THE STRUGGLE TO SHAPE AMERICA

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.