That's
the subtitle of the 600+ page book that I finally finished reading. The full title is The Evangelicals - The
Struggle to Shape America by Frances FitzGerald. Though the book was at times tedious (to me)
it is a book well worth reading for anyone concerned about where the Church in
America is at present.
As
I have long considered myself an Evangelical Christian, I felt that this book
was a necessary read, especially as the title seems to be almost an oxymoron, and
in itself, I believe, is illustrative of the false dilemma that the evangelical
church finds itself in.
The
author, we are told, "is a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, the National
Book Award and the Bancroft Prize, among others." She is a prolific author of a number of
non-fiction works, though this is the
first I've read. She is now on my
list of authors for future reads.
Ms.
FitzGerald does not (to my knowledge) herself claim to be an Evangelical though
she has written extensively on the subject.
This is what attracted me to her book.
I strongly believe that we Evangelicals desperately need to get outside
of our box and see how we are perceived by others. The book should not be a threat to the
fearful, as she attempts to be objective and even appears to be mildly
sympathetic. The photo on the jacket of
her sitting casually in her blue jeans before a wall of books is, I'm sure,
designed to put the reader at ease: she is erudite, but relaxed and non
threatening.
In
her introduction, she tells us "This book is not a taxonomy or attempt to
describe the entirety of evangelical life, but rather a history of the white
evangelical movements necessary to understand the Christian right and its opponents
that have emerged in recent years" (page 5). In my opinion, she has accomplished her
purpose well.
Ms.
FitzGerald is quite thorough in covering the movement in America. She begins her narrative with accounts of
what are known as "The Great Awakenings" of the 18th and early 19th centuries,
and moves on to the growth of the revivalist churches - Methodists and Baptists - and the movement
away from the older, historical denominations.
From there to the divisions over slavery in the antebellum period, then
to the revivalism and the liberal/conservative divides of the late 19th
century. These movements - the first two
American centuries - are covered quite briefly before she moves to the 20th
century, which period occupies the remaining chapters of the book.
The
first half of the 20th century - the period preceding the Second World War is,
as the first two centuries, covered in a bit hastier fashion, serving as an important
prelude to the post war activities. It
is however in this period we see the Fundamentalist/Modernist conflict and the
great divisions in the church - the
early Pentecostal movement and the founding of smaller separatist
Fundamentalist groups as well as their colleges and seminaries. Of course the Scopes' "Monkey
Trial" is seen as a significant marker, Darwinian evolution and German
"higher criticism" being seen as factors contributing to the
conflict.
After
WW2 the narrative slows down and becomes more detailed. It is here that Ms. FitzGerald seems to see
the beginnings of modern Evangelicalism:
the Billy Graham crusades, the National Association of Evangelicals, Christianity Today magazine and
other periodicals, a movement away from the rigid Fundamentalism of earlier years,
yet without abandoning its theological distinctives.
Though
much of the prewar history was familiar to me, it is postwar history that seized
my attention as more personal; I found much in these pages that I could relate
to, having lived through the period covered.
I suppose I would call myself a
"seeker" during those early postwar years, and then a convert in the
middle '50s. I was involved in a Fundamentalist church for 11 years, then having escaped that
, a Bible church which was less combative, less legalistic, but still holding
the same theology.
Two
major, seemingly incompatible, schools of thought had effects on Evangelicalism
in those years and still do. These
theologies have, to a great extent spread into most of Evangelical thinking,
and are held in different variations, even by many who would never claim the labels:
- Dispensationalism, which had its beginnings
in the early 19th century, has been around so long that its teachings are
accepted by many is essential to Evangelicalsm.
Briefly Dispensationalism holds that God has dealt in different manners
with different groups during various "dispensations." We are presently in the "dispensation of
grace" or the Church Age. However
God has set aside the nation of Israel, to be dealt with in a future
"Great Tribulation" {Ms. FitzGerald mistakenly adds an s to the word)
immediately preceding Christ's "premillennial" return. This is the
form of Evangelicalism with which I am most familiar, having spent most of my
life as a Dispensationalist.
-
Reconstructionism (also known as
Dominionism) holds that God's Law, given to the Nation of Israel, is actually
meant for all nations to be subject to and the task of the church is to somehow
bring this about, leading to the Millennium - 1,000 years of peace at the end
of which Christ will return.
It
would seem obvious that these two schools of thought should be incompatible,
Dispensationalism seeing the situation as inevitably getting worse and worse
and Reconstructionism seeing it as having the potential for getting better and
better. Yet it seems to me that elements
of both are held by much of Evangelicalism, leading to a sort of schizophrenic
theology and thus to a schizophrenic politics.
The
last half of the book is involved with the growth of actions of the Christian
right and the interesting cast of characters that we all know so well: Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham
and James Dobson, as well as brief narratives of lesser but colorful
characters, such as Jim and Tammy Fae Baker, Jimmy Swaggart and other
televangelists. She also deals here with
the fact that many Evangelicals have disagreed strongly with the views and
actions of the Christian Right: Ron
Sider, Jim Wallis, Gregory Boyd and others who are often regarded as
progressives, though I believe they are simply striving to be more biblical in
their ethical and political views.
I
must confess that I have been naive.
Though I have always attempted to keep myself somewhat aloof from the
Christian right, I have found many, perhaps most of my Christian friends and
family sympathetic with their views and so I have tried to not become too
outspoken. I had been unaware of how
great was the constant meddling of these people in the affairs of state. I had thought that what I read in the news
magazines and heard on TV a bit exaggerated, that their picture of Evangelicalism
was a stretch. We're not really like
that. But we are! The massive quantity of data is all there.
The
Christian right has lost its way; the political power that was gained during
the G. W. Bush years has drained away any spiritual power. Evangelicalism has lost its Evangel - its
good news! We are too busy trying to do
as the subtitle says: struggling to
shape America. Christ and His commission
have been left behind!
I
highly recommend this book to any who want to understand how we, the
Evangelical church in American got to the sad state we are in today.
My
two major criticisms:
-
Ms. FitzGerald has underestimated the power of racism in America. Even though she mentions its influence
throughout, I feel she hasn't considered how powerfully it has affected much of
the thinking and many of the actions of the right.
-
She doesn't devote anywhere near the space to the Obama years and what follows
as I would have liked (another 100 pages?).
I believe that the politics of today have been greatly affected by the
theology and racism of the Right - both religious and other.
