Spirit enters one’s

“First Great Awakening” ever occurred. We do know soul and cleanses it of sin, thus assuring salvation. 419, 1891; photo C ol ii , p. v that a series of local revivals throughout the colonies Whitefield’s preaching tours left chaos in their rivate Colle C in the mid-eighteenth century changed the landscape wake, since he publicly criticized preachers who tion iterature l ork of American Protestantism. had not experienced conversion. Critics such as New .1725–80) / p y an

Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massa- Englander Charles Chauncey worried that people’s ew chu setts, unexpectedly set off revival among the emotions were taking control of them and lead- n

young people of his parish by asking his congre- ing them far from the path of “rational religion.” tion, gants to actively seek an experience of conversion as In the aftermath, New England Presbyterians and rary of aMeri C

a sign of their salvation. In place of the ambi guity Congregationalists split into prorevival and “old- hing, Collet, John ( C

that accompanied the doctrine of predestination, style” factions. niversity Methodist Colle C u ranger Colle C ro M a liB g Edwards preached that the believer could have f y: he rew an emotional salvation experience—and know it. and they kept on coming d hitefield prea C ider:

Edwards’s work combined Puritan theology with Baptists began to spread across the colonies, especially w r uit

Pietist experience, while mounting a defense against in the South, where the Anglicans tried to put a stop p Meeting: t eorge Cir C Ca M g the Enlightenment’s challenge to traditional religion. to their growth, but failed. The Baptist cause found an Charles Chaun C

6 Christian History Diversity Overview 7 - - - - - Throughout the early the Throughout Left: Emotional camp meetings,Emotional siOn Below: explO OuT OuT camping and OuT direct manner preaching, of the tall, ice-blue-eyed

The camp meeting—an open-air revival peo where Fires revival of through spread theNortheast and burning burning 1800s, Methodist “circuit riders” criss-crossed the young nation, the young riders” criss-crossed “circuit Methodist 1800s, Paid a tiny congregations. the gospel and nurturing preaching whoeverseasons, staying with through all pittance, traveling heroes able to marry, these to house them, rarely was willing often denomination were growing Methodist of the rapidly into an worked themselves their obituaries for having praised in in God’s service. early grave too, fed the burgeoning Methodist movement.too, fed the burgeoning ple stayed for days on end—proved a powerful a onend—proved days toolin for stayed ple the hands the of Methodists, used who evange to it lize large on groups the people of expanding frontier. the leadership theUnder of constantly traveling Bishop Francis Methodists Asbury, also perfected the “church growth” technique the of circuit rider. THe meTHOdisT Inspired the by traveling preachers had spread who British Methodism, circuit riders ministered along a far-flung small of network rural preaching points. and week month, through by month by Week rain, and hail, circuit snow, sleet, riders Methodism’s spread all for and love message the of saving God’s of power south- challenged years) early least in Methodism’s (at erners’ Alongwith growing dependence on slavery. Baptists, Methodists also helped foster the birth both of the By middle the of ninewhite and hymnody. black teenth Methodists century, the were largest Protestant denomination in America. sion experience,sion Finney left his practice law and struck evangelize to out America. Known his for plain-spoken and young evangelistintroduced three major changes in revivalism—changes that him made the object sus of andpicion animosity among evangelists older-style in Jonathan name of the as even Finney’s mold Edwards, became synonymous with American revivalism. Midwest, where they a young named where lawyer up swept Midwest, Charles Grandison After Finney. a powerful conver

- music, and Bible study marked and this Bible music, period as

Collectively, these eighteenth-centuryCollectively, revivals The birth the of Second Awakening, Great as it Their preaching urged sinners their give to hearts If the revivals the of eighteenth century gave is often called, is usually the to dated Cane Ridge Thisrevival series in camp 1801. of meetings in Cane a few miles Kentucky, northeastRidge, Lexington, of length its for was notable and size estimated (an was ecumen It - attended). 25,000 to people 10,000 ical, with Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist preachers sharing the platforms. Christ, to over and many experienced emotional often weeping, heraldedconversions, by shaking, dancing,laughter, and falling in ecstatic trances (akin theto modern charismatic experience being of “slain in the Cane Spirit”). set Ridge off revival all across western the frontier, South, England, New America’s and the “burned-over” district York New upstate of called(so because revival). of repeated its of waves resulted in a growing diversity Protestant of groups and understanding of relationship way a new with God one’s that burn. began a slow The at spread to flame would become a wildfire in the nineteenth early century. unlikely ally in Thomas Jefferson, secured who a sep arated church and in state Virginia on their behalf, freeing them from restrictive regulation and taxation in the support of established Anglican Church. All the while Methodists, become the would story who big of the following continued century, trickle to in. American evangelicals their conversionist theology of salvation, the revivals the of mid-nineteenth to early century American gave evangelicalism religious its practice. The camp democratic of flavor meetings, popular theone of most influential in the history American of Protestantism.

Issue 102

M Ca t Meeting: p C Colle ranger g he tion, tion, ork y ew n

C Cir ider: ider: r uit rew rew d C Colle Methodist niversity u tion

C Chaun Charles y: y: M a liB a M ro f C aMeri of rary an an iterature iterature l C photo 1891; 419, p. , ii ol v k of ourtesy enneth enneth suB lett

eorge eorge g C prea hitefield w C ( John Collet, hing, p / .1725–80) C Colle rivate t / tion M Bridge he rary liB rt a an ibrary l rt a ridgeman b ollection / tHe le–Por 2) em P siNNers’ beNch aNd altar call our god too Black revivalism also exploded in the s 19th c., using many of the same techniques as its Finney allowed women to testify publicly, he urged mid- imee white counterpart. a week nightly meetings for praise and preaching, and he ollections c introduced the “sinner’s bench”—a pew set aside in the erson,

front of the church where sinners could pray and give America in enormous numbers. After them came many cP H their lives to Christ. This last innovation eventually Jews from Germany and later Russia. Americans found olomon (1833–1905) (after) / Private c

evolved into the modern-day “altar call.” themselves in this period with a smorgasbord of reli- s ibrary, sPecial l Methodists and Baptists appealed to enslaved gious affiliations to choose from. all number m ytinge,

African Americans and emphasized outreach work e to slaves. They helped to train African American New age, New issues erkeley ( c preachers (both enslaved and free), while simultane- The start of the twentieth century ushered in new b

ously battling with them over issues of control. Black religious ideas and social issues. In this new America, ldric H a llinois at cHicago Methodist preacher Richard Allen, a former slave in believers had to decide how they were going to react. alifornia, ark Philadelphia, repeatedly challenged white Methodist Especially after the Civil War, a progressive, so cially authorities and eventually broke away to form the engaged form of Protestantism emerged that tried niversity of i African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.). to deal head-on with the social issues of modernity. u niversity of c Allen set a trend—systematic racism in the young Protestant reformers often founded societies or groups u

nation made most African American Christians to take on particular causes: temperance, women’s ugust 1872 (engraving) (b&w PHoto), ibrary, more comfortable in black denominations, and black rights, prison reform, educational reform, and abolition. l Christians created and used these denominations as Many of the most prominent reformers were ly , 10 a

seats of political and spiritual power. women. Their works included Unitarian Dorothea Dix’s ancroft b In the ferment of the nineteenth century, even more reforming crusade on behalf of the mentally ill and er’s Wee K new groups sprang forth from the revivalist tradition Presbyterian reformer Jane Addams’s Hull-House in ollection, J amc_0000_0030_0058, c begun in the Great Awakening. This included not only Chicago. Other women, not finding the answers they ed in PUCK , June 3, 1885; PH oto courtesy of m ,” from Har P

African Americans but also the Restorationist move- needed within orthodox denominations, formed their ourtesy of tHe c out H

ments—those seeking to restore the first- century own groups—Mary Baker Eddy’s interest in divine s e otograPHic ally:

church—including the Campbellites (Disciples of healing, for instance, resulted in the founding of the r ermons: Publis H

Christ, Christian Churches) and Joseph Smith’s Church Church of Christ, Scientist. s of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Evolutionary theory and the “higher” biblical criti- erson eeting in t H cP H Staid “mainline” denominations such as Episco- cism that emerged in this era also led to both schism m volution le e am P m

palians and Lutherans also received new energy from and growth among Protestants. Darwin’s theory of c em P ddams Hull-House P H er’s s the Awakening. And as revivalism ebbed in the 1840s, evolution questioned the creation story in the Bible, a egro eec H imee Jane b a waves of Catholic immigrants began to appear in and Christians quickly split over whether to accept “a n

8 Christian History Diversity o verview ibrary l rt a diverse agendas While progressive Protestantism led Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher to try to

ridgeman “bridge the chasm between the old orthodoxy and science” b (right) and Presbyterian Jane Addams to pioneer in serving immigrants at her Hull-House (above), Pentecostals such as Aimee Semple McPherson’s Four Square Gospel Church (below) poured their efforts into evangelism. ollection / tHe le–Por 2) em P s Darwin or not. Leading the charge for acceptance was This stream of teaching fed the rising tide of fun­

imee progressive Congregationalist clergyman Henry Ward damentalism among a variety of Protestant groups. a Beecher, one of the most popular preachers of his day. As historian George Marsden says, “Fundamentalists ollections c erson, More conservative colleagues often pilloried Beecher were evangelical Christians, closest to the dominant

cP H for embracing evolution and the idea that Christianity American revivalist establishment of the nineteenth should adapt to the changing times. century, who in the twentieth century militantly olomon (1833–1905) (after) / Private c s opposed modernism in theology and the cultural ibrary, sPecial l all number m fighting evolution changes that modernism endorsed.” Fundamentalists ytinge,

e Conservatives openly fought the theory of evolu­ believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible, premil­ tion by natural selection and began to splinter over lennialism, and cultural and social conservatism. By erkeley ( c b issues surrounding the Second Coming, how the Bible the start of the twentieth century, they could be found

ldric H should be read, and premillennial dispensationalism. in a variety of evangelical Protestant denominations. a llinois at cHicago Dispensationalists believed that Jesus’ Second Coming alifornia, ark would usher in the end times and that leading up to pentecostal fire those end times, a series of events contained within cer­ At about the same time, a new form of Christianity niversity of i u tain dispensations (time periods) was unfolding, as laid in America was catching fire. Although similar small niversity of c u out in the Bible (chiefly in Daniel and Revelation). revivals broke out in a variety of places across the ugust 1872 (engraving) (b&w PHoto), country, it was the one in the old livery stable on ibrary, l Azusa Street in Los Angeles that caught America’s ly , 10 a attention. There a revival in 1906, led by African

ancroft American preacher William Seymour, began to blaze b er’s Wee K among Los Angelinos. In its infancy, this was a cross­racial revival. It ollection, J amc_0000_0030_0058, c ed in PUCK , June 3, 1885; PH oto courtesy of m encompassed whites, African Americans, and Latinos, ,” from Har P

ourtesy of tHe and incorporated supernatural elements beyond those c out H s of the old revivalism, including speaking in tongues, e otograPHic ally:

r prophecy, and visions, along with the familiar weeping ermons: Publis H

s and falling. Thus, Pentecostalism was born. erson With its emphasis on bodily expressions and eeting in t H cP H m super natural interventions, and its appeal to volution le e am P m c working­class men and women, Pentecostalism em P ddams Hull-House P H er’s s a blossomed in the earliest years of the twentieth egro eec H imee b a Jane “a n century. Although it later divided along racial lines,

Issue 102 9 10 once agreatsendingnation America, andAfrica. U.S. CatholicmissionsinEastAsia,China,Japan(pictured),Korea,Latin lay missionersplantedand Sisters, Fathers, Brothers, based Maryknoll ity wasledbyintrepidwomen. 19th c.wasthe“GreatCenturyofMissions,”andmuchmissionaryactiv- leaders. leaders. as to serve chance the minorities womenallow and to of modes Protestantism established than freer be to tended Pentecostals Semple McPherson, Aimee like evangelists by superstar Spurred areas. rural and cities both in races rapidlyit all grew among under “other” the to actively engaging began Christians American Islam. and Hinduism, Buddhism, as such faiths people of non-Christian to meet Americans 1893 WorldThe in allowed of Religions Parliament Czar.” the Pope to to the as allegiance to yield for Americans liberties our with it inconsistent is and imperialism, to toas Vaticanism opposed radically fore, as are ideas of society, there fundamental people … our for the state exist and church that it believed is America Protestant and republican “In warned: Strong Josiah crusader Anti-Catholic discourse. lic of pub apart became This of anti-Catholicism. strain avirulent contracted States,United Protestants some the into to pour continuing immigrants Catholic traits. Pentecostal American movements with church indigenous countless stamped that Asia, and America, Latin Africa, in dented unprece an out in (often not much) fanned and had they sold all adherents some times, nent end immi the in worldonto the stage. Believing Not all Americans, however, Americans, Not intolerant. all were as of millions to the response in Meanwhile, instantly almost expanded movementThe also stand themselves better. themselves stand explosion of worldwide missions, especially explosion ofworldwide especially missions, Below: Below: Right: Right: Founded in1911,theNewYork– For AmericanProtestants,the - - - -

harnessing the energy of young Christians. of Christians. young energy the harnessing Federation to improveworld the by Christian Student World’s the who created Mott, R. aMethodist, of John work tireless the from part in emerged change sea This conversion. actual improvement more than social sized fact, empha some In needs. for unmet to care schools children’s hospitals, homes, and to actively build started Missionaries to native cultures. more sensitive and self-critical became work corners some in missionary century, American twentieth the in continued missions lauded and by press, presidents. the in moted pro church, the in lionized status: enjoyed celebrity missionaries home the Back to unbelievers. civilization modern to save bringing world and for souls looking the into rushed missionaries of adventurous a flood “Great Century”), missions’ as (known century teenth nine the In its stride. hit Baptists and Moravians, Pietists, by European century late eighteenth the adept. especially proving Pentecostals and fundamentalists with culture, face of modern the in beliefs their retain flocks help their out(the and messages radio, their to newspapers,get TV) televangelism. eventually and radio programs, tian Chris periodicals, networks, Christian Sunday school world: YWCA, YMCA networks, and Bible conference secular increasingly an in religion their retain tians to help development Chris designed groups of many the with to grow continued Nondenominationalism the shapeof20thcentury Although the “civilizing” flavor of evangelical flavor of evangelical “civilizing” the Although work in pioneered missionary the Meanwhile, media of modern tools powerful the used Protestants Christian History - - - - -

maryknoll mission arChives Women missions poster: arChives of the Billy Graham Center

