Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: executive influence, evangelical business leaders, evangelical executives, White House, President Reagan, Ivy League (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University who has previously worked with pollster George Gallup Jr., looks at the rise of evangelical Christian influence in the spheres of power of American public life: political, intellectual, cultural and economic. Based on interviews with 360 leaders from these spheres, including two former presidents, as well as a command of what everybody else has heretofore written, Lindsay demonstrates how over the past two decades evangelicals have moved into positions of great influence. From a sociological point of view, their path to power is easy to discern through networks of relationships or institutions that have seeded larger political and economic institutions. This growing network has produced new leaders whose ideas and actions are motivated by their Christianity. The interviews allow Lindsay to cite numerous examples that make his point persuasively. He is a sympathetic observer who understands that evangelicalism is as reformist as any other movement that has ascended to power in America. Yet he also understands that evangelicalism has made accommodation to the larger public life it seeks to reform, a tension he calls elastic orthodoxy. This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Evangelicals, as D. Michael Lindsay demonstrates with impressive research and inexhaustible energy in Faith in the Halls of Power, have made great strides in entering mainstream institutions like academia, government, the media and business...Lindsay accurately reflects the evangelical subculture he describes...He works hard, incredibly hard, to get across his points that evangelicals are present in all our prominent institutions and that we should get to know them better."--The New York Times Book Review
"This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to."--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Fascinating"--John Schmalzbauer, Wall Street Journal
"An impressive and admirably fair-minded book: anybody who wants to understand the nexus between God and power in modern America should start here."--The Economist
"It's the rare scholarly book that could appeal to a nonacademic audience. Like the powerful people it covers, the book refuses to accept a narrow identity. It aims to make waves in the larger world."-Lisa Gray, Houston Chronicle
"A remarkably balanced look at what Lindsay describes as 'the most discussed but least understood group in America today.' Combining academic rigor with flowing prose, Lindsay presents the fruits of over 10 years of research on elite evangelicals, including unprecedented interviews with 360 of them, among them two former presidents. Lindsay lets these leading evangelicals speak for themselves, but he also points out their inconsistencies and omissions...Those looking to understand the current generation, however, would do well to read D. Michael Lindsay, for he captures the complexities of evangelical life in a book that no one interested in the current state of American life can ignore."--The Weekly Standard
"Mr. Lindsay refreshingly bypasses the usual media impulse to treat evangelical leaders, their institutions and followers as exotic outcroppings of the American power elite. Adopting instead a clearly sympathetic view of the exercise of religious ideas in the public sphere, Mr. Lindsay is able to elicit not only the now-familiar story of the evangelical elite's post-Reagan era prominence, but also the less-appreciated story of how those same leaders' dalliance with worldly power is reshaping contemporary Protestant piety."--New York Observer
"This well-written history of the rise of evangelicals in American society provides a scholarly account of the motives and methods of how this new religious movement has reached the peaks of power in politics, academia, business, media, and philanthropy. The book is thorough and full of facts, outlining what makes a person evangelical and how evangelicals have acquired so much influence...delivers a clear picture of how evangelicals have become a dominant force in the United States...for people wanting an understanding of how evangelicals have acquired so much power, money, and influence in the past 30 years, this is the ultimate insider's book."--Sojourners Magazine
"If your schedule and normal reading load means you can only read one book on contemporary American evangelicalism per year, THIS is the one you need to grab."--Evangelical Studies Bulletin
"Faith in the Halls of Power is the most sophisticated and comprehensive study of Evangelical leadership and power in America."--Commonweal magazine
"This definitive work addresses the whos, whys, whats, and implications of the evangelical movement's increasing impact on the realm of politics and the marketplace...Highly recommended."--Library Journal
"A well-written, thoroughly researched, nuanced, and elegant account of the rise of evangelicals. It is an important volume that merits the attention of academics and nonacademics alike."--Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"People of faith have an enormous impact on our society. Michael Lindsay's brilliant book has the story everyone else has missed. You must read this book."--Senator Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN)
"Jesus tells his followers to 'be in the world but not of the world.' This has created tension for the faithful from the first century Church until today. D. Michael Lindsay takes the reader where faith meets politics and culture. This book explores how modern evangelicals struggle to apply the principles of Christ to an ever-changing society. Faith in the Halls of Power provides crucial insights into how evangelicals are influencing and being influenced by our world."--Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR)
"For more than three decades evangelical Christians have been self-consciously assuming positions of leadership across virtually all sectors of American society. Michael Lindsay's fact-filled book, based on his unique collection of personal interviews, presents a striking self-portrait of this new elite and how they reached power."--Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University, and author of Bowling Alone
"Quick, which of these fellows exercises more influence upon American life: Michael Moore or Rick Warren? If your answer is Michael Moore, you should read this book. It's an engaging account of how evangelical leaders like Rick Warren and many, many others have swept into the halls of power--from the White House and corporate boardrooms to the Academy and Hollywood. Through interviews with more than 350 evangelicals in leadership positions, Michael Lindsay provides a fresh, valuable portrait of a powerful force in modern America."--David Gergen, Advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton
"Michael Lindsay got it right. As someone of faith who has been in the public eye for many years, I can say that he tells the story of faith-based leadership with all its perils and possibilities accurately and with deep insight." --Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and Leading at a Higher Level
"Whether you are a disgruntled evangelical who sometimes fears that the media's caricature of evangelicals is true or a skeptic who dismisses evangelicals as members of the flat-earth society--or something in between--this is the book for you! Through D. Michael Lindsay's first-rate scholarship, we are given a fair and accurate account of who evangelicals really are and how they have influenced our culture for the good. In our age of divisiveness and distrust, this is a welcome contribution."--Rebecca Manley Pippert, author of Hope Has Its Reasons and Out of the Salt Shaker
"An outstanding book. If more proof were needed that simple stereotypes about American evangelicals, whether from Left or Right, are inadequate, this book supplies it abundantly." --Mark Noll, author of America's God
"Evangelicals are sometimes painted as complete morons; sometimes they're marginalized, sometimes demonized, sometimes ignored. Seldom are they presented as a multifaceted movement with texture, tension, depth, and even paradox. Michael Lindsay strikes the needed balance and presents 'the state of the union' for Evangelicals in the U.S." --Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian
"Given the confusion and misunderstanding surrounding the evangelical movement in the U.S., Michael Lindsay has produced a work of lasting importance. A keen and disciplined researcher of the religious scene, Lindsay has drawn upon hundreds of personal interviews with evangelical leaders representing the power centers of politics, academe, entertainment and business. He brings readers a clear and authentic account of the extent to which evangelicals are changing America."--George Gallup, Jr., Founding Chairman, The George H. Gallup International Institute
"Who are those evangelicals? Where did they come from? And what do they intend to do with our country? Such questions asked by innumerable Americans receive in this book a response that is both sympathetic and critical. Michael Lindsay puts all of us into his debt with this thoughtful analysis of the rise of a new center of leadership in our public life."--The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, Editor-in-Chief, First Things
"Faith in the Halls of Power is an extraordinary, definitive examination of Evangelical participation in American cultural and political affairs. Lindsay brings a gift for thoughtful, clear writing to bear on an impressive amount of research, and the entire project is guided by a sincere and refreshing effort to be fair. It sparkles with insight."--Frederica Mathewes-Green, columnist for Beliefnet.com and author of Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy
"Drawing on hundreds of personal interviews, Michael Lindsay has richly captured what C. Wright Mills would have never seen a half century ago - but has now become a potent pillar of America's 'power elite.' United by faith and friendship, evangelicals have built the networks, acquired the assets, and embraced the calling to remake American politics and culture. Faith in the Halls of Power is a compelling portrait of one of the most far-reaching but least appreciated social transformations of our time."--Michael Useem, Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Leadership and Change, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
"Michael Lindsay's new book gives us a strikingly lively account of American Evangelicalism at a time when an elite that was once largely closed to Evangelicals now includes them in significant numbers. He makes it clear that Evangelicalism is a diverse phenomenon, even in some respects an amorphous one, but in one regard, devotion to radical individualism, Evangelicals are more similar to than different from other Americans. In this crucial respect they cannot be considered counter-cultural, which may be encouraging or depressing news depending on one's point of view." --Robert Bellah, co-author of Habits of the Heart
"The stereotype of Evangelical Christians as uneducated, rural, and culturally marginal has been slow to break down. Yet Evangelicals are prominent among political and economic power brokers, active in cultural production, and increasingly well represented among elite university students. Mich...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (September 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195326660
• ISBN-13: 978-0195326666
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,591 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #57 in

