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American Evangelicalism - Conservative Religion and the Quandary of Modernity (Paperback)
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American Evangelicalism - Conservative Religion and the Quandary of Modernity (Paperback)
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A competent but dullish sociological survey. Hunter (Westmont
College, Cal.) presents a lot of useful data (originally gathered
by the Princeton Religious Research Center), and he puts the
Evangelicals in a clear historical perspective; but his conceptual
framework is flat and unimaginative. He sees Evangelicals as
fighting a (probably doomed) rear-guard action against modernity;
as engaging in "cognitive bargaining" (compromises with
secularism); as squaring off against the New Class; as retreating
into spiritual narcissism, and so forth: all valid but obvious
points. Hunter's only novel idea is that the way Evangelicals
understand the classic duality of divine transcendence and
immanence results from their projecting into theology the split
between the public and private spheres of contemporary life. In
other words, they abandon the God of power and majesty for a more
personalized Friend because the old "conservative Protestant
symbols" (e.g., hellfire) have been so sharply devalued in the open
market. It's an interesting but unprovable notion. On a more
mundane level, Hunter shows statistically that Evangelicals tend to
be "predominantly white" and "disproportionately female," to have
less income and education than other religious (and non-religious)
groups, to be "grossly underrepresented" in large cities. Somewhat
surprisingly, they are more Democratic than Republican. They abhor
abortion, adultery, divorce, and homosexuality more than members of
other churches do, etc. Hunter's findings, then, are largely
predictable, and he often clothes them in academic fustian (words
like "essentiality," phrases like "world disaffirming sociocultural
environment"). Still, the breadth (if not depth) and completeness
of this compact study make it a handy reference work for students
of American religion. (Kirkus Reviews)
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