Christian radio Cartoon: arChives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, illinois Billy Graham: Used With permission of the Billy Graham evanGelistiC assoCiation, imaGe sUpplied By arChives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, illinois covering the home front As American mis- sionaries spanned the globe, back home the 20th c. became the age of mass evangelism, through media (left) and large events such as Billy Graham’s “crusades” (below). Diversity o

Catholic and Buddhist monks. Building on the “Social Gospel” movement of the previous century, German theologian-ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr taught Protestants their responsibility in the realm of poli- verview tics. This spurred black Baptist pastor Martin Luther Catholic missionaries also took this approach. King, Jr., who drew on white Protestant progressivism Throughout the nineteenth century, the Vatican in leading the civil rights movement. King also derived stressed that Catholics needed to missionize America inspiration on nonviolence from Mahatma Gandhi itself, and even after that call was lifted in the twentieth (a Hindu) and Henry David Thoreau (an agnos tic century, American Catholics joined the great mission- Transcendentalist). ary crush, most notably in the work of the Maryknoll Gandhi and King influenced labor leader Fathers in Latin America and Asia. César Chavez, who imbued his advocacy for farm- workers with his own Catholic mysticism. Some let’s all get together . . . ecumenical handholding surprised even those who llinois In the new “Christian century,” Americans were performed it, such as many in mainline denomi- somtimes led in surprising ways into ecumeni- nations who financially supported the American cal and interfaith cooperation. The Second Vatican Indian Movement. Council blew the doors of the Catholic Church open and encouraged better Catholic-Protestant dialogue. but can we get along? Trappist monk Thomas Merton started his own East- American Christians were increasingly aware of West dialogue to find common ground between other religions and the diversity within their own country—but this did not mean that they all got along or even liked each other. The early twentieth century was a breed-

hives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, i ing ground for rampant anti-Catholicism,

arC anti-Semitism, and anti-Mormonism. y B Within Christianity, fundamentalist, main- line, and Pentecostal Christians did not pplied agree on many key issues, but had to learn e s U to grapple with each other and co-exist, even if somewhat begrudgingly. America iation, ima G

llinois was now a spiritual marketplace, a giant

sso C buffet where believers could choose what religion they wanted to try on for the day.

elisti C a Without a state-sanctioned church, Am erica has become one of the most van G religiously diverse and observant coun- tries in the world. In recognizing and exploring our pluralistic, innovative, and at times troubling religious his- tory, Americans re-affirm the words of Harlem Renaissance writer James

hives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, i Baldwin, “American history is longer, hives of the Billy Graham Center larger, more beautiful and more terri- arC hives

ith permission of the Billy Graham e ble than anything anyone has ever said arC oster: CH p about it.” ission adio Cartoon: arC m r issions Angela Tarángo is assistant professor, m Department of Religion at Trinity University aryknoll Christian Billy Graham: Used W m Women (Texas).

Issue 102 11 Catholics in America The TesT of “freedom of religion” though the Constitution guarantees the “free exercise” of religion, the nation has often failed to live up to its Catherine A. Brekus pluralistic ideals.

NuNs held agaiNst their will in dungeons. long memories Ordinary people forbidden to read the Bible. Priests The first Protestant colonists to settle in America brought plotting to destroy the nation’s public school system. with them a long history of animosity toward Catho- An army of illiterate immigrants scheming to bring the lics, stemming from the Protestant Reformation. Both United States under the pope’s control. Catholics and Protestants had suffered terribly during Such were the rumors that led to discrimination and the European religious wars that occurred in the wake violence against the Catholic Church in early America. of the Reformation, with countless numbers imprisoned, torical Society

Most Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- tortured, and killed. hiS

turies were Protestant, and they treated Protestantism But the British Protestants who settled in America ork

as the unofficial religion of the republic. particularly remembered the violence inflicted by ew- y n

Some were so hostile to the growing numbers of “Bloody Mary” (Queen Mary I, 1516–1558), who burned he Catholic immigrants in their midst that they resorted to hundreds of Protestants at the stake. One of the most violence. In 1834 an angry mob burned down a convent popular books in colonial America was John Foxe’s Actes in Charlestown, Massachusetts, because of a false rumor and Monuments (popularly called The Book of Martyrs), that a nun was imprisoned there, and in 1844 a riot which featured graphic accounts of Protestant martyrs ollection of t broke out in Philadelphia because of fears that Catholics being hanged, burned, or broken on the rack. wanted to prevent Bible reading in the public schools. Most of the original 13 colonies passed laws limit- The Philadelphia riots lasted for three days, with two ing the rights of Catholics. Ironically, even Maryland Catholic churches burned to the ground, more than 100 (literally “Mary’s Land”), founded by Lord Baltimore people injured, and 20 people killed. It was one of the as a haven for Catholics, ended up persecuting them. mage number 71400, c Wikipedia worst episodes of religious violence in the nation’s history. Protestants outnumbered Catholics, and as they : Since anti-Catholic sentiment has declined dra- gained control over the government, they passed laws

matically in recent decades, many Americans have forbidding Catholics to vote, hold public office, and Day cartoon: i eart of Je SuS

forgotten that Catholics once struggled to practice their worship publicly. omain faith freely. But their history reminds us of the fra- Catholics gained greater acceptance during the D St. Patrick’ S Sacre D h gility of religious freedom in the United States. Even Revolutionary War because most fervently supported Public

12 Christian History xenophobia In the 1800s, Catholic immigrants flooded into America’s urban neighborhoods (left). They were met by Protestant suspicion of their unfamiliar spirituality such as in the Diversity case Sacred Heart devotion (below) and by ethnic hatred, as depicted in this cari- cature of “savage” Irishmen (right).

the patriot cause. Charles Carroll, a wealthy Catholic planter from Maryland, signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. His cousin John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in America, wanted “to stud preserve inviolate forever, in our new empire, the great principle of religious Y freedom.”

a new kind of immigrant Catholics in revolutionary America tended to be wealthy, English speaking, and more focused on private devotions than on public displays of possible, a claim that many Protestants at the time their faith. Thus the Protestant majority mostly toler- found superstitious. ated them. But when, in the nineteenth century, Catholic immigrants began pouring in from Ireland, Germany, “awful disclosures” Italy, Poland, Mexico, and Lithuania, Americans became As the Catholic population in America increased dur- increas ingly anxious about their influence on the republic. ing the nineteenth century, so did hostility against them. In 1789 U.S. Catholics numbered only around 30,000; One of the bestselling books before the Civil War (sur- but by 1826, 250,000 had arrived, and by 1850, Catholic passed only by the Bible and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s ranks had swelled to more than a million. These new Uncle Tom’s Cabin) was a scathing attack on the Catholic immigrants tended to be poor and uneducated. With the Church, The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk (1836). exception of German Catholics, who settled on farms in Monk claimed to have been a nun in Canada, the Midwest, they clustered by nationality in northeast- where she had supposedly been forced into sexual ern cities. Living in squalid tenements and employed in slavery by the mother superior, who instructed her low-paying jobs, they were often caricatured as “infi- that the pope himself had ordered sisters to pros- dels” and drunks responsible for the nation’s growing titute themselves to the priests. Monk’s narrative crime rate. included lurid scenes of nuns being brutally beaten Irish Catholics were especially reviled. Influenced or imprisoned in an underground dungeon, priests torical Society

hiS by centuries of British hostility toward the Irish, car- scurrying through underground tunnels on their

ork toonists often depicted them as dark-skinned savages, way to sexual assignations, and infants being stran-

ew- y racially inferior to whites. gled at birth. Monk claimed that hundreds of dead n

he These Catholic immigrants were also more infants had been thrown into a pit of lime in the con- militant about defending their faith than earlier gen- vent’s basement. erations of American Catholics had been. Influenced Reporters soon discovered that Monk’s tale was fic- by the Catholic revival in Europe, they held large par- titious, fabricated by several Protestant ministers who ollection of t ish mission meetings in later quarreled over the profits in court. But the book urban neighborhoods, pub- sold widely because it echoed Protestant stereotypes licized reports of Marian about Catholics. apparitions around the Monk claimed that she was not allowed to read the world (especially at Lourdes Bible for herself or to trust her own conscience. Taught mage number 71400, c in 1858), and claimed pub- to believe that she had “no judgment of my own,” she Wikipedia : licly that “sacramentals” was determined “to obey the priests in all things,” even like medals, statues, pic- if that meant tolerating rape and murder. She seemed to

Day cartoon: i tures, and holy water could be living proof that Catholicism threatened American eart of Je SuS

omain be means of God’s grace. democracy. If Catholics were more loyal to the pope D They also insisted that than to the American republic, how would they St. Patrick’ S Sacre D h Public mira culous healings were ever become good citizens? During the early 1850s,

Issue 102 13 chariTy The New York Foundling Hospital (left) was established in 1869. Today, Catholic hospitals care for one in six patients in the United States.

communicaTions Religious media has been a Catholic as well as a Prot- estant domain. Time called Catholic TV preacher Bishop Fulton Sheen (right) “the first ‘televangelist.’” He earned an Emmy in 1952.

nativ ists organized the American Party, better known stories in textbooks as well. In response, Catholic lead- as the “Know Nothing” Party because of its codes of ers strongly discouraged parents from sending their secrecy, which lobbied to delay citizenship rights for children to public schools. In 1884 the Third Plenary immigrants and prevent them from voting. In 1854 it Council of Baltimore urged every church to build succeeded in electing five senators and forty-three rep- its own parochial school. Catholics argued that they resentatives to Congress, and only the Civil War halted should be able to direct their tax money to these schools its ascent to political prominence. (an issue still hotly debated today) but were met with strident opposition. church and sTaTe and pope By building their own schools, orphanages, and If the Vatican had taken a more conciliatory tone in the hospitals, Catholics tried to nurture a distinctively nineteenth century, Americans might have been less Catholic worldview. Suspicious of liberalism and fearful of the Catholics in their midst. But as European indi vidualism, the Church argued that individual revolutions diminished the political power of the Cath- freedom always had to be subordinate to God’s com- olic Church, Pope Pius IX responded by expanding and mandments. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of strengthening its spiritual authority. 1910, “liberalism” was a dangerous ideology that led In 1854, six years after the government of the Papal to “the abolition of the Divine right and of every kind States was overthrown, Pius proclaimed the doctrine of of authority derived from God; the relegation of reli- the Immaculate Conception (the teaching that the Vir- gion from the public life into the private domain of gin Mary was conceived without sin). And in 1864 he one’s individual conscience; [and] the absolute ignor- issued the Syllabus of Errors, which condemned liberal ing of Christianity and the Church as public, legal, ideas about the sovereignty of the individual and the and social institutions.”

free exercise of religion. Catholics also denounced free-market capitalism Societ Y It was an “error,” argued the pope, to believe for elevating individual profit over the common good. rchive S torica L a

that “every man is free to embrace and profess They argued that employers had a moral responsibility e

that religion which, guided by the light of reason, to pay wages high enough to support an entire family, daM

he shall consider true.” A group of “Americanists” not simply an individual worker. otre ew York hiS within the Church strongly supported the separa- n of n he it Y tion of church and state but were reprimanded for “The anTi-chrisT has won” ew York n their views. Pius IX also convened the First Vati- Despite the similarity of these opinions to some Protestant , can Council (1869–1870), which declared that the critiques, Protestants in this era continued to accuse niver S pope was infallible when promulgating dogma. Catholics of being subversive and “un-American.” The Ku LL ection of t Klux Klan, reorganized in 1915, gained 2,000,000 mem- a caTholic subculTure bers by 1924 by attacking Catholics and Jews, as well as

Alarmed by all this, Protestants hoped that the pub- African Americans, as enemies of the nation. ber 86036d, co lic school system would inculcate Catholic children When Al Smith, a Catholic, became the Democratic ongreSS enter for Migration Studie S c with American values. But because they defined presidential candidate in 1928, the Klan sent out a of c “American” as Protestant, they supported curricula flyer warning people that the “anti-Christ” had won. he ing Jr.: Photo courte SY of the u that most Catholics found offensive. Catholic children According to widespread rumors, the pope planned to dren: iM age nu M hi L were required to read not only the King James Version move into the White House if Smith was elected. (Not

of the Bible (instead of their own Douay-Rheims ver- surprisingly, Herbert Hoover easily defeated him.) In with c ton Sheen: Librar Y un S Patriotic Parade: t Martin Luther k n sion, based on the Latin Vulgate), but anti-Catholic 1949 Paul Blanshard published a virulent attack on the fuL

14 Christian History Our cOunTry The story of Roman Catholics in 19th- and 20th-c. America is one of gradual “Ameri- canization,” as immigrants assimilated to the culture of their new home. This 1957 image of parochial school children in a New York patriotic parade dem- Diversity cA onstrates the growing Catholic patriotism that paved the way for John F. Kennedy’s election as America’s first Catholic president just three years later.

some Catholics objected to Kennedy’s claim that his beliefs would have no

impact on his role as president, they se sT shared his conviction that Catholicism and democracy are compatible. They were

immensely proud to see the nation’s first udy Catholic president swearing to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

On The sAme side Only a few years after Kennedy’s election, Catholic Church, American Freedom and Catholic Power, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council which sold more than 100,000 copies and warned that (1962–1965), a meeting of the world’s Catholic bishops the Roman hierarchy was plotting to impose “its social that proclaimed a new spirit of openness to modern policies upon our schools, hospitals, government and culture. In a remarkable set of documents addressing family organization.” liturgy, scripture, ecumenism, and the role of the Church in the modern world, the council empha- inTO The AmericAn mAinsTreAm sized that Church teachings could develop over time. Yet Blanshard’s book was already out of date by the One, Dignitatis Humanae (1965), reversed centuries of 1950s. As growing numbers of Catholics attended Catholic opposition to religious freedom by insisting college and moved into the middle class, they seemed that all individuals had the right to practice their faith more interested in assimilating into the culture than without coercion. criticizing it and no longer seemed as foreign or But the American Catholic experience reminds us threatening. As the Cold War era dawned, Catholics that religious minorities have struggled to practice also took a strongly anti- Communist stance. During their faiths freely in the United States. Other religious the 1950s, Archbishop Fulton Sheen hosted a popular groups, especially Muslims, have taken Catholics’ television program, Life Is Worth Living, which mixed place as the targets of suspicion. We can only hope

Y Societ Y spiritual advice with dire warnings of the Soviet that we eventually achieve John F. Kennedy’s vision

rchive S threat. As many as 10,000,000 Americans watched of a more perfect nation—a nation where people of a torica L e his show each week. faith “will refrain from those attitudes of disdain hiS

daM John F. Kennedy’s election to the presidency in 1960 and division which have so often marred their works

otre was the most visible sign of assimilation. Although in the past, and promote instead the American ideal ew-York n CH

of n of brotherhood.” he it Y ew York n , Catherine A. Brekus is associate profes- niver S sor of the History of Christianity at the LL ection of t University of Chicago Divinity School and the author of several books on early American Christianity. ber 86036d, co ongreSS enter for Migration Studie S c of c Free AT LAsT: Roman Catholics experienced

he something of the prejudice that for so long ing, Jr.: Photo courte SY of the u

dren: iM age nu M barred African Americans from full participa- hi L tion in their nation’s public life. Here Holy Cross Father Theodore Hesburgh, second with c

ton Sheen: Librar Y from left, joins the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. un S Patriotic Parade: t Martin Luther k n fuL at a 1964 rally at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Issue 102 15 American religon 2.0 What Will survive? What Will Die? What Will Be transformeD?

