THE CORE BELIEFS OF SOUTHERN EVANGELICALS: A PSYCHO-SOCIAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EVANGELICAL MEGACHURCH PHENOMENON By Jennifer Eaton Dyer Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Religion May, 2007 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Lewis V. Baldwin Professor David Carlton Professor Volney P. Gay Copyright © 2007 by Jennifer Eaton Dyer All Rights Reserved. 2 For my loving husband, John and my patient, supportive parents, Mark and Debbie Eaton iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the eve of finalizing this dissertation in the winter of 2007, there are many to whom I am truly grateful for their support, aid, and guidance through my academic career. Special thanks to my dissertation committee: Lewis Baldwin, David Carlton, and Volney Gay for their instruction, advice, and the shaping of my work at Vanderbilt University. Many thanks also to Professors Penny Long Marler and W. T. Edwards whose classes and conversations at Samford University started me on this journey. I am also indebted to the DATA Foundation staff for their support of my academic work as well. Thank you for offering me the opportunity to do the work of religion: to care for the least of these. I am especially grateful for my wonderful family and friends. Thanks to my dear husband, John, for continuing to live with me after comprehensive exams and encouraging me in my dissertation writing and loving me still; to my parents, whose support is immeasurable; to my extended family, including my grandparents, for their encouragement; and to my closest friends, for listening. Thanks to all for your inspiration. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. ix Chapter I. THE EVANGELICAL PHENOMENON: THE HISTORY, THEMES, AND SUBCULTURE ................................................................................................................1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Awakenings and Revivals in the United States .......................................................2 Understanding the Differences in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism ................8 The Current Evangelical Subculture......................................................................11 Christian Publishing....................................................................................12 Contemporary Christian Music...................................................................14 Christian Broadcasting: Radio and Television ...........................................19 Christian Education: Private Education......................................................21 Christian Parachurch: Festivals, Concerts, and Conferences......................24 The Political Context of Evangelicals (1979-2005)...............................................28 The NCR and the New South......................................................................28 The Socio-Cultural Context (1992-2005): The Evangelical Landscape................33 Historical and Cultural Context in the United States (1992-2005).............33 Evangelical Faith Leaders: Changing of the Guard....................................34 Conclusion: What is the Face of Evangelicalism Today? .....................................36 II. THE SOUTHERNIZATION OF EVANGELICALISM ..............................................38 Introduction............................................................................................................38 Understanding Southern Culture: Its Origins, (Dis)continuity, Complexity .........41 Origins .......................................................................................................41 Discontinuity vs. Distinctiveness in Southern History .............................42 Complexity Portrayed in Southern Literature ...........................................44 On Regionalism ........................................................................................45 Interplay of Southern and Evangelical Themes: Myth, Perception, and Reality....................................................................................................................48 Southern Myth: Structure, Story, and Psycho-Social Implications ...........48 Southern Perception: Oppositional Southern Culture................................55 Southern Reality: A Place of Violence, Change, and Waning Identity.....60 Southern Civil Religions........................................................................................65 v Jews in the New South: A Comparative Approach to Understanding Regional Influence upon Reformed Jewish Communities.....................................74 Conclusion .............................................................................................................76 III. A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF SOUTHERN EVANGELICALISM ........78 Introduction............................................................................................................78 Varieties of Southern Evangelicalism: Examining the Evangelical Megachurch Phenomenon...........................................................................................................79 A Weberian Approach to Southern Evangelicalism ..............................................82 “Class, Status, Party”: A Look at the Socio-economic and Honorific Status of Southern Evangelicals.................................................................85 A Typology of Southern Evangelicalism: Stark and Bainbridge...............89 Spiritual Marketplace or Religious Theatre?: A Critique of Wade Clark Roof’s Spiritual Marketplace (1999).....................................................................91 About a Praise & Worship Service: Participant-Observation....................91 A Brief Summary: Rational Choice Theory ..............................................93 Building a Model: Spiritual Marketplace or Theatre? ...............................95 Praise & Worship Service As Theatre: Why Megachurches Are Growing ...................................................................................................101 Class, Race, and Gender: A Space for Small Change..............................102 Evangelical Megachurch Phenomenon as Social Construction, as Production................................................................................................104 Third Space as Liminal for Revivals: Megachurches, Festivals, and Conferences..............................................................................................108 Creativity or Compliance?: Southern Evangelical Theatre as Space for Playing and Reality..................................................................................109 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................113 IV. A PSYCHOLOGY OF SOUTHERN EVANGELICALISM: AN OBJECT- RELATIONS APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE NARRATIVE OF EVANGELICALS .....................................................................................................115 Introduction..........................................................................................................115 Object Relations Theory: Theory and Discourse.................................................117 From Freud to ORT—A Recapitulation ..................................................117 On Splitting and Projective Identification: Race, Gender, and Sexuality among Southern Evangelicals..................................................................119 Religion as Transitional Phenomenon: The Playing and Reality of Southern Evangelicals .........................................................................................................124 God the Son as a Transitional Object Representation .............................128 Religion of the Self: A Kohutian Interpretation of Southern Evangelicals .........132 Tracing the History of Narcissism ...........................................................132 In the Human Realm: Idealized, Mirroring, and Twinning Selfobjects ..134 Among the Divine: Idealized and Mirroring Selfobjects.........................135 Signs of a Mature Narcissism? ...............................................................138 vi The Personal Myth of Franklin Graham: Conflicts of a Southern Evangelical...140 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................145 V. A PSYCHOLOGY OF SOUTHERN EVANGELICALISM: A PSYCHOANALYTIC DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH TO AN INVESTIGATION OF BELIEFS .......148 Introduction..........................................................................................................148 The Psychoanalytic Process: Using the Higher Mental Functioning Hypothesis............................................................................................................150 Unconscious Guilt....................................................................................152 Unconscious Pathogenic Beliefs..............................................................153 The Interplay of Beliefs and Affects: