In 1925, H.L. Mencken scoffed that if he heaved an egg out of a
Pullman window anywhere in the country, he would hit a
fundamentalist. But by 1930, defeated by their public humiliation
in the Scopes "monkey trial," those same fundamentalists seemed to
have disappeared. Or had they? In this groundbreaking new book,
historian Carpenter, provost of Calvin College, argues that
fundamentalists did not vanish in the 1930s and '40s - they went
underground and built a unique and powerful subculture, with Bible
schools, foreign mission societies, seminaries, camp meetings, and
mom-and-pop publishing houses. Carpenter traces the vitality of the
fundamentalist movement from 1925 to 1950, arguing that
fundamentalism actually expanded during the '30s, when mainline
Protestants were experiencing a precipitous decline. What's more,
these militantly antimodern crusaders eagerly embraced the most
cutting-edge of mediums, radio, to proclaim their old-time gospel
message. Radio evangelists like Paul Rader and Charles Fuller gave
fundamentalists a respectability they had coveted since Mencken's
hurtful depictions of them as ignorant backwater bumpkins. Radio
was fundamentalism's entry into many American homes. In the 1940s,
the highly successful Youth for Christ movement built on this
media-savvy precedent, gaining mass appeal with slick publicity
campaigns and evangelists be-bopping from the pulpit to
contemporary big-band tunes. So when the nation as a whole began
turning to religion in the anxious days of WW II and its aftermath,
fundamentalists were at the ready with their well-established
infrastructure. The "prophet" who arose from this fundamentalist
subculture and was a product of its Bible schools, radio
ministries, and revival circuits was the legendary Billy Graham,
who helped bring fundamentalism further into the American
mainstream. A valuable contribution to a critical but neglected era
in fundamentalist studies. (Kirkus Reviews)
At the end of the 1920s, in the aftermath of the Scopes `monkey trial', fundamentalism in the USA was intellectually bankrupt and publically disgraced. Yet it not only survived, but in the 1940s re-emerged as a thriving and influential public movement. Joel Carpenter looks at the evolution of fundamentalism during its `hidden years' and uncovers the reasons for its survival and resurgence. Opening entirely new historical territory, this important study provides a fresh understanding of the persistence and influence of fundamentalist religion in American culture.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