Christian history’s Chris armstrong sat down field, where evangelicals used insights from the world recently with three scholars of the American religious scene of social science to make the Gospel culturally relevant. to discuss whether it is still as diverse and thriving as it once They brought those lessons back home, which con- was: r. scott appleby (Professor of History, College of Arts and tributed to the rise of the megachurch movement and Letters, University of Notre Dame); martin marty (Fairfax M. seeker-sensitive Christianity. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History Evangelicals and fundamentalists throughout Amer- of Modern Christianity, University of Chicago Divinity School); ican history have also been early adopters of media, and molly Worthen (Trinity College, University of Toronto). despite charges that they are “antimodern.” They were quintessentially modern in their embrace of radio when it came around, and all forms of print media. Nowadays, Ca: How has the combination of religious freedom and we see this in their embrace of the Internet, though it is innovation contributed to the diversity of American doing interesting things to traditional forms of authority, Christianity? and I think we’re seeing a culture in flux. MW: I think that the religious free market has been crucial to religious diversity. It feeds the instinct for Ca: How does technology affect traditional forms of authority?

innovation that characterizes all corners of Ameri- MW: Take C. J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Min- Press can religion. I particularly see this in conservative istries. Individuals in that church who are dissenting Protestantism. from the top leadership have used the Internet to get urtz / zu Ma

Evangelizing in a free market means you have to around the leadership. They’ve started a Wikileaks- k k convince believers and spread your message in an type website where anonymous members of this effective way that is attractive and meaningful to peo- church or disgruntled former pastors have posted

ple and answers questions that your audience is asking. stories and challenges to the top leadership, and that ession: Ja C Creek Co MM unity Chur Ch Religious movements that emphasize evangelism— has nearly toppled Mahaney’s ministry. I don’t want Pro C ranging from the Jesuits to “Jews for Jesus”—naturally to exaggerate this, but new media have the potential encourage innovation. to really change the internal culture of churches that Here’s one example. In the 1960s and 1970s, the embrace them. Latino Catho LiC MoLL y Worthen, Martin Marty, sCott aPPLeby Church Growth Movement had its roots in the mission I’m not sure that this happened to the same degree Courtesy of Wi LL oW

16 Christian History Diversity FORUM 17 - - OOk like? Left and above: Thriv- SS l SUCCe On the one hand, communications technology OeS t dOeS When national symbols and rituals like the flag What is “civil religion”? What is “civil

And one way that diverse of And backgrounds people one way So we salute theSo we flag, “God says every president aspects the of faith and communities? the its Give whA Christianity,ing happens in many different ways in American of Willow Creekfrom the seeker-sensitive megachurch model to Latin AmericanCommunity Church in the Chicago suburbs parade in honor ofCatholic rituals like this Phoenix, Arizona, apparition of Mary). the Virgin of Guadalupe (a 16th-c. Mexican has been a vehicle being for different, competing, find ing a niche in the market. On the other hand, media makes things a certain similar. more There’s com way municating happens in modern media, whether it’s orthodox or Wicca Christianity. present we The ways ourselves and think through media, images the ways are a homogenizing, used, have Americanizing effect. can feel comfortable in one American nation is that most religious groups been that have here a while for least call one toe at would in we have civil what religion. or theor funeral John of Kennedy incorporate religious rituals and symbols and associate them with the nation itself. The symbols and practices the of nation become the sacred canopy shared all by Americans because they are American. funerals state have andbless America,” we when they SA: SA: CA: happen theology to drastic when stylistic changes, using and adapting so many symbols and signals from challengers faith to in the culture, shape to come all changers credit.They are good students culture. of Their antennae are alert. - - - - - —opposed the sounds and Why? TheyWhy? react strongly I recall that Christian when ask to about What have we Modern “inventors” have not have Modern “inventors” can churches- with allegedly “con servative” biblical theology. because they feel the they have most lose. They to fear being paint if“blended in” they don’t themselves in and bright colors with rigid boundary lines. rock came on the scene, conserva fundamentaltives—Pentecostals, ists, etc. the costumes and the pelvic move Christianments. A few years later, rock topped the charts. the next generation What is, will been mainstream or Reform Jews Catholics mainline or Protestants, Pentecostalsbut and certain kinds evangelicalof and African Ameri control the of print remained empire, in the Scott [Appleby] and I have found and in I have studies that Scott [Appleby]

Marty appleby worthen fundamentalism’s reputation, often self-cultivated and advertised, being old-time of religion” is “the inaccu rate. Conservatives conservatives,rate. were and some still I remember aggressively adapted. many have are. But a line that are want a white fence if you very post, you busy repainting all it the time. Conservatives let things lie. Fundamentalists and others like them are con- stantly improvising. in other mediathe of Control radio revolutions. empire, hands the church top of Internet But leadership. is so naturally animal. new a whole democratic that it’s MM:

Issue 102

sCott aPPLeby sCott Marty, Martin Worthen, y MoLL

LiC Catho Latino C Pro C Ja ession: Ma zu / urtz k k Press

oW LL Wi of Courtesy Ch Chur unity MM Co Creek FroM WAveS to byteS When radio evangelist Charles Fuller, (left; 1887– 1968), later the founder of Fuller Seminary, started his hugely successful Old Fashioned Revival Hour in 1937, he could not have imagined the media revolution that is the Internet. But he probably would have guessed that this medium, too, would become an evangelical “loudspeaker” for the Gospel.

are full of ritual, symbol, and invocations of a kind of SA: Yes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” I’m deist god. It’s the notion that this is an “almost chosen not so sure it’s led beyond tactical alliance building and nation,” as Lincoln put it. We are a nation that is under then retreating, so I’m not so sure it’s a trend that has God, with whatever ironies that may contain, but we real depth to it. are nonetheless celebrating ourselves as the beacon, the shining city on the hill. CA: I recall the experience of my wife and myself as young conservative Christians. We got involved in the crisis preg- CA: At one point in the mid-twentieth century, formal ecu- nancy center movement and experienced people from all menism was all the rage. Has it been replaced by a more infor- kinds of backgrounds, both Protestants and Catholics, joining mal “grassroots” brand of ecumenism today? in common cause. SA: That hoped-for moment passed in the mid- SA: I don’t want to suggest there’s no room for trans- twentieth century—a moment of, if not theological formation. I simply mean that it hasn’t led us to drop unity, then theological convergence. It passed because the denominational or doctrinal fences very far. of a greater comfort with diversity itself and also MM: I want to go back for a minute to what we’ve been because of an “enclave” or “retreating” movement calling “formal ecumenism.” Without doubt, it does not within some groups. make news the way it did 50 years ago. Here’s one inci- Chris Smith has written a book called American dent that helped reveal the changes to me. ch.tv Evangelicals: Embattled and Thriving. That’s what many In 1960 I attended the Central Committee of the

people feel as they perceive Christianity in an increas- World Council of Churches [WCC]. At the time the FEchu R li ingly indifferent, if not hostile, society. Let’s be embat- Faith and Order people were working on a fresh defi- , nlin E

tled, that’s a way to thrive. And that means reinforcing nition of the goal of ecumenism. They had a beautiful o

and underscoring our distinctives, and why we have phrase: “that all in each place” who accept Jesus Christ ch

advantages over the next group down the valley. should come to a “fully committed fellowship.” We in hu R Mainline and liberal Christians have recognized the press got a release in which the typist had repro- ned Revival hO uR licity a more universal sense of diversity as good in and of duced it as “a full committee fellowship.” Full commit- sy o F c ou RtE itself. Then on the conservative side of the spectrum, tee fellowship is what most Christians, if they heard Old Fashi O c which was never very enthusiastic about the ecumeni- about ecumenism at all, pictured. Jackson hot: sy o F ashvill E puB cal movement in the first place, they are circling the Vatican II, WCC, National Council of Churches in s ou RtE REEn sy o F n wagons—precisely to survive and thrive. the United States of America [NCCUSA], and the rest c were mainly seen as committees speaking with each ial: F REEFoto.co M ou RtE nlin E sc c

But isn’t there something pulling the other way? Prag- other. The people went elsewhere to find fully commit- o

CA: ction Bann ER : E D s Full ER:

matic cooperation on certain issues, or to gain certain politi- ted fellowship. It followed few formal rules. ch ypER: hu R ha RlE FDR El E 9/11 M EM oR stR c cal ends? MW: I think there is contradictory evidence. Take, for c

18 Christian History Diversity FORUM 19

- - - dices. Left and above: The y OCking FOR jeSUS OCking Always culturally adept, in the 1980s d and COUntR O gO g “civil religion” that has been part of count “civil religion” that has been part of count- “civil religion” that has less presidential campaigns resurged afterless presidential campaigns resurged after the 9/11 attacks. Rthe 9/11 attacks. Below: Below: American Christianity jumped into rock American Christianity jumped into rock music with both feet (pictured: Stryper). music with both feet (pictured: Stryper). As as much the Internet has opened us conservative Baptists Catholics or sitting in side the by sameside pew and argu- one patterning. But that some scholars noted is a sorting,have people where tend prefer to congregations that affirm their pre-existing They ideas. are very not interested in dialogue. potentially to up talking all people to over tend visit to the we are blogs the world, those that reaffirm our own preju And this is the American of downside religion, particularly in evangelicalism, therewhere is freedom break to away and start own your congregation as soon as there is any disagreement. TheThe divisions divisions are are necessarily necessarily not not between between : : a I’m encouraged the by thought liberal of andI’m SaS How much diversity can we tolerate as a people? as diversity much a people? can tolerate How we MW: Christian denominations within but those denomina tions on political, theological, and cultural matters. Catholicsare The example. veryfor divided, current contraception with debate the Obama administration exposes a real division and tension and lack commu of nication within Catholicism. While they take may on religious language, these are questions diversity about and the about definition our of nation. When that diversity becomes too threatening, we launch theological torpedoes our fellow at Presby terians I think Catholics or Jews. or civic issues and political issues become dividing have points. People on theological up load bonafides they when get into political. least, at that debates are partly, ------Put diverse - -

- - tury tury cen tions and have categories. If you tions and have categories. If you We are seeingWe a sort pragmatic of adjustment,

Has the trend acceptance toward and diversity played But the gap works the Robert the too. works other gap But way Over the course twenty-first- of We’re seeing mutual more tolerance among Catho We’re nam and Campbell David argue in that American Grace arewe seeing increasing theological muddiness along with political polarization. They giving were a lec ture their about research some to Lutheran Church Missouri Synod theologians and revealed that percent 86 Missouri of Synod Lutherans believe that their non-Christian neighbors Putnam might heaven. to go hearingsaid, “Upon this these news, theo logians stunned were into silence.” said, “Upon hearingsaid, “Upon this these news, theo revealed that percent 86 Missouri of Synod Lutherans believe that their non-Christian neighbors Putnam might heaven. to go with political polarization. They giving were a lec ture their about research some to Lutheran Church Missouri Synod theologians and down differences between American groups religious in recent decades attention them? to or brought example, the reaction to Mitt Romney. I’ve come to the to come the I’ve example, reaction Mitt to Romney. conclusion thatthere is between a gap the reaction of evangelical leadership the to collaboration of with idea Mormons common for social causes and the reaction of the evangelicalgrassroots. MW: Ca: lics and Mormons yet and not Protestants, that’s but extending Islam to any means. by And think I do it’s political by complicated polarization: American politi cal culture incompatible worldviews as two completely based on different assumptions, rather than as prob lems can we negotiate together as a community. societies. But there’s alsosocieties. been there’s a backlash But against multiculturalism. as get used people living to their lives in more life, most people have had increasinglife, have most people contact with differ neighbors have who with beliefs,ent people with people, gay disregardwho all sorts traditional of beliefs. That does break intellectual down assump friends you, are have who Muslim what or gay or becomesit harder accept to the intellectual claims that hearing from on the Sundays. perhaps you’re pulpit it becomesit harder accept to the intellectual claims that beliefs. That does break intellectual down friends you, are have who Muslim what or gay or contact with differ neighbors have who with beliefs,ent people with people, gay disregardwho all sorts traditional of life, most people have had increasinglife, have most people

