American Evangelicalism: Embattled and ThrivingUniversity of Chicago Press, 1998 M10 16 - 310 pages Evangelicalism is one of the strongest religious traditions in America today; 20 million Americans identify themselves with the evangelical movement. Given the modern pluralistic world we live in, why is evangelicalism so popular? Based on a national telephone survey and more than three hundred personal interviews with evangelicals and other churchgoing Protestants, this study provides a detailed analysis of the commitments, beliefs, concerns, and practices of this thriving group. Examining how evangelicals interact with and attempt to influence secular society, this book argues that traditional, orthodox evangelicalism endures not despite, but precisely because of, the challenges and structures of our modern pluralistic environment. This work also looks beyond evangelicalism to explore more broadly the problems of traditional religious belief and practice in the modern world. With its impressive empirical evidence, innovative theory, and substantive conclusions, American Evangelicalism will provoke lively debate over the state of religious practice in contemporary America. |
Contents
Resurrecting Engaged Orthodoxy | 1 |
Evangelicalism Thriving | 20 |
Explaining Religious Vitality in America | 67 |
Toward a Subcultural Identity Theory of Religious Strength | 89 |
Evangelicalism Embattled | 120 |
Excursus Belief Plausibility in Modern America | 154 |
Ironies of Subcultural Distinction Strength and Ineffectiveness | 178 |
Conclusion | 218 |
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American evangelicalism American society Anabaptist Assemblies of God attend Baptist woman believe Berger Bible Billy Graham boundaries Carl Henry Charismatic Christ Christian morality churchgoing Protestants collective identities commitment conflict conservative construct cultural defectors denominations distinction doubters doubts evangeli evangelical churches evangelicalism's example feel Finke fundamentalism gelicals gious God's going Harold Ockenga human important individual involved Jesus kind liberal Christian liberal Protestants lifestyle live Lutheran mainline and liberal mainline Protestants mean Methodist modern nation neo-evangelical non-Christians nondenominational nonevangelicals nonreligious outgroups participation Pentecostal percent personal influence strategy pluralism pluralistic political Presbyterian woman problems Protestantism questions Reformed REFUSED reli religion religious beliefs religious faith religious groups religious identities religious strength religious traditions religious vitality respondents Roman Catholics sample secular self-identified simply sociology of religion spiritual subcultural identity theory suggest survey follow-up Table tend theological things think Christians thrive tion worldview