After cloven tongues of fire : protestant liberalism in modern American history / David A. Hollinger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hollinger, David A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liberalism (Religion)--United States.

Liberalism (Religion).

Liberalism (Religion)--Protestant churches.

United States--Church history--20th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (245 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The role of liberalized, ecumenical Protestantism in American history has too often been obscured by the more flamboyant and orthodox versions of the faith that oppose evolution, embrace narrow conceptions of family values, and continue to insist that the United States should be understood as a Christian nation. In this book, one of our preeminent scholars of American intellectual history examines how liberal Protestant thinkers struggled to embrace modernity, even at the cost of yielding much of the symbolic capital of Christianity to more conservative, evangelical communities of faith. If religion is not simply a private concern, but a potential basis for public policy and a national culture, does this mean that religious ideas can be subject to the same kind of robust public debate normally given to ideas about race, gender, and the economy? Or is there something special about religious ideas that invites a suspension of critical discussion? These essays, collected here for the first time, demonstrate that the critical discussion of religious ideas has been central to the process by which Protestantism has been liberalized throughout the history of the United States, and shed light on the complex relationship between religion and politics in contemporary American life. After Cloven Tongues of Fire brings together in one volume David Hollinger's most influential writings on ecumenical Protestantism. The book features an informative general introduction as well as concise introductions to each essay.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. The Accommodation of Protestant Christianity with the Enlightenment: An Old Drama Still Being Enacted

Chapter 2. After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Ecumenical Protestantism and the Modern American Encounter with Diversity

Chapter 3. The Realist-Pacifist Summit Meeting of March 1942 and the Political Reorientation of Ecumenical Protestantism in the United States

Chapter 4. Justification by Verification: The Scientific Challenge to the Moral Authority of Christianity in Modern America

Chapter 5. James, Clifford, and the Scientific Conscience

Chapter 6. Damned for God's Glory: William James and the Scientific Vindication of Protestant Culture

Chapter 7. Communalist and Dispersionist Approaches to American Jewish History in an Increasingly Post-Jewish Era

Chapter 8. Church People and Others

Chapter 9. Enough Already: Universities Do Not Need More Christianity

Chapter 10. Religious Ideas: Should They Be Critically Engaged or Given a Pass?

Epilogue: Reinhold Niebuhr and Protestant Liberalism

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781299261747

1299261744

9781400845996

1400845998

OCLC:

829911035