Issue 102

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RlE ha c ER: ER: Full s RtE ou c F F o sy O Fashi Old uR hO Revival ned viSion of unity The 20th c. saw a concerted attempt, spear- I think the Roman Catholic Church headed by mainline Protestants, to reunify the diverse church in has a great advantage here. It has a America and in the world. Methodist missionary statesman John R. structure that forces you to stay in the Mott (left; 1865–1955) helped found the ecumenical World Council same intellectual, cultural, and wor- of Churches, and his work with international Christian student shiping community as the people who organizations earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1946. disagree with you. This is something that evangelicals to a greater degree can get away with not doing, and I think that it’s intel- MW: Yes, and I think Christians are being clever about lectually crippling. redefining what it means to thrive. So evangelicals con- But I think that new immigrants are complicat- tinue to be obsessed with baptismal rates. And you see ing that picture. Latino Pentecostals, for example, liberal mainline Protestants talking about their success are for the most part coming out of a history and an at bringing to secular society what they see as Chris- environment that has given them deep antagonism tian values. For example, membership numbers may toward Roman Catholicism. They harbor a seri- be down among liberal Episcopalians and Presbyteri- ous anti- Catholicism in some cases that native-born ans, but look at the mass of social victories achieved by Americans just don’t recognize. those groups. SA: The Catholic Church is being transformed in this MM: The letters of Paul speak of how “the forms of country by the presence of Latino/as. By 2025 about 40 this world are passing away” and that is the case in the to 50 percent of American Catholics will be Spanish church too. The issue is, What will survive, what will speaking or at least from Spanish-speaking homes. die, what will be transformed? This also challenges the institutional Catholic Church For Protestantism at least four things that were because its leadership still remains white and largely invented between 1740 and 1840 are now being chal- Irish. lenged. First, the denomination. They did not exist be- MM: Many of these changes relate not just to divisions fore the U.S. pattern of separated church and state and of space and place but of time. Lausanne agreements church competition. Second, the Sunday school. There and Vatican-and-others agreements get invoked, but are still Sunday schools, but they lack cultural clout. few live by them. “The kids” today have a harder time Third, the missionary movement. Fourth, the competi- going back to their parents’ “Michael, Row Your Boat tive parish system. There’s still competition, but it’s not Ashore” or “Kumbaya” than they would to Gregorian just congregations that compete: media, parachurches, chant. Ernest Gellner says that there is nothing more and go-it-aloners are in the mix. dated than the modernism of the previous generation. SA: My little coda is the excitement of the con- But that means that resolutions made today won’t last tinuing diversity of American religious experience. long either. James Joyce was referring to Catholics when he said, “Here comes everybody.” But you could say the same CA: Thriving and vitality are words that are still relevant of American religion more broadly. It’s one window hives to American religion, but are they popping up in places on the really striking diversity and wonder of the CH nobody predicted 20 or 30 years ago? human experience. © WCC ar C © WCC / Peter Williams

20 Christian History Recommended resources Diversity Resou R MANY RESOURCES EXIST TO HELP navigate the landscape of the diverse and thriving nature of American religion. Here are a few books, web resources, and articles from past issues of Christian History to get you started. (You can access these articles most easily by going to the online version of this issue at www.christianhistorymagazine.org and clicking on the titles of the ar- ticles that interest you. For a list of all of CH’s back issues, see http://www.christianhistorymagazine.org/index.php/back-issues/.)

General works and websites • Martin Marty, Pilgrims in Their Own • Association of Religion Data Archives, www Land: 500 Years of Religion in America. .thearda.com. Under the direction of sociologist Roger This survey history of American Christian- Finke, this website provides free data on most aspects ity highlights the personalities and the of American religion with “features for educators, jour- waves of migration that have shaped its ces nalists, religious congregations, and researchers.” story.

• Randall Balmer, The Making • Carolyn McCulley, “Baptist Power” of Evangelicalism. From Reviv- (issue 62). “From this sprinkling of alism to Politics and Beyond. churches [in the early 1800s] came a thriv- Focuses on “four great turning ing denomination that a mere century points” in the history of evangel- later produced the Revs. Adam Clayton icalism: the Great Awakenings, Powell, Jr., Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesse Jackson— the nineteenth-century shift products of the black Baptist tradition of activism.” to premillennialism; the 1925 Scopes trial; and the rise of the • Charles Morris, American Catholic: The Saints and religious right. Sinners Who Built America’s Most Powerful Church. This comprehensive history of Catholicism in America • Catherine Brekus and W. Clark includes its current challenges. Gilpin, eds., American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity. Features essays about the • National Humanities Center, “Divining Amer- diverse nature of Christianity in America—by race, gen- ica: Religion in American History,” www.national der, geo graphical location, theo logical approaches, and humanitiescenter.org/tserve/divam.htm. Over 30 brief social concerns. essays explore how to teach (and learn about) various aspects of American religious history, each with copi- • Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of Amer- ous links to further resources. ica, 1776–2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Econ- • Mark Noll, The Old Religion in a omy. Finke and Stark are perhaps New World: The History of North the most famous modern popu- American Christianity. This survey larizers of the thesis that diversity history of Christianity in America in the religious marketplace emphasizes what distinguished it, causes religion to thrive, and this in Noll’s view, from its European book uses the last few centuries parents: “space, race and ethnicity, of American religious history to pluralism, and the absence of confes- explain why they feel this is so. sional conservatism.”

• James Fisher, Communion of Immigrants: A His- tory of Catholics in America. Surveys Catholicism’s early settlement, Colonial, and progress through, and impact on, American history, with attention to its cultural and ethnic diversity. revolutionary periods • Donald Durnbaugh, “The Flowering of Pietism • Richard Hughes, ed., The American Quest for in the Garden of America” (issue 10). “Pietism the Primitive Church. Explores how many different clearly provided the foundations for much of Ameri- religious traditions in America—from Mormon to Bap- can religious structure. Its emphasis on the Christian tist—have sought to restore primitive Christianity, and walk, on evident piety, and active and mutual sup- the wide diversity of the results. port fit well with the American environment.”

Issue 102 21 • David Eller, “The Germans Have Landed” (issue not they knew it, generations of evangelical revivalists, 84). “It is October 1683. In a temporary cave-dwelling chaplains, youth and student parachurch leaders, and on the high banks of the Delaware, a German Menno- religious philanthropists followed a trail first blazed nite family and several German Quaker families cast by George Whitefield.” See also “The Religious Odd lots for parcels of land. The settlement they are found- Couple” (Frank Lambert) in the same issue on Benjamin ing—Germantown—will play a crucial role in the early Franklin’s friendship with Whitefield. history of the American Anabaptists.” • Harry Stout, “The Puritans and Edwards” (issue • Edwin Gaustad, “Quest for Pure Christianity” 8). “The vision of a redeemer nation and a covenant (issue 41). “Whether one thinks of Puritanism as bane people was dazzling and none, including Edwards, or blessing, this is sure: no religious experiment in the could escape its glare. As one voice among thousands, New World has had a more enduring impact upon our Edwards helped perpetuate that quintessentially nation’s education, literature, sense of mission, church Puritan notion of a right eous city set high upon a hill governance, ethical responsibility, or religious vision. for all the world to see.” This is the story of the Puritans’ mission, what they termed an ‘errand into the wilderness.’” NiNeteeNth ceNtury • Thomas Kidd, God of Liberty: A • Elesha Coffman, “Alter- Religious History of the American Rev- native Religions” (issue olution. Explores how evangelicals and 66). “Many non- and semi- deists cooperated in the revolutionary era Christian groups also laid in the service of a belief that religious free- claim to the West, but none dom and diversity were important to the more successfully than the early republic. Mormons.”

• Nathan Hatch, The Democratization • Jay Dolan, Catho- of American Christianity. Argues that lic Revivalism: The Ameri- “the theme of democratization is central can Experience 1830–1900. to . . . understanding the development Explores the history of how of American Christianity and that the years of the early Catholics participated in republic are the most crucial in revealing that process.” revival through the use of the “parish mission.”

• James Smith, “The Father of California” (issue 35). • Carl Hallberg, “A Church of Their Own” (issue 66). “On the morning of July 16, 1769, on a windswept hill- “As immigration boomed between 1840 and 1920, the side overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Father Junipero Serra central plains attracted Europeans from agrarian back- celebrated High Mass before a hewn wooden cross. The grounds, while the West Coast and the Rockies lured Mass signaled the sunset of Spain’s mission colonization Europeans and Asians seeking opportunity. By 1870, of the New World but the dawn of Father Serra’s greatest nearly three in ten westerners were foreign-born— work.” See also “Highlights of the California Missions” and many of these newcomers had strong religious (Mark Galli) and “Christianity Comes to the Americas” ties. Not unexpectedly, then, ethnic churches became (William Taylor) in the same issue. the cornerstones of many immigrant communities.”

• Harry Stout, The Divine Dramatist: • Bonnie Harvey, “The West That Wasn’t Won” George Whitefield and the Rise of Mod- (issue 66). “In 1925, after three centuries of missions, ern Evangelicalism. This biography of the Native American Christian community stood at a George Whitefield highlights how much meager 35,000. Mistreatment by the U.S. government he contributed to the ethos of modern and lack of understanding by white missionaries were evangelicalism and how his theatrics pre- simply too much to overcome.” figured the rise of modern televangelism. • James Johnson, “Charles Grandison Finney: Father • Harry Stout, “Heavenly Comet” (issue of American Revivalism” (issue 20). “The career 38). “By 1750 virtually every American of Charles Finney was nothing short of remarkable. loved and admired Whitefield and saw From international fame as a revivalist, to professor at him as their champion. . . . Whitefield’s mode of reviv- and president of a unique educational institution, to alism—theatrical, passion-based, non-denominational, advocate and defender of a controversial doctrine of international, experience-centered, and self-consciously Christian perfection, Finney has left a major imprint on promoted through media—outlived him. Whether or American religion.”

22 Christian History • R. Laurence Moore, Selling • Ted Olsen, “American Pentecost” (issue 58). “In a skep- God: American Religion in the tical front-page story titled ‘Weird Babel of Tongues,’ a Los Marketplace of Culture. Mer- Angeles Times reporter attempted to describe what would chandising of religion is nothing soon be known as the Azusa Street Revival.” new, and this book is a history of Diversity Resou R attempts at it since the beginning • Robert Putnam and David Campbell, American of the nineteenth century, from Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Based George Whitefield to Brigham on extensive surveys of religious believers in America Young to P. T. Barnum to Fulton today, with in-depth profiles of a number of diverse Sheen. congregations, the authors argue that “unique among nations, America is deeply religious, religiously • Edwin Woodruff Tait, “The diverse, and remarkably tolerant. But in recent decades Cleansing Wave” (issue 82). “The 19th-century holiness the nation’s religious landscape has been reshaped.” revival took many forms as it swept across denomina- tional boundaries.” • Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism: Embat­ ces tled and Thriving. This detailed sociological study • Charles Edward White, “Holiness Fire-Starter” explores who modern evangelicals are and how they (issue 82). “During her life (1807–1874) Phoebe Palmer not only have survived, but continue to thrive, in mod- spoke to over 100,000 people about Jesus and sparked ern, pluralistic America. a revival that brought nearly a million people into the church. Her influential theology paved the way for • Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals such modern holiness denominations as the Church of and American Culture. This is a comprehensive and the Nazarene and the Church of God (Anderson, Indi- sympathetic history of one of modern America’s major, ana), and for Pentecostalism as well.” and thriving, religious movements.

• Robert Wuth now, America and the TwenTieTh and Challenges of Religious Diversity. Argues that “responses to religious diversity are twenty-first fundamentally deeper than polite discus- centuries sions about civil liberties and tolerance would suggest. Rather . . . religious diversity • Nancy Ammerman, ed., strikes us at the very core of our personal and Everyday Religion: Ob­ national theologies. Only by understanding serv ing Modern Religious this important dimension of our culture will Lives. This collection of we be able to move toward a more reflective essays describes modern approach to religious pluralism.” American religious diver- sity as it functions “on the • Robert Wuth now, After Heaven: Spirituality ground.” in America Since the 1950s. Examines the diverse approaches to religious belief and practice in modern • Jackson Carroll, Mainline to the Future. Argues for America, including the many people who define them- the continued vitality of the mainline tradition, but also selves as “not religious but spiritual.” maintains that it needs to adapt to the changes sur- rounding it in modern society. • From the “Ten Most Influential Christians of the 20th Century” feature (issue 65): • Elizabeth Hill Flowers, Into the Pulpit: South­ – William Martin, “Evangelicalism: Billy Graham.” ern Baptist Women and Power Since World War “A s an evangelist he has preached to millions; as an II. Reveals the complicated history of women in the evangelical he put a movement on the map.” Southern Baptist Convention during the growth of con- – Mark Galli, “Missions and Ecumenism: John R. servative power in the church. Mott.” “Evangelist and ecumenist.” – Russel Moldovan, “Martin Luther King, Jr.” “No • Donald Miller, Reinventing American Protes­ Christian played a more prominent role in the 20th tantism. Though several decades old now (before the century’s most significant social justice movement.” prominence of the emergent church), this book traces – Vinson Synan, “Pentecostalism: William Sey- the rise of “postmodern traditionalist” and postde- mour.” “What scoffers viewed as a weird babble of nominational megachurches and the way they have tongues became a world phenomenon after his Los transformed the American religious landscape. Angeles revival.” CH

Issue 102 23 A nation on a hill? The hisTory of church-sTaTe relaTions in america has rt.com) ine A been boTh complicaTed and conTenTious.

restricted religious competition. Roger Williams felt the riberg F Gary Scott Smith teeth of this restriction when, in 1636, his impassioned argument that “forced religion stinks in the nostrils of Many early aMerican settlers sought, God” prompted Massachusetts to expel him. as Massa chusetts Bay governor John Winthrop put it When the colonies came together as the United ges, visit www. F in his 1630 sermon, to create “a city upon a hill.” “The States, the new nation broke with this 1,450-year prac- eyes of all people are upon us,” he added; if the Puri- tice of religious establishment. Not having a king was tans followed “the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love radical enough, but even more radical was the new mercy, to walk humbly with our God,” He will “delight nation’s decision not to establish a national church. to dwell among us, as His own people, and will com- The First Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in

mand a blessing upon us in all our ways.” Moreover, 1789 and ratified in 1791, prohibited Congress from tion on Arnold Friberg im A Winthrop predicted, coming generations would ask the establishing a church and from preventing citizens orm A Lord to make their societies “like that of New England.” from worshiping as they pleased. The decision frightened many. Western societ-

