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In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a
precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to
astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture
also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character.
As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in "The
Twilight of the American Enlightenment," postwar Americans looked
to the country's secular, liberal elites for guidance in this
precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to
articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its
course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents,
paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm
new moral vision--one rooted in the Protestant values of the
founders.
A groundbreaking reappraisal of the country's spiritual
reawakening, "The Twilight of the American Enlightenment" shows how
America found new purpose at the dawn of the Cold War.
Throughout her history America has possessed a rich religious
component largely comprised of different traditions of the
Christian faith. This tide of personal religious devotion connected
to government observances and policies has ebbed and flowed through
time, but it has always been a part of American identity--one that
is full of social and political debate. As such, "Christian
America?" presents a hearty point-counterpoint discussion about the
nature of the relationship Christianity has had to American
politics and culture throughout the country's existence, aiming to
determine which of these four differing opinions is most
appropriate.
David Barton (WallBuilders) supports the idea that America is
distinctly Christian based on centuries of authoritative government
declarations.
Jonathan D. Sassi (College of Staten Island) believes America is
distinctly secular based on the nation's religiously eclectic and
secular beginning (particularly the emphasis on "the complete
separation of church and state").
William D. Henard (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) sees
America as essentially Christian, making his case for the nation's
crucial faith component while exploring varied interpretations of
comments like one made in 2009 by President Barack Obama:
"Although... we have a very large Christian population, we do not
consider ourselves a Christian nation..."
Daryl C. Cornett, the book's editor, argues that America is partly
Christian, a nation that was shaped by a blend of religious and
non-religious tendencies. He writes, "After the Civil War steady
decline in religious adherence was the impetus for evangelicals to
mythologize American history and pine for a return to a golden age
of Christian faith and virtue at its founding that never existed."
Hundreds of thousands of professors claim Christian as their
primary identity, and teaching as their primary vocational
responsibility. Yet, in the contemporary university the
intersection of these two identities often is a source of fear,
misunderstanding, and moral confusion. How does being a Christian
change one's teaching? Indeed, should it? Inspired by George
Marsden's 1997 book The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship,
this book draws on a survey of more than 2,300 Christian professors
from 48 different institutions in North America, to reveal a wide
range of thinking about faith-informed teaching. Placing these
empirical findings alongside the wider scholarly conversation about
the role of identity-informed teaching, Perry L. Glanzer and Nathan
F. Alleman argue that their Christian identity can and should
inform professors' teaching in the contemporary pluralistic
university. The authors provide a nuanced alternative to those who
advocate for restraining the influence of one's extra-professional
identity and those who, in the name of authenticity, promote the
full integration of one's primary identity into the classroom. The
book charts new ground regarding how professors think about
Christian teaching specifically, as well as how they should
approach identity-informed teaching more generally.
Traveling evangelist John Brown believed that conventional colleges
had become elitist and morally suspect, so he founded a small
utopian college in 1919 to better combine evangelical Christianity
and higher education. Historian Rick Ostrander places John Brown
University in the long tradition of Christian education, but he
also shows that evangelicalism had largely separated from
mainstream higher education by the twentieth century. This engaging
and objective history explores how John Brown University has
adapted to modern American culture while maintaining its
evangelical character. Brown set out to educate the poor, rural
children of the Ozarks who had no other opportunity for schooling.
He wanted to instill in them not only religious zeal but also his
conception of what constituted significant work, namely manual
labor. His concern with practical work is evident today in programs
for broadcasting, engineering, teacher education, and business. His
sons made academic excellence an institutional priority and
gradually transformed the school into an accredited, respected
liberal arts college. Head, Heart, and Hand deftly connects the
story of John Brown University to the larger currents of American
education and religion.
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