  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Church History > Protestant

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Read, October 1, 2007

By	G. B. Landrum (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michael Lindsay's Faith in the Halls of Power is a compelling read. His book reveals what is really going on behind the scenes in the evangelical world.

It is extremely encouraging to any evangelical who has become weary over the negative image of evangelicals. There is a lot of good happening out there that Lindsay reveals through his many interviews. It is a very intriguing study filled with real life stories of Christians who are in places of strategic leadership.

Those in the non-evangelical world would gain tremendous insights from this book as well.

Barry Landrum

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christianity - personal faith, powerful idea, March 26, 2008

By	Dan Panetti "Worldview Director" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Influence - funny word, interesting concept. Michael Lindsay, professor at Rice University, examines the idea of cultural influence and how evangelicals - those who would say they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - have exerted influence at the highest levels in our contemporary society. From politics to the arts, Lindsay found and interviewed literally hundreds of these evangelical men and women and explored their paths to influence. Lindsay notes that evangelical influence in the culture is undergoing resurgence - having taken a back seat to "personal evangelism" and the spiritual disciplines as the sole expression of the Christian faith in years past. Today, Christians do more than read their Bibles and pray - they vote, they paint, they teach in some of the leading universities, they run some of the largest companies...and many more are doing so as Christians than in the recent past. Of course, there was a day following the Reformation up until the time of our Founding Fathers, that it was commonplace for Christians to live and work as followers of Christ - but even recently the story of William Wilberforce once again raised the issue of Christian "ministry" and the idea of one's vocation as one's calling being the same thing.

I found the book an interesting read and a great history lesson valuable for all Christians to understand. Having been raised in a Christian home that engaged the community, I remember learning as a young man that not every Christian believed it was their duty or even their responsibility to make a difference in the world in which they lived. The terms "cultural mandate" or "worldview" were not frequent or familiar to many Christians in the late `60s or early `70s...but today those terms are becoming more familiar and acceptable to the Christian community. Lindsay does a great job of exploring the progress this movement has made, not examining the movement itself, but its slow climb from obscurity and irrelevance to reasonable and relevant. As one employed in this venture at the secondary school level, I found that Lindsay's research stopped short of examining the issue to this degree and depth as he explored the college campus, but not below. I found the book to be interesting, helpful and encouraging and a worthwhile read especially for anyone seeking to make a difference in the world for the cause of Christ.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-needed work on the subject, November 19, 2007

By	David (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Three years of research brings an excellent, well needed work to the subject of the influence of evangelical Christians in American society. D. Michael Lindsay does an outstanding job. I highly recommend it.