AmericA, the model? ies had long assumed that most residents would act or more in F F After Constantine made Christianity the favored reli- morally only if they were compelled to participate gion of the Roman Empire in the early 300s, all Western regularly in the church; Thomas Jefferson disagreed, societies established churches and used tax revenues to calling America’s arrangement “the fair experi-

support them. Because Massachusetts and other colo- ment.” Prominent nineteenth-century jurist Dudley Valley Forge ( ew York

nies saw America as God’s “new Israel,” which could Field called America’s separation of church and state n serve as a model of a godly, pious society and help the world’s “greatest achievement . . . in the cause spread Christianity to the world, they too established of human progress.” ollection,

churches, mandating church attendance and Sabbath The founding fathers adopted this arrangement for c observance and banishing dissenters. several reasons. For one thing, they knew that the exper- nger

Most colonies used taxes to pay ministers, required iment had already been tried for over a century, and it grA he Arnold Friberg, The Prayer a T citizens to affirm religious oaths to hold public office, and had not led to the moral collapse many feared. The exiled t

24 Christian History social iMPacT overview 25 ©Arnold Friberg

­ ­ ­ colony ), prayer has seemed an appropriate above The alliance that fashioned this experi “fair The arrangement they devised is often misun­ Reformed, Dutch Reformed, Lutherans, Moravians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, German Mennonites, Quakers, had and Catholics, all Jews created thriving congregations. ment” seem may an unlikely Jefferson, one. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and James Wilson, among oth­ espouseders, theistic rationalism deism. or On the Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, other hand, John Jay, Elias Boudinot, Sherman, Roger John Hancock, and Christians. bothothers groupsdevout were However, providentialstressed direction God’s history of and the value of prayer. derstood. from Far creating that a state removed religion from the square, public the founders pro Christianityvided support of public through various means. Individual states could continue establish to churches, restrict office public holding Christians, to and issue proclamationspunish blasphemy, thanks of giving God to and calls fasting. for Federal funds could be used finance to missions Indians, to and government facilities could be used Christian by congregations their for services. worship In a 1797 proclamation Massachusetts of as governor (the that kept established its church the longest—until Samuel Adams beseeched1833), God “speedily” to establish Kingdom God of and “the our of Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . . . everywhere.” a national church. Congregationalists, the By 1780s ­ ­ ­ ­ ) or mythically uttered by a heroic George Washington in a contempla- ) or mythically uttered by a heroic George left “if My people, who are called by My naMe, will huMble “if My people, who are called by theMselves and pray . . .” In the popular imagination, the United “on a mission from God.” Whether States has long been considered a nation at the First Continental Congress led by an Episcopal priest (Jacob Duche) ( tive moment at Valley Forge ( accompaniment to nation-building. asserted inasserted ­ ­ ­ lighten­ powerfulGod had chosen coerce to not ­

religion. Moreover, attempts the by force to state religion. Moreover, Many agreed with Madison that Christianity Moreover, the founders’ En Moreover, Their argument was religious as was much more likelywas more much flourish to ­ if volun people tarily because Besides, embraced it. the of religious diversity in the one denomi no United new States, what did it look like? Madison argued similarly in his “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” (1785) legalthat establishment “the Christianity” of had historically and indolence in “pride the produced ignorance andclergy, servility in [and] in the laity, both, superstition, bigotry and Like persecution.” Jefferson, to insisted he which owe we that the “duty our and Creator the manner discharging of can be it, directed only reason by and conviction, force by not or violence.” nation had enough adherents be to established as Roger WilliamsRoger had permitted freedom in worship Rhodeof of the Island, colony which So did founded he Quaker in 1636. William Penn in Pennsylvania, which he And theseestablished colonies in 1681. were thriving. well as philosophical: Jefferson, James Madison, and other as founders, well as numerous Baptist and Presbyterian lead gious liberty. First, they argued that history demonstrated that was dan it ­ gerous civil give to rulersauthority theologicalover doctrines and ecclesi astical matters. Second, they insisted that should be people free espouse to the religious convictions that reason, conscience, and experience taught them correct.were And third, they guaranteesought to the same liberties and rights all for citizens, regardless theirof ideological commitments—an ideal threatened any form reli by of ­ gious establishment. argueders, sanction did that not the Testament New religious establishments and that they in fact hindered evangelism and Christian nurture. Jefferson Bill Establishing for Religious“A Freedom in Virginia” that the all ment convictionsment led them make to several arguments on behalf reli of people intopeople believing in Christianity.was Therefore, it presumptuous, and “tyrannical” “sinful,” “falli for ble and uninspired”ble civil rulers impose to own “their thinking”. . . modes of true as and the infalli “only ble” citizens espouse to particular doctrines “temporal by punishments” incapacitations” tended pro to “civil or “hypocrisyduce and meanness.”

Issue 102

T a Prayer The Friberg, Arnold ( Forge Valley F in more or F A orm A im Friberg Arnold on tion F www. visit ges, F riberg A ine rt.com)

grA he t nger nger ollection, ollection, c ew York ew n a holy war Left: Religion motivated many Civil War soldiers, like the members of the 69th New York State Militia, Fort Corcoran, Washington, D.C., pictured here attending Mass.

liberty and justice for all Below: Enlightenment ideals joined New Testament egalitarianism in the 18th-c. Quaker-led birth of the movement to abolish slavery.

Meanwhile, another powerful force promoting religious pluralism came into play. Decades before the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts, a bastion of estab­ lished religion, became both an unwitting seedbed of Christian diversity and the arena for a new force in American religion: voluntary participation in religion. The First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s dem­ onstrated that churches could best grow and expand their influence by the free participation of people who lived out their faith. Led by Anglican evangelist George Whitefield Beecher at first strongly opposed disestablishing the and Congregationalist theologian and pastor Jonathan Congregational Church in Connecticut; but the positive Edwards, the Awakening poured new life into hun­ fruit this change produced led Beecher to reverse course. ton College dreds of churches and created many congregations, He soon pronounced disestablishment “the best thing

schools, colleges, and missions—all through the efforts that ever happened to the State of Connecticut. It cut , Whe A of those saved or renewed by the fiery preaching of itin­ the churches loose from dependence on state support. It ton College

erant ministers and local pastors. threw them wholly on their own resources and on God.” ngeliCA lS , Whe A One did not have to be a “born­again believer” to Similarly, in 1819 Madison rejoiced that ministers of evA appreciate the social impact of these revivals. Benjamin every denomination were zealously providing religious Franklin did not share Whitefield’s beliefs, but he did instruction in Virginia and winning people to Christian ngeliCA lS

attend some of Whitefield’s sermons in Philadelphia, faith by “the purity of their lives.” Like Madison and evA and they became good friends. Beecher, most Christians concluded that disestablish­ Franklin was so impressed by the results these ment created a religious “free market” that produced sermons produced that he published them. “It was tremendous competition, variety, experimentation, and t #40)

wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners new methods of presenting the gospel, thereby further­ liS r

of our inhabitants,” Franklin declared. “It seem’d as if ing both evangelism and spiritual renewal. titute for the Study of Ameri CAn all the world were growing religious, so that one could Far from fading away after disestablishment, Prot­ not walk thro’ the town . . . without hearing psalms estant Christianity functioned as a de facto national y of the inS sung in different families of every street.” religion until the 1920s. Frequent religious revivals, 533114 (Civil W A titute for the Study of Ameri CAn thousands of vital congregations, hundreds of reli­ hive S marketing faith giously motivated reform movements, domination l Ar C

Many revivalists helped lead the campaign for reli­ of education (all but a handful of the 500 colleges y of the inS gious liberty. In 1748 a group presented a petition to the established before the Civil War were Protestant), in flu ence Connecticut General Assembly arguing that their fore­ in public schools and the media, and government sup­ ge: Courte S

fathers had come to this “howling Wilderness, full of port for Protestant Christianity all aided its prominence. very Convention: Courte S r mASS: nAtion A savage Men and Beasts, that they might have Liberty This influence was felt most in fervent social imA ve Anti-Sl A Civil W A of Conscience.” During the 1810s, revivalist Lyman reform. In the first four decades of the nineteenth Sl A

26 Christian History social i MP ac T overview

rallying to the cause By 1840, the year of this anti­ century, proponents of the Second Great Awaken­ slavery society convention, abolition had become a favorite ing sought to remedy countless ills, most notably cause of Protestant evangelicals in the North. intemperance, slavery, biblical illiteracy, and pov­ erty. Denominations and national and local voluntary organizations locked arms in a “benevolent empire,” of Union troops with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. distributing Bibles and tracts, evangelizing, reform­ Julia Ward Howe asserted in the “Battle Hymn of the ing prisons, helping the poor, and seeking to raise the Republic” (1864) that Union soldiers were engaged in ton College level of public morality. a supernatural struggle against evil. Large numbers

, Whe A These reforms reached into some of the darkest of Southern and Northern soldiers were converted in places of the young nation. Shocked by the mental “camp revivals,” and their belief in heaven motivated ton College

ngeliCA lS breakdowns and suicides of scores of inmates locked in many combatants to fight courageously. , Whe A evA solitary confinement at the Auburn Prison in New York in 1821, reformers worked to improve prison life by onward, christian soldiers teaching religion and literacy, furnishing libraries, and After the war, the social gospel movement resumed the ngeliCA lS

evA convincing authorities to reduce whipping, commute Protestant crusade. From 1880 to 1925, ministers, social sentences, and separate inmates by age and condition workers, college and seminary professors, business­ (see image and caption on p. 38). men, lawyers, and countless others—men and women; Temperance societies used a variety of means, blacks and whites; conservative, moderate, and liberal t #40) liS including plays, to spread their “dry” message. William Protestants—analyzed social problems and used a wide r

titute for the Study of Ameri CAn H. Smith’s The Drunkard (1844) was regularly performed variety of tactics to remedy them. Led by pastors Walter at major theaters in Boston, Philadelphia, and New Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden, the move­ York. The play so moved P. T. Barnum that he featured ment motivated millions to improve American society. y of the inS 533114 (Civil W A it at his famous American Museum in New York and In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, titute for the Study of Ameri CAn refused to serve alcoholic beverages there. social gospel initiatives were not limited to modernist hive S Protestants even tried to sanctify the Civil War. or “liberal” Christians (those who espoused higher l Ar C y of the inS During the bloody, tragic conflict both the Union and biblical criticism and Darwinian evolution and the Confederacy claimed to have God’s approval, but emphasized Jesus’ example and teaching rather than leaders on each side insisted that God would bless his substitutionary sacrifice on the cross). Conservative, ge: Courte S

very Convention: Courte S their cause only if they faithfully obeyed him. The pietistic Christians (many of whom would become r mASS: nAtion A imA South emphasized its Christian heritage and convic­ known by the 1940s as “evangelicals”) also operated ve Anti-Sl A Civil W A Sl A tions, while Northern ministers compared the death soup kitchens, rescue missions, settlement houses,

Issue 102 27 Whiskey Wars Above left: Although by this 1934 L.A. staging most people came to mock its antibooze “institutional” churches that provided social services, message, the 1844 drama The Drunkard had once been America’s most popular play. Above: Some and dozens of other ministries. Nor was reform an temperance crusaders blocked saloon doors with exclusively Protestant preserve: Catholics and Jews prayer-meetings, as outside this Ohio bar in 1874. also forged a legacy of schools, hospitals, and charita- ble institutions still evident today. hiladelphia, pa

But the fundamentalist-modernist controversy of the Christians, and unchurched individuals migrated to p

1920s led most conservative Protestants to abandon social the United States—coincident with the fundamentalist- ies, reform because that was “what the modernists did.” modernist feud that was dividing American Protestant ib RaR l

denominations and reducing their public engagement. y Get on the “riGht side” The rise of neo-orthodoxy in the 1930s, the emergence si T

A half-century later, in the 1970s, many evangelicals, of Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century and nive R on Colle Ge goaded by Carl Henry, Ronald Sider, Jim Wallis, and oth- the charismatic movement in the 1960s, the decline of hea T ers, finally began to reassess their role in American public mainstream Protestant denominations in the years af- w , Temple u

life. Henry challenged “Bible-believing Christian[s]” to ter 1970, the growth of evangelicalism, and the “emerg- als,

get on the “right side” of “social problems such as war, ing church” movement further fractured Protestantism eli C van G

race, class, labor, liquor, [and] imperialism” and to adopt and reduced its cultural influence. e

“a progressive . . . social message.” At the same time, many colleges and universities an Some on the “religious right,” led by the Moral entirely abandoned their Protestant or Catholic heri- me RiC

Majority, translated this call into more conservative tage and adopted a secular, naturalistic approach in ion aRmy terms and organized to protect the sanctity of marriage; their governing philosophy, curriculum, and approach alva T strengthen families; combat the evils of communism, to student life. As George Marsden explains, by the s is, ial Colle CT ions Resea RC h Cen TeR he sT udy of a

pornography, and big government; and oppose abor- 1930s the Christian worldview no longer directed the pe C s

tion and the right of homosexuals to marry and serve “heart of the university enterprise.” Moreover, the e fo R T illy fRan C

openly in the military (see “Taking back America,” p. explosion of media outlets—radio, television, movies, Magazine nis Ch ns TiTuT 32). Others (Evangelicals for Social Action, Sojourners, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet—spawned a i haR World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse) focused instead on cacophony of alternative voices. he RRy ouRT esy of b

social justice: ending discrimination based on race and But despite the significant increase of Muslims, C gender, uplifting the poor at home and abroad, reduc- Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs and the concerted efforts o ho T ing disease, and improving the environment. of Americans United for the Separation of Church and p ouRT esy of la

State, the American Civil Liberties Union, and propo- C o : Cou RT esy of Sojourner S aloon: Cou RT esy of T

nents of the New Atheism to ensure that church and state s the second disestablishment ho T p

The informal Protestant dominance of American society are strictly separated, Christianity continues to function d: side declined significantly after the 1920s. Numerous forces as the nation’s founders envisioned it would: as a moral aham Cove R contributed to this “second disestablishment.” From the leaven in American political life. Fueled in part by con- ion aR my Coal Ca RT: alva T illy G R The dRunka R pRayin G ouT Russell Conwell: Conwellana-Templana Colle CTion, s 1880s on, large numbers of Catholics, Jews, Orthodox tentious social issues, most notably abortion, school b

28 Christian History social i MP ac T overview

prayer, same-sex mar- Christian ConCern From babies to bombs Above left: Renowned Baptist preacher Russell Con- riage, and embryonic stem well, here seen in 1924 at the Temple Maternity Hos- cell research, religion has pital, inspired his Philadelphia congregation to start played a prominent role in Temple University Hospital. Above right: When during many presidential campaigns. the depression destitute Americans were unable to High percentages of Americans heat their homes for lack of coal, the Salvation Army hiladelphia, pa

p (72 percent in a 2008 Pew Poll) operated a “free coal cart.” Left: Billy Graham sur-

ies, agree that “it is important prised many conservatives with this 1979 interview, that a president have strong in which he said that in light of human sinfulness, a ib RaR l nuclear holocaust would be inevitable if the arms y religious beliefs.”

si T race was not stopped. nive R

on Colle Ge no atheists in the white house hea T w While the Constitution prohibits exercise of their religious convictions can , Temple u als, religious tests for political office be curtailed only if it infringes on the rights of others, eli C holders, in recent polls about half of all Americans violates civil laws, or threatens the public order. van G

e claim that they would not vote for an atheist for presi- Americans have long debated whether the United an dent. As a result, most presidential candidates testify to States was founded as a Christian nation and to what their Christian faith and moral convictions, frequently extent our laws and public affirmations should express me RiC

ion aRmy quote Scripture, and compete for the votes of the large Christian convictions. Unlike many state constitutions, number of Americans for whom religion is impor- the federal Constitution does not explicitly recognize alva T s tant. Since 1974 every president has claimed to have God’s authority over the nation or a divine basis for is, ial Colle CT ions Resea RC h Cen TeR he sT udy of a

pe C a strong Christian faith, and in the 2012 battle for the laws. Disagreements have erupted over Sunday blue s

e fo R T Republican presidential nomination, two Mormons, laws, the use of Bible-quoting McGuffey Readers in pub- illy fRan C

Magazine two Catholics, and four evangelicals touted their reli- lic schools, and recently over whether the phrase “under nis Ch ns TiTuT i gious convictions. God” should remain in the Pledge of Allegiance. Public haR he Because this nation has many denominations and schools have long been a source of contention. During RRy ouRT esy of b

C three levels of government—federal, state, and local— the second half of the nineteenth century, Catholic o the relationship between institutional religion and the protests about Protestant control of instruction and cur- ho T p state has always been a complicated one. The Constitu- riculum, coupled with Protestant fears that Catholics ouRT esy of la

C tion does not specify how organized religion and the might gain control of tax monies in Catholic areas, led o : Cou RT esy of Sojourner S aloon: Cou RT esy of T s government should interact with one another. Ameri- to removing or limiting religious courses and texts. ho T p

d: cans generally agree that the separation of church side and state mandates that all religious groups have the aham Cove R “our laws are based on Jesus” ion aR my Coal Ca RT: same rights and opportunities under the law to wor- Throughout the nineteenth century, the vast major- alva T illy G R The dRunka R pRayin G ouT Russell Conwell: Conwellana-Templana Colle CTion, s b ship, evangelize, and create organizations. People’s free ity of Americans, whether Protestant or Catholic, saw

Issue 102 29 coining a phrase Above: The familiar words became the official motto of the United States in 1956, though it had coins that state “In God We Trust.” In addition, some appeared on coins already for nearly a century. chief executives have held prayer breakfasts, worship services, or hymn sings at the White House. Almost revoking invocation Right: Texas students at the time of the all presidents have echoed George Washington’s con- Supreme Court decision outlawing prayer in public schools (1963). tention that religious faith is crucial to the well-being of the republic: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and moral- their nation as essentially Christian. Many religious ity are indispensable supports.” communions sought the aid of the federal govern- “Charitable Choice” and faith-based initiatives have ment to advance spiritual and social goals, worked recently created considerable controversy. Adopted to base the government’s operations on Christian by Congress in 1996, Charitable Choice increased the principles, and strove to shape its policies. In a unani- opportunity for congregations and parachurch orga- mous 1892 decision, Church of the Holy Trinity v. United nizations to receive government funds to help finance States, the Supreme Court justices declared, “Our laws social services they provide. Five years later, President and institutions necessarily are based upon and George W. Bush created the White House Office of Faith- embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. Based and Community Initiatives to provide greater . . . [I]n this sense and to this extent our civilization opportunities for religiously motivated organizations to and our institutions are empathically Christian. . . . aid the needy; President Barack Obama continued this [T]his is a Christian nation.” initiative. Supporters argue that it does not violate the Before 1925 few challenged this contention. But First Amendment and that it eliminates unjust discrimi- while elite culture became increasingly secular after nation against religious groups. Others protest, however, 1925, the Protestant establishment and its Catholic that this policy sanctions discrimination in hiring on and Jewish allies continued to defend traditional religious grounds and undermines religious liberty. religious standards. Since 1947 a series of Supreme Some theological conservatives warn that religious Court decisions has significantly affected the place agencies may be forced to compromise their mis-

of organized religion in the public arena and contrib- sion and become dependent on governmental funds. ess uted to heated debate about the relationship between “The brutal reality,” declared Albert Mohler, Jr., presi- church and state. Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington dent of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in

School District v. Schempp (1963) ruled prayer and Bible Louisville, “is that when government money flows, ssoCI ated P R reading in the public schools unconstitutional, and government regulation inevitably follows.” Secularists s/ a more recent verdicts prohibit the display of religious and civil libertarians complain that President Obama tesy of Ronald Reagan lI bRaRy n/Co RbI

symbols in public places. has yet to act on his promise to prohibit hiring based ettmann/C oRbIs on: Cou R

Nevertheless, the concept of church-state separa- on religion and proselytizing in all organizations that ettma n b at I :

tion has not prevented presidents from proclaiming receive federal funds to provide social assistance. kPhoto aye R days of prayer and thanksgiving, Congress from Mohler counters by defending the right of religious to C opening its sessions with prayer, the military from organizations to hire workers who share their commit- s sC hlafly: © b n: bI gs Reagan Inaugu R Phyll I appointing chaplains, or the government from minting ments and to evangelize while dispensing social aid. Co I sC hool P R

30 Christian History social iMPacT overview 31 ------passionately, passionately, CH The two polar positions on this issue are “exclu The founding fathers spoke eloquently, gress pass to specific and laws dispense federal money in particular Should Christians ways? candi favor profess be to dates who guided biblical by convictions? as Some scholars metaphor, lament that Jefferson’s interpreted the by courts, has been used improperly to thwart citizens from participating in politics guided by their faith, religious and prevent to communities from speaking prophetically in life. public Exclusivists andsivism” claim “inclusivism.” that religious beliefs are divisive and inhibit political dis cussion. Inclusivists counter that all only not people, bring thepresuppositions religiously politi to devout, is therefore, unfair it cal debates; ask to individuals to suspend religious convictions discussing when public many inclusivists also However, urge Christianspolicy. deviseto arguments from natural theology and practi calconsiderations buttress to biblicallybased support for legislation. and frequently the about importance religiously of grounded morality the to success their of repub new lic. They governmental provided religion aid for in a variety The current ways. of effort religious exclude to perspectives and ideals and ensure a naked, ideolog square public ically “neutral” odds is with at their theviews, history and our the of country, well-being our of society—asociety that still,sees in many ways, itself on a hill.” as a “nation Gary Scott Smith is the chair of the History Department at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Ordained in the PCUSA, he is the author of several books on faith in the public arena. ------approved the use approved of s? - the reli disappointed Reagan Though Conservative activist Phyllis SchlaflyConservative

Right: Below:

Some argue that the First Amendment, in the How, then, should ChristiansHow, in operate the public arena? Should individual Christians, denominations, and specialized ministries pressure members- Con of Christians in politiC divorced divorced Doesration. require it religion be to completely from does or government, the First Amendment sim the prohibit establishmentply a national of church and guarantee religious liberty? wallsepa The of phrase “a betweenration” church repeatedly and used state, by the Court Supreme since Everson v. Board of Education is in not the Constitution. comes from It an(1947), letter in1802 which Thomas Jefferson explained why fasting, did proclaimhe not prayer, public for days and thanksgiving (unlike the first two and presidents almost all governors). state wall of separation confusionMassive exists church-state about today sepa words of Justice Hugo Black, erected Black, Justice of Hugo a “highwords and impregnable” wall between church and But state. scholars that contend Black and justices later mis use the of understood concept and “wall” Jefferson’s hospitalitythat Jefferson supported “government religiousto activity” as was voluntary as long it and offered equally all to citizens. Jefferson attended reli gious services allowed on government held property, Washington congregations services hold to in the Treasury Office and War buildings, and signed a fed eral that tax law provided exemption churches for in the District also He Columbia. of federal funds support to missionaries to worked who evangelize Indians in the West. ight” to vote to vote ight”

Issue 102 “r gious right, which hoped he would forward its agendas, he gained agendas, its he would forward hoped right, which gious in 1984. re-election in the 1970s. Rights Amendment against the Equal demonstrates

I Phyll b © hlafly: sC s oRbIs ettmann/C

R Inaugu Reagan R Cou on: I at bRaRy bRaRy lI Reagan Ronald of tesy

R P hool sC R aye n ettma b : RbI n/Co a s/ R P ated ssoCI ess

gs bI n: I Co C to kPhoto Taking back America How fundamentalism engaged tHe culture of tHe late

20tH and 21st centuries trends behind the German barbarism of World War I. Then they perceived them in worldwide communism. Chris R. Armstrong By the 1970s, the forces of godlessness seemed to have rooted themselves within America itself—attacking As the decAde of the 1980s opened, supporters American children in their schools, American fami- rejoiced—and opponents warned—that fundamen- lies in their cohesion and sexual identity, and American talism, born by the 1910s and gone from public radar institutions in their moral moorings. The old theologi- screens in the 1950s, was now (in historian Martin cal commitments were still present. Now, however, the

Marty’s words) “back with a vengeance.” And an agenda. crusade was primarily cultural and political: not about om. Used with permission. At its core, fundamentalism had always been theo- how to read the Bible or understand the end times, but logical. Forged in the heat of battle against theological how to vote and act on abortion, feminism, homosexu- ahaye. C “modernists” who accommodated developments in sci- ality, and school prayer. ence and biblical scholarship, fundamentalism built its These concerns arose from the counterculture’s house on biblical inerrancy. It fought Darwinian evolu- agitations of the 1960s and 1970s. The civil rights move- tion for theological reasons. It viewed the mission field ment of the late 1950s and 1960s became the pattern eveLL , 1982), www.tim L

of the world through the lens of premillennialism— and impetus for radical feminist and gay-rights activ- r a bleak view of human culture assuming severe and ism, and the sexual revolution of the 1960s fostered amily ( irreversible decline, from which believers would be res- sexual permissiveness. The Engel v. Vitale decision of f cued only by the personal intervention of Jesus Christ. 1962 declared government-imposed prayer in public he But fundamentalism also had a strong ethos of schools a violation of the Establishment Clause of the cultural concern. Its roots grew up in the nineteenth Constitution, and the following year Abington School century, when evangelical Protestants comfortably District v. Schempp declared against school-sponsored The Ba TT le for T behaved as custodians of a presumptively Christian Bible reading. Roe v. Wade, 1973, protected a mother’s aye, ideo American culture. And it reacted strongly whenever right to terminate her pregnancy. v im La h

it saw this vision threatened. Higher biblical criticism Each of these developments alone was troubling ision v and Darwinian evolution were not just theological enough, but taken together, they amounted to a full-

threats, but threats to America’s Christian civilization. frontal secularizing attack. No longer could conservative hoto Chart: From t sChaeFFer: At first fundamentalists saw such godless intellectual Christians dictate public behavior from the high ground ap p

32 Christian History social impact Cases tudy 33

- - - - (above left). that government was In 1979, fundamentalist tmare In 2008, 35 years after Roe v. Wade, left: Far Battle for the Family ular Humanism” Creationists also savvy proved political lobbyists, iving orwell’s nigH drawing support from such highly as leaders placed (R-Tex.), DeLay former House majority Tom leader and former Senate majority Bill leader Frist (R-Tenn.), Bush. Across 43 states, Georgeformer W. president activists their legislatures, to brought movement school boards, and school districts. Asa result, some districts standards adopted allowing critiques for of evolutionary theory within the science curriculum, and others either allow creationism along be to taught teaching altogether. avoid or evolution evolution side withback, fought battles have see-Evolutionists sawing from year year. to “seC one phraseIn the came 1970s encapsulate to the fundamentalists’ sense frustration: of “secular human - Thisism.” was a concept from the writings Francis of drew who fromhis Reformed Schaeffer (1912–1984), tradition the insistence that Christianity should trans form culture. His film series How Shall We Then Live? contrasts the Christian synthesis the of first centu 19 ries the of church with a modern secular humanism, empty and destructive in confronting thefragmenta tion and moral relativism the of twentieth century. Schaeffer also helped raise a position Roe v. Wade to of preeminence as an secularist example of takeover of working with soon-to-be surgeongovernment. In 1979, it’s not over Supreme Court.anti-abortion protestors marched near the l generalthinker Francis Schaeffer and future surgeon U.S. policies onC. Everett Koop sounded the alarm over abortion and euthanasia (above right). In 1984 Tim LaHaye warned in his becoming a godless, amoral “Big Brother”

------reation

fundamentalist preserve, linked was a literal to as it a But one issue inBut the culture new war was distinc a Protestant establishment. shaming Simply trans tively Protestant:tively a quasi-scientific arrayed “creationism” against the Darwinian the By theory early evolution. of twenty-first although century, creationism was still sol idly firmed this stance in his encyclical Humanae Vitae. Then Roe v. Wade triggered Roman of Catholic a massive wave anti-abortion make activism. progress To in the cultural fundamentalistsbattle, centuries swallowed confes of sional and pride joined with Catholics. abortion and C On the issue abortion, of Roman Catholics led the charge. Abortion been had long treated as an excommunicable explicitly reaf VI (1897–1978) Paul Pope sin, in but 1968 of moral authorityof that came with beingpart the of Protestant establishment. there longer no the By 1970s, was losinggressors anymore: status rapidly work not would in the nation they decades had for thought as of their own preserve, fundamentalists had discover to now new persuasion public modes of and politicalaction. gent design (ID) argues designgent (ID) that there are organisms in the arisennatural have far to too complex mere by world chance. Creation-science institutes, think-tanks, and museumsmulti-million-dollar developed and budgets sophisticated relations public campaigns focused onpor- traying Darwinian as a “theory” that is evolution shaky and unproven. reading the of Genesis creation camp its accounts, had expanded include to many evangelicals and some even mainline Protestants through the “intelligent design” Originatingmovement. in the from 1980s the thought of scientist/historian intelli Charles Thaxton B. 1939), (b.

