The Age of Evangelicalism Americas Born-again Years the Gospel Coalition Review
The Age of Evangelicalism: America'southward Built-in-Again Years
Published by Oxford University Printing in 2014
Reviewed by Cody R. Hawley, Advice, University of South Florida
When George Gallup dubbed 1976 the twelvemonth of the evangelical, he foreshadowed and promoted an increased evangelical involvement in politics. Jimmy Carter, with casual talk of his born-again religion, established its relevance in the public mind and reporters were often scrambling to understand this apparent religious ubiquity. Yet few observers could accept predicted but how dominant a strength evangelicals would get in the following decades. Historian Steven Miller reconsiders this influence by guiding the reader through a rich narrative of evangelicalism's identify in American society over the past half century. The pervasive influence of evangelicalism, he argues, is too great to be termed a mere subculture; it surpasses the label. Instead it might be more than useful to consider the previous iv decades every bit constituting a distinct Age of Evangelicalism.
To explore this thesis Miller investigates how politicians, academicians and cultural personalities came to reverberate on evangelicalism's increased presence with complex and competing responses. Miller makes the compelling case that evangelical history is more telling when it is not express to self-identifying evangelicals; by widening the inquiry to include non-evangelical actors as central agents in the cultural drama the profound influences of evangelicalism's deep infusion into public life emerges. The result of this approach is an enthralling tale, assisted by Miller'southward natural penchant for story-telling that manages to be refreshing while recounting familiar events.
To judge the extent of evangelicalism'south impact, Miller embraces an impressive diversity of sources. For example the reader is treated to a tale of sociologists such as Peter Berger proposing his secularization thesis and so slowly recanting in the face of accelerating religiosity and Robert Bellah's critique of Civil Organized religion; this is paralleled with Bob Dylan'due south surprising built-in-again profession of faith, Hal Lindsey's apocalyptic Late Great Planet Earth, Marabel Morgan's anti-feminist The Total Women, and President Nixon's White House drama – all in the same chapter!
Miller structures his book into six capacity largely revolving around elections, with the kickoff two chapters describing evangelicalism'south rise in the seventies and so devoting one affiliate each to every proceeding decade. In chapter 1 Miller places the beginning of the "age" of evangelicalism merely prior to the fervor of Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal. Common cold War religiosity had angry an adequate brandish of civic spirituality oftentimes in the course of civil faith. Later Nixon'southward resignation, evangelicalism came to presume office of the place ceremonious organized religion had created during a time of cocky-examination. In chapter 2 Miller hones in on how the Evangelical Left and Right attempted to harness this new political enthusiasm. The heightened visibility of evangelicalism was undeniable but it was still unknown what the political implications of information technology would be. Jimmy Carter gave initial evidence that politicalized evangelicalism may assist the Left. All the same many evangelicals were soon perturbed that Carter'southward organized religion did non necessarily translate into desirable social policies. Powerful voices in the Evangelical Right such as Jerry Falwell, Francis Schaeffer, and Pat Robertson emerged as his harshest critics. By the 1980s evangelical conservatives mobilized into a powerful religious coalition.
Chapter 3 explores the drama of Reagan-era evangelicalism. To many, the power of the Religious Right threatened to erode whatever semblance of church building and state separation. While the Reagan assistants's nods to the Evangelical Correct oft lacked substance, the perceived muscle of the Religious Correct led to an anti-evangelical panic. The Left, alarmed at this rightward shift, tried to assault the Christian Right without seeming to discredit all Christians and evangelicals, lest they offend moderate and progressive evangelicals that would be more than sympathetic to their cause. The Evangelical Correct meanwhile started blurring the aforementioned distinctions in the public heed. This leads well into chapter 4, containing both the George H. W. Bush-league and Bill Clinton administrations. Metaphors such equally the "culture wars" and the "naked public foursquare" came to boss the style events were framed, becoming imprinted on political America's interpretive consciousness. Politicians and scholars alike were forced to fence the proper identify of religion. Miller hither devotes sizable infinite to academic commentary of the times. George Marsden, Marker Noll, Martin Marty, and others – whom Miller terms the "Thoughtful Evangelicals" – produced superb evangelical scholarship with an of import bear on on intellectual society.
