|
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Other Protestant & Nonconformist Churches > General
In The Future of Evangelicalism in America, thematic chapters on
culture, spirituality, theology, politics, and ethnicity reveal the
sources of the movement's dynamism, as well as significant
challenges confronting the rising generations. A collaboration
among scholars of history, religious studies, theology, political
science, and ethnic studies, the volume offers unique insight into
a vibrant and sometimes controversial movement, the future of which
is closely tied to the future of America.
How is it that some conservative groups are viscerally
antigovernment even while enjoying the benefits of government
funding? In "Piety and Public Funding" historian Axel R. Schafer
offers a compelling answer to this question by chronicling how, in
the first half century since World War II, conservative evangelical
groups became increasingly adept at accommodating their hostility
to the state with federal support.Though holding to the ideals of
church-state separation, evangelicals gradually took advantage of
expanded public funding opportunities for religious foreign aid,
health care, education, and social welfare. This was especially the
case during the Cold War, when groups such as the National
Association of Evangelicals were at the forefront of battling
communism at home and abroad. It was evident, too, in the Sunbelt,
where the military-industrial complex grew exponentially after
World War II and where the postwar right would achieve its earliest
success. Contrary to evangelicals' own claims, liberal public
policies were a boon for, not a threat to, their own institutions
and values. The welfare state, forged during the New Deal and
renewed by the Great Society, hastened--not hindered--the
ascendancy of a conservative political movement that would, in
turn, use its resurgence as leverage against the very system that
helped create it.By showing that the liberal state's dependence on
private and nonprofit social services made it vulnerable to
assaults from the right, "Piety and Public Funding" brings a much
needed historical perspective to a hotly debated contemporary
issue: the efforts of both Republican and Democratic
administrations to channel federal money to "faith-based"
organizations. It suggests a major reevaluation of the religious
right, which grew to dominate evangelicalism by exploiting
institutional ties to the state while simultaneously brandishing a
message of free enterprise and moral awakening.
Ezra Taft Benson is perhaps the most controversial
apostle-president in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. For nearly fifty years he delivered impassioned
sermons in Utah and elsewhere, mixing religion with
ultraconservative right-wing political views and conspiracy
theories. His teachings inspired Mormon extremists to stockpile
weapons, predict the end of the world, and commit acts of violence
against their government. The First Presidency rebuked him, his
fellow apostles wanted him disciplined, and grassroots Mormons
called for his removal from the Quorum of the Twelve. Yet Benson
was beloved by millions of Latter-day Saints, who praised him for
his stances against communism, socialism, and the welfare state,
and admired his service as secretary of agriculture under President
Dwight D. Eisenhower. Using previously restricted documents from
archives across the United States, Matthew L. Harris breaks new
ground as the first to evaluate why Benson embraced a radical form
of conservatism, and how under his leadership Mormons became the
most reliable supporters of the Republican Party of any religious
group in America.
Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future. Luke Schrock is
a new and improved man after a stint in rehab, though everyone in
Stoney Ridge only remembers the old Luke. They might have forgiven
him, but nobody trusts him. Amos and Fern Lapp allow Luke to live
at Windmill Farm under two conditions. First, Luke must make a
sincere apology to each person he's hurt--a four-page,
single-spaced list. Second, he must ask each victim of mischief to
describe the damage he caused. Simple, Luke thinks. Offering
apologies is easy. But discovering the lasting effects his careless
actions have caused . . . that isn't so simple. It's gut-wrenching.
And his list keeps growing. Izzy Miller, beautiful and
frustratingly aloof, also boards at Windmill Farm. Luke's clumsy
efforts to befriend Izzy only insult and annoy her. Eager to
impress, Luke sets out to prove himself to her by locating her
mother. When he does, her identity sends shock waves through Stoney
Ridge. Bestselling and award-winning author Suzanne Woods Fisher
returns to her beloved Stoney Ridge for this brand-new series
featuring some of her readers' favorite characters.
This collection of insights about The Book of Mormon adds to and
complements the author's legal publications about freedom of
conscience, evidence and comparative constitutional law. The book
includes insights distilled from contemporary anthropology, careful
analysis of the doctrine of resurrection taught in The Book of
Mormon, philosophical questions about the rule of law which inform
life in contemporary society, and how reflection on the pervasive
New Testament intertexuality in The Book of Mormon should increase
the knowledge of modern readers. Important reading for scholars of
religion and faith, and particularly those interested in
understanding the beliefs and practices of members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world.
Formed in 1972, Jesus People USA is an evangelical Christian
community that fundamentally transformed the American Christian
music industry and the practice of American evangelicalism, which
continues to evolve under its influence. In this fascinating
ethnographic study, Shawn David Young replays not only the growth
and influence of the group over the past three decades but also the
left-leaning politics it developed that continue to serve as a
catalyst for change. Jesus People USA established a still-thriving
Christian commune in downtown Chicago and a ground-breaking music
festival that redefined the American Christian rock industry.
Rather than join "establishment" evangelicalism and participate in
what would become the megachurch movement, this community adopted a
modified socialism and embraced forms of activism commonly
associated with the New Left. Today the ideological tolerance of
Jesus People USA aligns them closer to liberalism than to the
religious right, and Young studies the embodiment of this
liminality and its challenge to mainstream evangelical belief. He
suggests the survival of this group is linked to a growing
disenchantment with the separation of public and private,
individual and community, and finds echoes of this postmodern faith
deep within the evangelical subculture.
|
|