Issue 102

sChaeFFer: sChaeFFer: ision ision v ideo v

t From Chart: h La im aye, aye, T for le TT Ba The ( amily f he L www.tim 1982), , eveLL r C ahaye. permission. with Used om.

p ap hoto hoto chosen nation rising . . . Left: In the Reagan years, Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority gained political clout. . . . and babylon falling Below: From Hal Lindsey’s 1970 end-times blockbuster through the 2007 wrap-up of the Left Behind series, fundamen- talists thrilled to tales of imminent cultural collapse and divine rescue.

leaders portrayed the promised land as a familiar place: the same land of virtue and piety created by the found- ing fathers and sustained by the Protestant dominance of the 1800s. The fundamentalists knew that this vision of America could not be regained by legislation alone, and so they prayed and organized for national religious revival and personal conversion, taking general Dr. C. Everett Koop (b. 1916), Schaeffer came out 2 Chronicles 7:14 as their founding vision. with a follow-up film series, Whatever Happened to the But this rhetoric of cultural recovery mixed uneas- Human Race? It portrayed abortion as murder and the ily with that of end-times prophecy. Dispensational legalization of abortion as the natural result of secular premillennialism, fundamentalism’s favored end-times humanists’ emphasis on freedom of choice in the ser- theory, had always insisted that the world—including vice of self-indulgence. America—would become increasingly evil and chaotic Under the rhetorical hand of fundamentalist author until Jesus returned, caught up his people in a global and family values activist Tim LaHaye (b. 1926), secular “rapture,” and set up his thousand-year reign here on humanism soon morphed from syndrome to conspir- earth. This narrative was vividly portrayed in Harold acy. Many fundamentalist parents concluded that the Lee “Hal” Lindsey’s (b. 1929) The Late Great Planet Earth public school systems had already succumbed. They (1970), which, by 1990, had sold 28,000,000 copies. The continued a trend begun in the 1960s: founding alter- Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins native Christian schools with the explicit aim of arming (b. 1949) took over where Lindsey’s account left off. young men and women against secular humanism Fundamentalists raised on this apocalyptic vision on, In C. at I

both intellectually and politically. became adept at seeing it fulfilled in their nation’s du C e moral decline. But now such views existed, paradoxi- e america: chosen and doomed? cally, alongside efforts to work long-term change in the Accompanying fundamentalism’s campaign against fabric of American society. In the words of historian secularization was its glorious narrative of “Chris- George Marsden, “America might deserve the wrath of tian America.” From the late 1970s on, fundamentalist God for its sins, but let an American protester desecrate the flag or criticize the military and such outbursts onal Center for S CIen C

would be treated as though they were blasphemy.” at I America was now, oddly but compellingly, “simultane- ously Babylon and God’s chosen nation.” y of the n gh. CoM

falwell’s “true fundamentalism” ourte S By 1980 a leader emerged to channel fundamental- entralh I

ism’s newfound social activism: the Rev. Jerry Falwell ape C (1933–2007). Falwell began his ministry in 1956 as the founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in

Lynchburg, Virginia. By the late 1970s, reading the hoto nhoff / www. C signs of America’s conservative religious landscape,

Falwell turned the label “fundamentalist” to his own arl Snellenberger; photo C

uses as a rallying flag in his crusade to bring the voice alwell: ap p re: © Ken Ste I of a reputed silent-but-powerful “Moral Majority” on by e Int I

to bear in American cultural politics. In 1979 Falwell trat I eagan and f Carl M C Illu S cofounded the Moral Majority organization with Left r

34 Christian History god’s enemies Communism and evolution, while they may look like widely differing phenomena, were for late 20th-c. fundamentalists tentacles of the same monstrous problem: secularization. (Below:

Carl McIntire, 1971.) social impact Case s tudy

Behind author Tim LaHaye and Southern Baptist pas- Protestant denominations); believe in an extreme ver- tor Charles Stanley (b. 1932). It became the bulwark of sion of inerrancy and frequently view the King James the new, culture-warring fundamentalism and helped Version as the only inerrant text of Scripture; observe elect Ronald Reagan president in 1980. taboos against a long list of personal “sins” including For Falwell, the war of the 1980s to reclaim America smoking, drinking, and dancing; and support the anti- for God was to be founded on Christian understand- communist crusades of men such as Carl McIntire. In ings; but it was not to be fought in the churches, the short, they seek separation from a world far gone in sin arena of the old fundamentalism. Instead, its battle- to present a distinctive Christian witness. grounds would be the schools, the law courts, and But in fact cultural engagement is nothing new the halls of political power. Its enemies included abor- for fundamentalists. The movement arose from a tion, euthanasia, creeping “humanism” in the public nineteenth-century evangelicalism that believed itself schools, the threat to godly sexuality posed by por- to be the custodian of American society—and indeed, nography and homosexuality, new gender roles in the like fundamentalism, often saw itself as embattled family, the continuing communist threat, and the forces against corrosive cultural trends (think slavery and on, In C. arrayed against the state of Israel. saloons). In the late twentieth and early twenty-first at I

du C centuries, the dual sense of cultural custodianship and e e fighting the good fight embattlement has only heightened, proving a potent As they fought these enemies, Falwell urged funda- motivator for today’s politically active fundamentalists mentalists not to slacken in their efforts to evangelize, (or as many now wish to call themselves, “conservative plant churches, and improve Christian education. And evangelicals”). he continued to build a broad conservative political In response to disorienting cultural shifts, contem- consensus beyond his fundamentalist base: not only porary fundamentalists have taken organized action onal Center for S CIen C

at I evangelicals who were willing to stand militantly and to affirm their own deepest values and spread them faithfully for fundamentalist values, but also conserva- through persuasion and political pressure. And while tives among Roman Catholics (at one point the largest their commitment to an inerrant Scripture leads them y of the n gh. CoM single bloc within the Moral Majority), Mormons, Jews, to affirm beliefs that place them outside the mainstream and other concerned groups. of American life, they spend more time and energy in ourte S entralh I On the outside looking in were separatist funda- the crusades of cultural politics than in the minutiae

ape C mentalists in the mold of Bob Jones and Carl McIntire. of theological debate. This pragmatic approach, which In 1996 Falwell left the ranks of the independent (fun- distinguishes them from fundamentalists of earlier damentalist) conservative Baptists and brought his decades, leads the “new fundamentalists” to publicize

hoto Thomas Road Baptist Church into the Southern Baptist moral causes, sway elections, and worry liberal pun- nhoff / www. C Convention. dits, resulting in a torrent of public ink and bandwidth

arl Snellenberger; photo C Today many self-described fundamentalists dis- never given their forebears. CH

alwell: ap p avow their culturally engaged brethren. And the re: © Ken Ste I on by e stricter fundamentalists do look very different from Chris R. Armstrong is professor of Church History at Bethel Int I

trat I Falwell’s socially engaged sort. They preach sepa- Seminary, St. Paul, MN, and managing editor of Christian eagan and f Illu S Carl M C r ration from “apostate” religious liberals (all major History.

Issue 102 35 Crusades and reformers What is the task of the church?

Christian history’s Chris armstrong sat down may have some of the religious reformers’ interests in for a discussion of how Christianity in America has been mind, but not other interests. socially engaged; his conversation partners were randall DD: The issues rallying Catholics in the past, par- Ballmer (Professor of American Religious History, Barnard ticularly in the early twentieth century, were workers’ College, Columbia University); Dana Dillon (Assistant Pro- rights. That caused a lot of natural affiliation with fessor of Theology, Providence College); and Jennifer graber what became the Democratic Party. But 1973 [Roe v. vangelIC als, Wheaton College (Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, The Wade] marks a very obvious divide for Catholics. Then e College of Wooster). those workers’ rights, which included women’s rights,

became reproductive rights. merICan The rise of the “religious right” and the recent activities After that, I think that the Republican Party gave

CA: y of a

of religious “progressives” in politics are often perceived as lip service toward restoring family values and moral tu D representing a new development. Is that accurate? issues in ways that touched chords for Catholics. The

JG: I would say not. But it is much more partisan now. Democratic Party has done a great job with other issues llon In the past, there was political involvement, but people that touch chords for Catholics. But that’s more driven didn’t necessarily align themselves with a party and by how the partisan system works than by the beliefs of tute for the s work for that party’s success. Especially in the nine- Catholics or of Christians in general. almer, Dana D I teenth century, reformers convinced people in political RB: The religious right became a distinct political b parties to take up similar platforms. movement in the late 1970s, although you see hints all lamy an D

I think there have been watershed moments. Abol- as far back as the 1930s. The catalyst for evangelicals r ishing the slave trade was one. Court rulings have was not Roe v. Wade. The Southern Baptist Convention raber, oberts / a g made certain religious groups feel particular parties had passed a resolution calling for the legalization of r es have their best interests at heart. But these are always abortion in 1971, reaffirmed in 1974 and 1976. Several fer ran C Dorothy Day: Courtesy of the Inst I Jenn I very complicated relationships. The political parties evangelicals applauded Roe as marking an appropri- f

36 Christian History ate distinction between personal morality and public policy. By the late 1970s, how- ever, due to the Internal Revenue Service’s issues with racial segregation at Bob Jones social i University, as well as Anita Bryant’s cru- sade against gay equality in Miami Dade County, evangelicals began to mobilize. The release of the Whatever Happened to the Human Race? film series (1979) awak- MP

ened evangelicals to the abortion issue, ac

which they previously had regarded as a T foR Catholic concern.

CA: What lessons can Christians learn from um past attempts by believers to impact the political arena and implement social reforms? Are there particular mistakes and attitudes we should seek to avoid? JG: Social reform movements in the early nineteenth century assumed there would A mAtteR of life AnD DeAth Left: The Roe v. Wade decision first galva- be much more cooperation than conflict nized Christian pro-life response in 1973. Almost 20 years later, at this 1991 when religious folks and political leaders protest, the abortion issue had lost none of its polarizing power.

got together. This was because some of “the pooR we will AlwAys hAve with us” Above: In the 1930s, the the issues and institutions that reformers devout and politically radical Catholic Dorothy Day worked with a French cared most about, for example slavery, were religious brother, Peter Maurin, to start the Catholic Worker Movement, whose transformed in this period. “houses of hospitality” and farming communes still serve America’s poor. Yet these were actually very controver- sial battles. Reformers constantly faced the ways the broader American public did not share their the government accountable to doing that. I have sym- ideas. People involved in these movements wanted to pathies with that, but if that aim ends up forming and change legislation and got themselves into very messy shaping Catholic identity as a church, it undercuts our partnerships. They would go in with a sense they were ability to speak about our more particular brand of fighting for the greater good, but it Christianity, even to ourselves, and I think that’s a mis- became morally complicated. For take. Even in the recent government decision to require example, Christians who had great Catholic hospitals to provide contraception, Catholics intentions of making prisons very don’t know how to speak to themselves, to one another, humane institutions suddenly and to the broader culture about these issues. found themselves as partners, and RB: What’s often forgotten in the religious right’s workers, in places where people rush to remake the political arena in its image is the vangelIC als, Wheaton College e GRABER were essentially being tortured. danger of collusion between church and state. Roger This paradox between want- Williams recognized this almost four centuries ago.

merICan ing to be effective and also to be a Williams wanted to protect the “garden of the church” witness has been hard to manage. from the “wilderness of the world” by means of a y of a

tu D Even having the insight to under- “wall of separation.” stand the paradox has sometimes The Puritans did not share our post-Thoreau, Sierra

llon been lacking. Club romantic notions about wilderness. For them, the DD: As a Catholic, it’s very hard wilderness was a place of danger, where evil lurked.

tute for the s BAlMER to let go of the idea that people are So Williams means he wants to guard the integrity of responsible to account for a uni- faith from too close an association with the state. almer, Dana D I b versal morality. The purpose of For admittedly different motives, Thomas Jeffer-

all government is to order all things son picked up on that language. Jefferson wanted to lamy an D

r in society to the common good. protect the government from religious division. The That means that Catholics want First Amendment’s separation of church and state raber, oberts / a g r to help Catholic citizens, and all has ensured both political stability (Jefferson) and es fer Dillon citizens, to advocate and take a vibrant, healthy religious marketplace (Williams) ran C Jenn I Dorothy Day: Courtesy of the Inst I f responsibility for that—and hold unmatched anywhere in the world.

Issue 102 37 from punishment to rehabilitation High on the list of late 19th- and early 20th-c. progressive Christian causes was the reform of the American prison system (prisoners march- ing in lockstep at Auburn prison, N.Y., c. 1910).

