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Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to "The Passion of the Christ"

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Stephen J. Nichols, Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to The Passion of the Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2008).

In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asked his disciples two provocative questions. First, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" Two recent books by scholars of religion survey the answers of Americans generally. They are Stephen Prothero's American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon and Robert Wightman Fox's Jesus in America: Personal Savior, Cultural Hero, National Obsession. But Jesus went on to ask the disciples, "Who do you say I am?" In Jesus Made in America, historian Stephen J. Nichols surveys the answers of American evangelicals particularly. What he finds makes for disturbing reading.

Nichols begins, as historians of American Christianity must begin, with the Puritans. He critiques the Puritans for failing to live out a Christlike ethic, with regard to native Americans, African slaves, and Salem witches. Otherwise, however, he sets up their two-nature Christology and Christ-centered spirituality as a standard from which their evangelical successors have fallen. Christianity is a religion of head, heart, and hands - of doctrine, devotion, and deeds. Nichols is right to critique the ethical lapses of the Puritans, but they were certainly correct in believing in and worshiping the God-man Jesus Christ.

In a sense, the Revolutionary Era of American history reversed the error of the Puritans. They emphasized deeds over doctrine and devotion. Typical of this emphasis, a young Benjamin Franklin wrote: "My mother grieves that one of her Sons is an Arian, another an Arminian. What an Arminian or an Arian is, I cannot say that I very well know; the Truth is, I make such Distinctions very little my Study; I think vital Religion has always suffer'd, when Orthodoxy is more regarded than Virtue." It helps to know that Franklin's mother was a product of Boston Puritanism and that Franklin rebelled against his upbringing. Although there were a few orthodox Christians among the founders - Nichols mentions John Witherspoon, Benjamin Rush, and John Quincy Adams - the Founders were typically Unitarians. They thought highly of Jesus as the human teacher of moral virtue, but no higher than that. Thomas Jefferson went so far as to excise miracles, atonement, and declarations of Jesus' divinity from his copy of the Gospels. By emphasizing virtue and denying divinity, the Founders customized Jesus to meet the needs of their new republic.

In the Democratic Era that followed on the heels of the Founders, Jesus was further customized into the ideal frontiersman. The early nineteenth century saw a sea change in American religious attitude, as the populace shifted from the elitism of the Episcopal, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches to the egalitarianism of the Baptists, Methodists, and Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ. The frontier made no time for abstract theology. It focused on spirituality and ethics, on results, not thinking. In some cases - Baptists and Methodists - the Christological conclusions were orthodox. In other cases - Barton Stone of the so-called Christian churches - they were not. But the methodology by which these conclusions were reached was something distinctly American. There was no need for educated clergy or church tradition. "No creed but the Bible," in Peter Cartwright's formulation. Any man could pick up the Bible and develop whatever doctrinal system he saw fit. And many did. The individualism and rough-hewn character of the frontier gave way to Victorian sentimentality as the frontier closed and the American populace settled in for city life. Jesus was brought inside, bathed, clothed, and made to act respectably. Think of "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," and you'll get the picture of Victorian Jesus. Interestingly, the Victorian Jesus was suitably domesticated to be claimed by both sides of the Civil War. A Jesus who has been stripped of his divinity does not stand outside human systems to critique them; rather, he is product of those human systems, who make him in their own images.

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the reaction to this Victorian sentimentality set in with a vengeance. Social Gospel liberalism saw Jesus as a hero for humanity, liberating the oppressed from the wicked maw of capitalism. This heroic Jesus was not the God-man, however. Harry Emerson Fosdick, perhaps the most famous preacher of that age, made sure that such fundamentalist doctrines were explained away. But others - such as J. Gresham Machen, Fosdick's bete noir - responded with the re-assertion of creedal orthodoxy. "Liberalism regards Jesus as the fairest flower of humanity," Machen wrote; "Christianity regards him as a supernatural person." The battle between Fosdick's modernism and Machen's fundamentalism (a term he hated, and a side he barely wanted to be associated with) continues to this day.