The Climax of the "Age of Evangelicalism" in Miller's narrative is the presidency of George W. Bush, discussed in chapter 5. Here we detect the triumphs and extremes of evangelicals' rise: Bush's compassionate conservatism, the establishment of the Firm Office of Religion-Based and Community Initiatives, and an executive society establishing exceptions for doctrine-based hiring. Furthermore evangelicalism thrived in mainstream popular culture with such artifacts equally Rick Warren'south Purpose Driven Life and Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins' outrageously successful Left Backside premillennialist thrillers. These excesses, Miller argues, along with Bush's plummeting popularity in his final term, led to a "Second Evangelical Scare" that fanned more anti-Evangelical Right sentiment and mobilized the Evangelical Left. Barak Obama in his 2008 entrada capitalized on this opportunity, equally Miller explores in the final chapter. Assisted by disenchantment with Bush-league every bit well as the Democratic Party's renewed attempts to narrow the perceived God gap, "Obamagelicals" became a pregnant source of support in his successful presidential campaign. The hope for alter and Obama's conciliatory, respectful tone on bug such every bit abortion appealed to moderate evangelicals, allowing Obama to survive the potentially damning Jeremiah Wright controversy. Miller argues that the shift between 2006 and 2008 was rapid and desperate, resulting in a partial unraveling of the evangelical alliance and renewal of the Evangelical or Progressive Left.
By the 2012 election, however, Miller claims "the Historic period of Evangelicalism was winding downwards" (161). Every bit he argues in the epilogue, neither candidate exemplified traditional evangelical underpinnings and by in big, religious issues played a minor office. Miller sees a movement amongst bourgeois Christians toward ecumenism and a wane in their overall political authority. At that place seems to be a simultaneous fragmentation and exhaustion. These points collectively are taken to support his thesis that the previous half-century, as an Historic period of Evangelicalism, reached in apex in the early Bush years, but before long grew into disenchantment and changes that may have portended the twilight of the Age of Evangelicalism.
The story is oft familiar and will non introduce much new material to the skillful on American evangelicalism. Readers looking for completely new or undiscovered ideas may be disappointed. But Miller excels in reframing the narrative in such a way that encourages readers to see evangelicalism as more just a movement express to Christians; his narrative shows that evangelicals have, for ameliorate or for worse, occupied a primal position in the American experience; one cannot properly understand recent American events without seeing the connections to this Christian motion.
Age of Evangelicalism is for those looking for an introduction to the built-in-over again phenomena in American culture as well as readers looking for a forceful historical argument that places evangelicalism to a higher place the cultural periphery and into the middle of American experience. Miller is a gifted writer with a knack for flowing a diverse cast into a smooth flowing narrative, which allows Historic period of Evangelicalism to be surprisingly brief for the textile it covers. By Miller's effortless blending of popular culture, political drama, and intellectual inquiry the reader is presented to the disparate ways non-evangelicals and evangelicals akin came to terms with built-in-over again identity.
Notwithstanding the volume's brevity is besides its weakness. By roofing and then much territory Miller is forced to gloss over or forego analyses of other social factors that may have contributed to the story. Frequently, information technology seems for the sake of flow the narrative omits minute and detailed analysis of the American events. The work would have particularly benefitted from more infinite defended to Evangelical Left in the heart of the book. The account in emphasizing bourgeois evangelicalism's forcefulness at times relegated the Evangelical Left to the back seat. But a completely comprehensive account was not the principal aim of the volume; making a strong example that evangelicalism has been positioned at the core of American consciousness was more important and he is convincing in that claim.
If ane accepts Miller'southward argument that America has been entrenched in an Evangelical Historic period, the reader volition be prompted to wonder what is adjacent. Evangelicalism is now forced to redefine itself. Near readers will acknowledge that evangelicalism has inverse and entered a new stage; however, disagreement will arise about whether information technology should be considered the stop of an age. Show abounds that evangelical presence will continue to dominate the upcoming years. The recent Hobby Anteroom Supreme Courtroom example, questions of religious liberty and pluralism, and debates over LGBTQ rights are but a few examples; pop media has only increased its investments in evangelical civilisation with movies such equally Noah, Son of God, God's Not Dead, Exodus, and Sky is For Real produced in the past few years. Christian rapper Lecrae saw his distinctly Christian album rank number one on the Billboard charts. American evangelicalism may exist in a transitory stage just mayhap we all must wait and see whether we are witnessing a finale of an age or a new human activity.
Cite this article
Cody R. Hawley, "The Age of Evangelicalism: America'south Born-Once again Years", Christian Scholar's Review, 45:1 , 93-95
kellermanbiles1972.blogspot.com
Source: https://christianscholars.com/the-age-of-evangelicalism-americas-born-again-years/
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