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Evangelical Political Theology from the Great Awakening to the Moral Majority Joseph D University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, History, Department of Department of History 4-2014 "Heal Their Land": Evangelical Political Theology From the Great Awakening to the Moral Majority Joseph D. Harder University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the History of Religion Commons, Political History Commons, and the United States History Commons Harder, Joseph D., ""Heal Their Land": Evangelical Political Theology From the Great Awakening to the Moral Majority" (2014). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 67. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/67 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. “HEAL THEIR LAND”: EVANGELICAL POLITICAL THEOLOGY FROM THE GREAT AWAKENING TO THE MORAL MAJORITY by Joseph D. Harder A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Benjamin G. Rader Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2014 “HEAL THEIR LAND”: EVANGELICAL POLITICAL THEOLOGY FROM THE GREAT AWAKENING TO THE MORAL MAJORITY Joseph D. Harder, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2014 Adviser: Benjamin G. Rader In the 1970s, a movement arose among white American evangelicals and fundamentalists that has been labeled variously as the “Christian Right,” or more broadly, “the Religious Right.” While they had not been entirely apolitical in the middle decades of the twentieth century, in the 1970s many theologically conservative Protestants began to organize specifically around their religious concerns, forming a number of groups—of which the Moral Majority was the best-known—in an effort to “bring the nation back to God.” They also moved to the political right, joining forces with “New Right” activists who were seeking to push the Republican Party in a more conservative direction. This dissertation examines the deep roots, long development and vigorous deployment of the ideology of the leaders of this movement. This ideology can be described as a “political theology,” since these evangelicals and fundamentalists thought and wrote in theological categories. Leaders like Jerry Falwell believed that the nation had been founded in a special relationship with God; that it was now being corrupted by an anti-God philosophy; that things as varied as abortion, the push for gay and lesbian rights, the lack of prayer in public schools, the Equal Rights Amendment, and attempts to reduce the nation’s nuclear weapons were evidence of this corruption; and that the time might be short before God judged America. In the words of II Chronicles 7:14, these leaders sought to “heal their land.” iii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the course of researching and writing this dissertation, I had a conversation with a family friend, a woman who has known me since I was a boy. When she heard that my topic was the political views of evangelicals, she expressed interest. She and I both would consider ourselves evangelicals, and she is from a rural community in central Nebraska that would be almost entirely “red,” to use the color-coded parlance for Republican that has become popular in recent years. Yet from the vantage point of her eight decades in that community, she looked with some bemusement on the political affiliations of her neighbors, recalling a time when many in that same community voted for Franklin Roosevelt, the New Deal, and Democrats. Why is it, she asked me, that so many evangelicals now vote Republican? I attempted to answer her question, fumbling for a succinct response. This dissertation is an attempt to do better, although it is hardly succinct. In part, what I am doing here is attempting to explain evangelicals to themselves, to elucidate the origins of the political ideology that many of them take for granted. For many evangelicals, a Democratic affiliation—common a generation or two ago—would be unthinkable now; in many of their churches, theological conservatism is assumed to translate into political conservatism. As an historian and a pastor, perhaps I can in some small way bring clarity to the thinking of my fellow evangelicals. I have no desire to tell them how or whether to vote. But my friend’s question is an excellent one, and worth pondering. Why the alliance between Republicans and evangelicals? Why do many evangelicals accord politics the importance they do? iv I am also attempting to explain evangelical conservative political theology to outsiders, for to many non-evangelicals—even to some evangelicals who do not share it—that ideology is mystifying at best. To those who are less generous, it is willfully obtuse or incoherent in its commitments. These include a so-called “pro-life” stance on edge-of-life issues—abortion and euthanasia—while supporting capital punishment and calling for less aid to the poor; a prophetic scheme that details the end of this world while expressing little concern for earth-care in the present; ardent support for Israel regardless of that nation’s actions; suspicion of the broadly accepted theories of evolution and climate change; denigration of “big government” while simultaneously seeking government enforcement of “morality” and an expansion of military spending; and a fervent and unqualified belief in America’s “Christian” past despite evidence that might temper that claim. Many of these stances make little sense to those outside the ideology. That could be said, of course, of any political ideology; any such ideology seems strange to those do not share it. Yet thoughtful outsiders will seek to understand, and I hope to assist in that process. I may not share much of the political ideology of the Christian Right, but I do share most of the basic theological commitments of the evangelicals who are part of the movement, and I do not wish to see them misunderstood or caricatured. I am grateful for that conversation and many others over the years that have helped me think through these issues. I am also deeply grateful for the kindness and flexibility of my fellow Christian disciples at St. Paul’s Evangelical Country Church, the church I pastor; I could not have completed this project without their willingness to let their pastor dabble in academic pursuits. Nor would I have started this particular project without the suggestion of Tim Borstelmann, a member of my committee and valued v professor, who encouraged me to tackle a project that is quite sweeping in scope. My adviser, Benjamin Rader, agreed to continue to serve as such even upon entering retirement. I thank him for his unfailing generosity of time, his insightful questions, and his suggestions that helped me deepen and clarify the story I attempt to tell. A number of others have provided help and encouragement along the way. I am grateful to Abigail Sattler, archivist at Liberty University, and Ben Brick, librarian at Grace University, for their assistance. Gary Nebeker alerted me to several useful sources. This history would be a much poorer one without them; its flaws, of course, belong to me alone. This dissertation has truly been a family project. My parents have engaged in many hours of conversation about the Christian Right; my father, also a pastor, has always been a wise and trusted sounding board. My three young children have patiently put up with this project taking large amounts of my time. As one of my young daughters asked many months ago: “Daddy, why do you keep talking about Falwell?” And regarding my wife, Lisa, I can only say that whatever knowledge I have gained in the course of my studies pales in comparison to a truly wise thing I did: marrying her. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction. Revival and Reform 1 Chapter 1. The Roots of Evangelical Patriotism 24 Chapter 2. Fundamentalism, Modernism, and Neo-Evangelicalism 56 Chapter 3. Conservative Protestants, Civil Rights and Cultural Change 97 Chapter 4. The Diagnosis of “Secular Humanism” 134 Chapter 5. Looking Back, Looking Ahead 162 Chapter 6. The Formation of the Evangelical Right 198 Chapter 7. Evangelical Political Theology in the Age of Reagan 226 Bibliography 253 1 INTRODUCTION REVIVAL AND REFORM It is a war of ideology, it’s a war of ideas, it’s a war about our way of life. —Paul Weyrich, conservative activist On September 23, 1949, the American public learned that the Soviet Union had atomic weapons. “We have evidence,” the Truman administration announced in a statement, “that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the U.S.S.R.” The news was not entirely unexpected; Americans had known that Soviet acquisition of bomb technology was probably inevitable. But the speed of the Soviet development came as a surprise. An article in Time magazine declared: “For the first time, U.S. citizens would know, as much of the world had known since 1945, how it feels to live under the threat of sudden destruction—coming like a clap of thunder and a rattle of hail.”1 Three days after the White House announcement, a thirty-year-old preacher from North Carolina began a three-week series of evangelistic meetings in Los Angeles, California. It was a campaign that would launch Billy Graham’s career as America’s most famous preacher of the twentieth century.2 Graham was quick to incorporate the sense of fear engendered by the new threat into his sermons. “Russia has the bomb now,” he preached in rolling cadences to the crowd assembled under a canvas tent, “the nation’s in an armament race, and we’re at each other’s throats, with hate between us, and 1.
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