Unfortunately, while one would expect evangelicals - the Puritans' self-proclaimed heirs - to boldly reassert Christological orthodoxy and to reframe real Christianity as a religion of head, heart, and hands, the evangelicals have been busy domesticating Jesus in their own novel ways. Their worship music has turned him into everyone's Boyfriend ("Hold me close to You / never let me go"). Their movies have occluded his divinity. (Even The Passion of the Christ, so lauded by evangelicals and Pentecostals who otherwise would abominate R-rated movies, doesn't adequately portray Jesus' divinity.) Their stores have turned Jesus into a slogan ("Jesus is my homeboy") or a bracelet ("WWJD?") or a doe-eyed Savior (Precious Moments figurines). And their politics has shoehorned Jesus into a proponent of a preconceived right-wing ideology (lately, a left-wing ideology too).

When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter responded with good theology: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." But that theology barely nudged Peter's conceptions of what a Christ should act like. Matthew 16:21-23 tells the rest of the story. Peter had no room for a crucified Savior and rebuked Christ when Christ suggested crucifixion was his destiny. In turn, Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!"

After reading Jesus Made in America, I have begun to wonder whether American evangelicals (and us Pentecostals) might be due for our own exorcism.

I have become a huge fan of Stephen Nichols. He is very good at writing about history without making it terribly boring. I have read three of his books so far and every one of them was very well done. This is one that I didn't really know what to expect but was excited to read it.

What Nichols does is spends the first half or so of the book walking the reader through how particular cultures and people in the past have really shaped our thinking and their thinking of Christ. He starts with the Puritans, then to our founding fathers, the Victorians and the modernists of the early 20th century.

After Nichols goes through these with precision he then gives the reader insight on how we have specifically been affected, or infected, depends on how you see it, through Contemporary Christian Music, Hollywood, Consumerism and Politics.

This part of the book was very informative as Nichols shows how the history of each one of these has led us to where we are currently with Jesus and culture and he doesn't leave any stone unturned. He questions things such as Thomas Kinkade, Precious Moments, The Passion of the Christ, CCM Music Festivals, WWJD bracelets, Christian T-Shirts, Dobson and the extreme politics pulling on Jesus from both sides.

I believe that Nichols unpacks some things that are very worrisome in our day in age where Madonna actually has become a prophetess, even though she falls into the same trap:

Christianity is becoming more of a currency than a belief

Sadly, I think she is right.

This book is extremely well done and I would recommend this to any reader to show what is happening in front of our own eyes and the danger of falling into consumerism Christianity.

This might have been Nichols best book to date. Highly Recommended.

Excellent read! I highly recommend it. After having spent all my childhood years in foreign countries (I'm an American) as well as a good portion of my adult life, I often wondered why I felt like I was a missionary to American Evangelicals and Fundamentalists even though I felt so at home. I couldn't articulate the feeling of being a counter-cultural presence among devout people. Now I know why: I didn't recognize the American Jesus, particularly the Jesus of the Right Wing.

This is book is a must-read for anyone who would serve Jesus in America because we are all, as Isaiah was, a product of our own people.

I originally resisted picking up Jesus: Made In America, in large part because I wasn't interested in reading about how badly the American evangelical culture has treated Jesus. I was pretty sure I was already on the same page with the author. I then heard an interview with Nichols on Mars Hill Audio and was impressed to pick up the book. The bottom line is that we need to be acutely aware of where we have superimposed our cultural and situational biases on the scriptural Jesus and turned him into the kind of Jesus we feel comfortable with.

The first few chapters were filled with great historical insight and analysis. As I read I was enlightened about where the images of Jesus I was accustomed to came from and the points of view to which they owed their form and shape. I especially enjoyed the Billy Sunday Jesus who was portrayed as the manliest man among the manliest of men. He would stand out in a lumberjack convention, and be able to take on any one of them. This portrayal recalled to mind some of the contemporary images of Jesus in books aimed at Christian men.

I also thought the chapter on Contemporary Christian Music was well done and well cited. Recently, I have become wary of the triteness of CCM and what passes for lyrics. Nichols does a great job of uncovering the genesis of the music we get to listen to today, and how its current incarnation is a result of over-commercialization and the power of the dollar. Certainly there is a higher calling in music aimed at glorifying God than selling t-shirts at summer concert series.