But let me offer an example of Williams’s concerns. DD: For me, no one looms larger than Dorothy Day. I was one of the expert witnesses in the Alabama Ten These days, many people take it for granted that, if you Commandments case when Roy Moore plopped a two- are Christian, you should be committed to Christ in “the and-a-half-ton granite monument emblazoned with least of these,” along the lines called for in Matthew 25. the Ten Commandments into the lobby of the judicial But Dorothy Day not only lived that personally, she building in Montgomery and refused to post any other also cofounded the Catholic Worker Movement with religious sentiments or principles in that space. When Peter Maurin, making communities available for oth- Judge Myron Thompson ruled, correctly, that Moore’s ers who wanted to try that way of living. She and the actions violated the Establishment Clause of the First Catholic Workers went on to challenge the structures Amendment, one of the religious right protesters that lead to poverty, and she served as a real prophetic screamed, “Get your hands off my God!” voice, calling others, including leaders of the church, Now one of the commandments etched into that to give the poor their due. monument says something about graven images. And rb: I’d include Charles Grandison Finney and Jona- that was precisely Roger Williams’s point about trivial- than Blanchard, the abolitionist founder of Wheaton izing the faith by too close an association with the state. College. Louis Dwight, a member of the Boston Prison Discipline Society, helped to introduce the notion Ca: On average, would you argue that the church has been of prison as a place to be rehabilitated (prisons are a greater force for change or for preserving the American called penitentiaries, from “penance”). Frances Willard, status quo? head of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, JG: Status quo, absolutely. Religious activists for social addressed the desperate social problem of alcohol. Wil- change are the exception rather than the rule. liam Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic nominee DD: Status quo overall. But for Catholics, there is a for president, is unfairly remembered for his less-than- bit of a pendulum swing. The Catholic Church in the stellar performance at the Scopes trial, but he would United States has tended to see itself as an outsider who line up on the left of the political spectrum, especially had to prove its loyalty to America. Only after the elec- in his support for women’s rights and labor reform. In tion of JFK did Catholics begin to think of themselves the twentieth century, I’d put names like Jim Wallis and as part of the American establishment, and then, still Tony Campolo on that list, along with Nancy Hardesty, somewhat distantly. Mark Hatfield, and Jimmy Carter. I think the U.S. bishops’ encyclicals on war and the economy in the 1980s began a new engagement of Ca: What do you think will be the most important cultural Catholic leadership with U.S. political life. Issues with or political issue engaging American Christians in the com- ted Pre SS the Obama administration on health care and their ing decade? opposition to the HHS policy mandating coverage of JG: It ought to be economics, but we’ll continue to be

contraceptives is another such moment where we see a consumed by sexuality. The sexuality conversation is he A SSoci refusal to go along with the status quo. Whether it will important because it has to do with the well-being and AMS / t be effective is another question. civil rights of many Americans. Even so, as a person d oFFice

who studies the nineteenth century, I’m always shocked ert A Ca: Who is on your short list of the most important reform- to see how concern and activism about poverty takes a ers in American Christianity? back seat to other issues. toriAN ’S hiS worth: ro B

JG: Martin Luther King, Jr. But we shouldn’t overlook DD: Political forces are going to push conversations ty

other civil rights activists who made the movement about same-sex marriage and contraception. The his- ou N work in local communities, people like Fred Shuttles- tory of church control on these issues does not sit well Fred Shuttle S JiMMy cA rter: Nov AS tock Photo worth and Fannie Lou Hamer. with the modern sense of individual freedom. How- cAyug A c

38 Christian History in the lion’s den Left: The

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (in hat) social i challenged segregated busing in Birmingham, Ala., by joining white passengers on a city bus, Dec. 26, 1956. Shuttlesworth boarded the bus hours after a bomb exploded inside his Collegeville, Ala., house. MP ac T Forum

ever, there is more at stake than making allowances for hands-on approach Above right: Committed to social individuals who want to choose these things. There justice and basic human rights during his presidency, the openly is a push for requiring everyone to acknowledge new born-again Jimmy Carter began holding an annual Habitat definitions of marriage and to provide contraceptive for Humanity workday in 1984, giving a boost to the famous coverage. Although these issues seem to be primarily Christian housing ministry. about sex, they also touch on economic realities of mar- riage, children, and families in our society as well as on fundamental political issues such as the freedom of good is always understood in light of the truth revealed religion and the freedom of conscience. in Christ. Christ, not American political life, is the mea- sure of the church’s political engagements. ca: What is the relationship of social engagement and politics? ca: What are high-water and low-water marks of Christian rB: People of faith have every right to bring their reli- social engagement in American history? Does the list change gious convictions into the arena of public discourse. The depending on where you are coming from? public sphere would be impoverished without those I think low points are the silence about lynching

ted Pre SS JG: voices. At the same time, we must remember to observe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rules of civil discourse in a pluralistic society. as well as the lack of welcome of European Jews dur-

he A SSoci Too often, evangelicals have succumbed to the lure ing the Holocaust by both the U.S. government and the of “majoritarianism,” which is the idea that if I can church leaders who had politicians’ ears. AMS / t d simply muster a majority I can impose my vision of It’s interesting that you ask about where you are oFFice

ert A morality on everyone else. That violates both the letter coming from. I think the issues should be determined and the spirit of American democracy. by looking at Jesus’ work with suffering and marginal toriAN ’S dd: I believe that (as Stanley Hauerwas would say) people. I think that where you are coming from typi- hiS worth: ro B ty “the first task of the Church is to be the Church.” In cally matters in an unhelpful way. ou N more Catholic terms, the church has received both a For middle-class folks to assist an impoverished revelation and a mission from Christ. This puts it in family has historically meant a patronizing relation- Fred Shuttle S JiMMy cA rter: Nov AS tock Photo cAyug A c service of the good of all and the good of each, but that ship between giver and receiver. So maybe the question

Issue 102 39 ought to be, How does the person in the “helper” or nowhere to lay their heads In 1890 Jacob “advocate” position learn to listen to the person he or Riis (1849–1914) published his photojournalistic she is trying to help or advocate for? A little Gospel exposé of New York’s immigrant slums, How the reading can help here. Other Half Lives. Images such as this one, Street Arabs at Night, stunned complacent Christians into Ca: What are the top social issues that should concern the benevolent action to help the nation’s poor. modern church? e, N y rB: Jesus told his followers to care for “the least of these.”

I find it difficult to evade our collective responsibility for suspicions of capitalism as hostile to Christianity. esour C those on the margins of society. This concern animated Finney, for example, rebuked capitalism because he t Art r

evangelical social reformers in the nineteenth century. said its fundamental self-interest was incompatible A I also believe we’re once again seeing the damag- with the Gospel. He suggested that “business ethics” hive ing effects of unrestrained capitalism, just as during the was an oxymoron. “Gilded Age” late in the nineteenth century. There are dd: I think that the most fundamental moral truth

vast disparities in wealth and a vicious cycle of poverty is the dignity of the human person. Most of the truly he Art Ar C for the have-nots. What I find even more distressing horrible moments in history—genocides, mass enslave- ork / t is the assumption that capitalism is somehow divinely ments—happened when the personhood of vulnerable sanctioned. I get a kick out of evangelicals saying that populations was denied. I think that this means that Barack Obama can’t be a Christian; he’s a socialist. First we need to look to the most vulnerable populations— of all, he’s not a socialist, but when was the last time poor, marginalized, aged, disabled, unborn—and shore these critics read the Acts of the Apostles? up the laws and the relationships that will offer them of the City New y During my recent research into the ideas of some protection, especially in a society that is increas- CH evangelicals before the Civil War, I found pervasive ingly driven by utilitarian values. Museu M

40 Christian History Recommended resources Social impact Resou R MANY RESOURCES EXIST TO HELP navigate the landscape of American Christian engagement with culture. Here are a few books, web resources, and articles from past issues of Christian History, to get you started. (You can access these articles most easily by going to the online version of this issue at www.christianhistorymagazine.org and clicking on the titles of the articles that interest you. For a list of all of CH’s back issues, see http://www.christianhistorymagazine.org/index.php/ back-issues/.) Survey hiStorieS • William McLoughlin, • Harry Stout, “Preaching the Insurrection” (issue Re vivals, Awakenings, and 50). Explores the power of the sermon in colonial Reform: An Essay on Reli­ America: “A n g r y colonists were rallied to declare inde- gion and Social Change in pendence and take up arms because of what they heard America, 1607–1977. Explores from the pulpit.” ces the rela tionship between re vival awakenings and social reform movements in American history. nineteenth Century • Daniel Dreisbach, “The Wall of Separation” (issue • John McGreevy, Catho­ 99). “The rancorous presidential election of 1800 lics and American Freedom: brought religion to the forefront of public debate and A History. Studies the way had lasting repercussions for the relationship between Catholics have participated church and state.” in American intellectual life and how they have both cooperated and conflicted with Protestants over vari- • Jennifer Graber, The Furnace of Afflic­ ous social issues. tion: Prisons and Religion in Antebel­ lum America. This history of Protestant involvement with prison reform focuses early Settlement, Colonial, and on the many ways in which the reformers’ revolutionary periodS ideals ultimately failed. • Mark Galli, “Defeating the Conspiracy” (issue 62). “For decades all manner of people and circumstances • Vincent Hardin, “God’s Avenging conspired against African Americans even hearing the Scourge” (issue 62). “Nat Turner’s rebel- gospel, let alone responding to it in freedom and joy.” lion, the bloodiest in slave history, was driven by his prophetic visions.” • Justo González, “Lights in the Darkness” (issue 35). “It is true that the exploitation and immense cruelties • William Kostlevy, “Saving Souls and Bodies” (issue of the [American] Conquest were done in the name of 82). “For some critics, the term ‘holiness movement’ Christ, but it is also true that some in the same Name has conjured images of navel-gazing holy rollers. This chose to live in solidarity with the exploited.” caricature is simply not accurate. The movement’s most enduring legacy is a nationwide network of missions to • Will Gravely, “You Must Not Kneel Here” (issue 62). the socially and economically disadvantaged . . .” Recounts how Richard Allen, the first Christian bishop of African descent in North America, founded the Afri- • Timothy Miller, Following in His Steps: A Biogra­ can Methodist Episcopal Church, “one of America’s first phy of Charles M. Sheldon. truly independent black denominations.” The novel In His Steps (1897) famously urged social • The editors, “In the Wake of the Great Awakening” engagement on Protestant (issue 23). “The Awakening not only brought spiritual churchgoers. This biogra- renewal to God’s people, and new conversions, but salt phy of its author highlights and light to the society around.” his own social involvement.

• Wesley Roberts, “Rejecting the Negro Pew” (issue • Ted Olsen, “By Any Means 45). “Discrimination motivated blacks, where possible, Necessary” (issue 62). “Black to organize their own churches, though white leaders abolitionists were tired of actively opposed that.” waiting for a gradual peace- ful end to slavery.”

Issue 102 41 • Gari-Anne Patzwald and William Kostlevy, hold their property in common, just as the apostles had “From Mutual Aid to Global Action” (issue 84). apparently done in early Judea . . . [and] insisted that God Recounts the history of Anabaptist mutual aid and called for a distinctive people reflecting the kingdom of service ministries. God in all essentials of economic and family life.”

• Albert Raboteau, “The Secret Religion of the • Timothy Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform: Slaves” (issue 33). “By the eve of the Civil War, Christi- American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil anity had pervaded the slave community.” War. This is one of the first modern scholarly books to systematically and sympathetically treat religious • Dana Robert, “The Mother of Modern Missions” motivations for nineteenth-century social reform. (issue 90). “By bravely going where no American wife had gone before, Ann Hasseltine Judson inspired • Tim Stafford, “The Abolitionists” (issue 33). “After generations of women to become missionaries.” the Civil War, abolitionists were lionized. Then, soon, they were forgotten. They still are.” • Bruce Shelley, “Counter-Culture Christianity” (issue 45). Examines how Christians before the Civil War • Harry Stout, Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral participated in social experiments where they “agreed to History of the Civil War. Explores the dark side of

Faith and society: a timeline by Gary Scott Smith

• 1624 Virginia establishes the Anglican Church. • 1864 “In God We Trust” is added to currency. • 1630 English Puritans found Massachusetts Bay • 1880–1925 The Social Gospel movement Colony where church and state are closely linked. • 1892 Trinity v. the Supreme Court declares that the • 1636 Roger Williams is banished from Massachu- United States is a Christian nation. setts Bay Colony and founds Rhode Island as a • 1920 American Civil Liberties Union is founded haven for religious dissenters; first colony to allow freedom of worship. to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws • 1649 Maryland adopts Act of Toleration providing of the United States. religious liberty. • 1947 Americans United for the Separation of Church • 1681 Quaker William Penn founds Pennsylvania, and State (initially Protestants and Other Americans which permits religious freedom and soon becomes United for the Separation of Church and State) is the most religiously diverse colony. formed to defend religious liberty and argue for • 1702 Maryland establishes the Anglican Church. government neutrality on religious matters. • 1737–1749 The First Great Awakening • 1954 “Under God” is added to the Pledge • 1785 James Madison pens “Memorial and of Allegiance. Remonstrance against Religious Assessments.” • 1962 Engel v. Vitale rules school prayer • 1786 Virginia enacts Thomas Jefferson’s “Statute for unconstitutional. Religious Freedom,” disestablishing the Episcopal • 1963 Abington School District v. Schempp rules (formerly Anglican) Church. devotional Bible reading in public schools is • 1789 U.S. Congress passes the Bill of Rights. unconstitutional. • 1791 States ratify the Bill of Rights, including the • 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman establishes standards for First Amendment. legislation pertaining to religion. • 1799–1840 The Second Great Awakening • 1996 Charitable Choice Act is passed, allowing • 1818 Connecticut disestablishes the government officials to purchase services from Congregationalist Church. religious providers. • 1833 Massachusetts disestablishes • 2001 President George W. Bush creates the Office of Congregationalism, the last state establishment. Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

42 Christian History Social impact ResouRces 43

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