The Democratization of American Christianity.
NATHAN O. HATCH
Yale University Press
1989
312 pp.
$20.00

One of the most insightful books on American religion ever written, The Democratization of American Christianity is a study in the way that populist preachers, itinerant evangelists, self-taught prophets, and others revolutionized religion during the republic's first few generations. Despite the electrifying presence of a few revivalists, religion in the British Empire's North American colonies was a relatively staid affair, and American religion looked very much like the British version until about 1800. Then began an extraordinary explosion of frontier religion, slave religion, and backcountry revivals--all new movements fired by apocalyptic and prophetic zeal. Suddenly, American religion escaped from the control of educated elites. Folk music and popular culture infiltrated the sanctuary; the socially marginalized formed institutions of their own; intellectually "respectable" theology was eclipsed by biblical literalism and appeals to personal experience and emotion. These features of American religion set a new course for the country and remain very much in force today.

America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln
MARK A. NOLL
Oxford University Press
2005
640 pp.
$21.00

Whereas Hatch recounts the social and cultural history of populist Christianity in the United States, Noll describes how a theology of democracy emerged in American Protestantism. As numerous observers since Alexis de Tocqueville have noted, one of the unique features of American Christianity is that it has almost always taken the side of democracy. This is in marked contrast to what has happened in Europe, where Christianity has most often identified with the political status quo, with established churches (both Catholic and Protestant) loyally supporting monarchical government and aristocratic values. Even dissenting European sects, such as the British Methodists, typically tried to rein in, rather than promote, the democratic instincts of their members. According to this beautifully researched and clearly written account, American theologians in a variety of religious traditions reimagined Christianity in a democratic context and built what Noll calls "a Christian civilization" in the American wilderness. The task posed profound intellectual and spiritual challenges, not all of which were overcome. With careful scholarship and surgical skill, Noll examines the multifaceted process that set American Christianity on the course it continues, for better or worse, to pursue.

Canaan Land: A Religious History of African Americans
ALBERT J. RABOTEAU
Oxford University Press
2001
128 pp.
$9.95.

The democratic, decentralized, revivalist, and populist Christianity that emerged after the American Revolution also provided the context for the emergence of autonomous African American denominations. These institutions allowed African Americans to adapt Christian ideas and values to their own experience and provided leadership at every stage of their struggle for dignity and equality. Raboteau is perhaps a little too enamored of the political side of his story and dwells a little too long and too lovingly on separatist and radical elements in African American religion. This leads him to neglect the most important aspect of his story: the fact that African Americans' shared religious heritage has been one of the most powerful forces both enabling and promoting their integration into the broader U.S. society. No account of American evangelical religion, in particular, is complete without a thorough examination of the African American contribution; this book at least begins the process.

Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
GEORGE M. MARSDEN
Eerdmans
1991
208 pp.
$15.00

This collection of essays serves as a valuable guide to the complex relationship between evangelicals and fundamentalists. Marsden combines sharp profiles of key religious leaders in each camp with historical narrative and theological explanation. The debate between fundamentalists and modernists, the emergence of contemporary evangelicalism, and the theological underpinnings of the "creation science" movement are among the subjects that Marsden illuminates. Particularly valuable is his account of the way that tensions between evangelical outreach and fundamentalist withdrawal play out among transitional figures such as the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Marsden may be the most important contemporary scholar of American conservative Protestantism; this book is a valuable primer to his work.

A Religious History of the American People
SYDNEY E. AHLSTROM
Yale University Press
2004
1,216 pp.
$35.00 (paper)

Ahlstrom's monumental history of American religion remains an excellent introduction to the varieties and complexities of the American religious experience. From the Eastern Orthodox Church to the New Age communities of the "Age of Aquarius," Ahlstrom introduces readers to the organizational history and key theological developments in virtually every significant religious movement in U.S. history. Written before the "new Great Awakening" of modern times, which has catapulted religion back into the center state of U.S. politics, Ahlstrom's book provides badly needed perspective on the ways that American religion has supported a variety of political movements over time. For example, Northern Protestants were key supporters not only of the antislavery movement but of the radical program during Reconstruction. As his account suggests, the present situation in U.S. politics--in which most observant Christians (whether Catholic or Protestant) support conservative Republicans--was not a foregone conclusion, nor was the alliance between Christians and conservatives inevitable.

Imagine! A God-Blessed America: How It Could Happen and What It Would Look Like
RICHARD LAND
B&H
2005
208 pp.
$24.99

This short book serves as an excellent introduction to the social vision of conservative American evangelicalism--at least in its Southern Baptist incarnation. Land offers an unconventional mix of what sounds (at least to the uninitiated) like a religious and ethical boilerplate and utopian aspirations for something different and new. Named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the United States, Land insists that religious conservatives do not want to go back to the 1950s and revive discrimination against women and blacks. Rather, he says, they seek to create a new model for society, one that links the greater social tolerance and individual freedom of recent decades to strong biblical values. Such a view would once have been extremely radical for a prominent Southern Baptist; that Land can espouse it now and be seen, both within his church and outside of it, as an advocate of an unchanging conservative position is quite striking. One of the great secrets of evangelical religion is its ability to adapt to a rapidly changing social environment while appearing traditional and unchanging. This allows its adherents to embrace far-reaching change while believing they are remaining loyal to their deepest traditions. The link between populist, conservative evangelicalism and the dynamism of U.S. society is a powerful one; as Land shows, that link remains strong.

The Late, Great Planet Earth
HAL LINDSEY WITH C. C. CARLSON
Zondervan
1970
191 pp.
$9.99 (paper).

This phenomenally popular book, which has sold more than 15 million copies, remains a key source for understanding the increasingly influential "premillenarian dispensationalist" interpretation of biblical prophecies. According to this view, the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine was both the fulfillment of an old prophecy and the first sign of a dramatic acceleration in the march to Armageddon. Although the details of dispensationalist chronology are fiercely disputed by rival interpreters, Lindsey's book provides a very good introduction to the main outlines of one of the major components of popular American religious belief today, and most of the newer books on biblical prophecy that continue to roll off the presses share Lindsey's basic approach.

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?
RICK WARREN
Zondervan
2002
334 pp.
$19.99

Outselling even Lindsey's book, with 25 million copies sold, Warren's text is a useful window onto the way American evangelicals approach life. Written as 40 meditations and exercises to help Christians get in touch with God's purposes for their lives, the book shows the evangelical sensibility in a private setting, away from politics and theological conflict. Readers will see how the belief in the literal truth of the Bible shapes evangelical piety at many levels and get a fascinating introduction to the birth and growth of Warren's 22,000-member Saddleback Church.