Though it was well cited, the footnotes were a little hard to follow. More often than not, instead of a footnote at the end of each reference, a paragraph would end with one footnote and contain a handful of references. That little issue aside, I thought this was a wonderful and enlightening read and useful to anyone concerned with accurately understanding and portraying the Jesus of Scripture.

Within the past decade there have been several good books written and released that examine the place of Jesus in America, e.g. JESUS IN AMERICA by Richard Wightman Fox and AMERICAN JESUS by Stephen Prothero. Stephen Nichols' book, JESUS MADE IN AMERICA is somewhat similar to those books, but a bit more focused. Instead of the focused audience being the reading public at large or Christians in general, the book is aimed more squarely at evangelical Christians. That's not to say a Christian who isn't an evangelical can't take something away from the book. However, the thrust of the book is aimed at illustrating how evangelicals in particular have forgotten the Son of God they profess and have been corrupted by the very culture they have been trying to create, redeem, and engage.

The book has an introduction and an epilogue. It is divided into eight chapters which are basically split by theme into two sections. The first section of the book (the first four chapters) examines the way Jesus has been viewed by American Christians through four different periods of American history: from the Christ-center and Word-rooted Jesus of the Puritans to the enlightened and more humanistic Jesus of the 18th Century to the image-based Jesus of the 19th Century to the Jesus of the modern era who is altered to fit whatever need and image you want of him. Got milk? Try Jesus, instead. He does the body and soul good.

The second section of the book (the last four chapters) examines how Jesus has been used, abused, altered, and debased in our culture. Each of the chapters focuses on a particular area: music, film and television, merchandise, and politics.

I really enjoyed JESUS MADE IN AMERICA. The book addresses many concerns and issues I have had with the modern contemporary Church, but raises them in a much more eloquent way than any other book I have yet, read. But Nichols isn't just a complainer, he offers suggestions on what needs to happen for the Church in America to re-center and regain its focus. The book is also contemporary and discusses not only fads from a century and decade ago, but tidbits that are still quite current (kudos from Nichols for bringing Will Ferrell and TALLADEGA NIGHTS into the discussion).

Overall, JESUS MADE IN AMERICA is a highly enlightening, informative, and entertaining book about the way Jesus has been viewed in America, particularly by evangelical Christians, and what needs to happen in order for evangelicals to become refocused on the Christ whose message they profess to be spreading. Even though some of the points that the book raises will probably offend some evangelical Christians (I have some friends who really need to pay attention to the points about tradition and the importance of having traditions), it is a book that I highly recommend for anyone who is a Christian, particularly anyone who considers themselves an evangelical, or has an interest in Christianity.

Allow me to break standard book-reviewing protocol and simply sum up my thoughts on Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to The Passion of the Christ (IVP, 2008) by Stephen Nichols: One of the most engaging, informative books I've read this year. In fact, I'll be surprised if this book doesn't make my annual Top Ten list of "favorite reads."

Jesus Made in America is not a history of Jesus Christ. Looking at the cover, one might expect to find a novel that tells the story of Jesus in a contemporary setting. No, Jesus Made in America is mainly about America, specifically - how Americans tend to remake Jesus in our own image and to service whatever needs or promote whatever causes we believe are important. Listen to Nichols:

"The history of the American evangelical Jesus reveals that such complexities as the two natures of Christ have often been brushed aside, either on purpose or out of expediency. Too often his deity has been eclipsed by his humanity, and occasionally the reverse is true. Too often American evangelicals have settled for a Christology that can be reduced to a bumper sticker. Too often devotion to Jesus has eclipsed theologizing about Jesus. Today's American evangelicals may be quick to speak of their love for Jesus, even wearing their devotion on their sleeve, literally in the case of WWJD bracelets. But they may not be so quick to articulate an orthodox view of the object of their devotion. Their devotion is commendable, but the lack of a rigorous theology behind it means that a generation of contemporary evangelicals is living off of borrowed capital. This quest for the historical Jesus of American evangelicalism is not just a story of the past; it perhaps will help us understand the present, and it might even be a parable for the future. This parable teaches us that Jesus is not actually made in America. He is made and remade and remade again. What will next year's model look like?" (18)

Nichols sets the bar high by devoting his opening chapter to the Puritan view of Christ. By drawing on the theology of Jonathan Edwards adn the lesser known Edward Taylor, Nichols shows how the Puritans combined a fervent devotion to Christ with a fervent desire to know more about Christ. Overall, his picture of the Puritans helps put an end to some of the unfair generalizations made about the Puritan period. And yet, Nichols does not view the Puritans through rose-colored glasses. He criticizes their propensity to act in unChristlike ways. (41)

Next, Nichols turns to the Jesus of the Founding Fathers. Here, he takes issue with the evangelicals who see their reflection in the beliefs of the founders. Nichols shows from their letters and writings how Jefferson, Franklin, and even Washington and Adams were all basically Deists (though some were more orthodox than others, of course). The Jesus of the founders was focused on virtue, not theology... on morals, not salvation.

With the foundation of the American view of Jesus set (through the pious orthodoxy of the Puritans and the Deistic, individualistic ideals of the Founders), Nichols then takes us through the previous two centuries of Christian life in America. He shows how Jesus was viewed by the frontier people as tough, casting off all ecclesiastical authority. He describes the meek and mild Jesus of Victorian culture in the late 1800's. He watches the rise of liberalism in the early 1900's, making Jesus out to be a "hero for the modern world."

The last four chapters hit closer to home. Nichols devotes space to the Contemporary Christian music scene, the portrayal of Jesus in Hollywood movies, the consumerist impulse that markets and sells Jesus "stuff," and the alignment of Jesus with the Religious Right or Left (depending upon the politician). (My only quibble with Nichols is that he seems to be more enamored with Jim Wallis than James Dobson. But I could be reading him wrong.)

The point of Nichols' book? Jesus is the patron saint of everything. Every culture, in some way, seeks to mold Jesus into its own image. We are all susceptible to the danger. And yet, we can avoid the excessiveness of our own versions of Jesus by listening to Scripture first, tradition second, and experience third (instead of reversing that order, which is often the case in American spirituality).

Nichols encourages us to uphold Jesus in all his glorious complexity, not shrinking back from theological reflection. He helps us learn from the mistakes of those in the past, while offering words of wisdom for those of us seeking to be faithful to Jesus in the present.

Art class was by far my most dreaded class throughout elementary school. The teachers were always nice but the bottom line was that I stunk at whatever I tried to make. I remember on occasion having to make something with either clay or paper mache or whatever. Sometimes I would psyche myself up and really get into it. I'd focus and think and work. But after 30 minutes or so I would look up and see what my classmates had constructed and think, "Dang, my art project doesn't look anything like theirs'."

Sometimes I look up from my work and look around at other Christians and think, "Dang, my Jesus doesn't look anything like theirs'."

Stephen Nichols writes the compelling book addressing how America has molded and shaped a Jesus in accordance with her own desires throughout her short history.

Pivoting out of the Puritan Era, Nichols traces the various season of Christological makeover. He walks through the Jesus of the founding fathers to the Victorian Jesus (weak and effeminate) that clashed with the Frontier Jesus (tough and burly), through the ages of liberalism on up to the days of the Moral Majority.

In an early chapter Nichols (with help from Stephen Prothero) points out a great historical observation as to the declination of the American religion:

"In the early nineteenth century evangelicals liberated Jesus first from Calvinism and then from creeds. Second, following America's Civil War, they disentangled Jesus from the Bible, replacing the sola scriptura (`Bible Alone') rallying cry of the Reformation with solus Jesus: Jesus alone. The final stage came when, in fulfillment of Thomas Jefferson's seminal dream of religious diversity, Jesus was liberated from Christianity itself, which came into fruition in the midst of the post-1965 immigration boom."

The interesting consistency throughout American history is the crafting and molding of Jesus for what ostensibly appears to be good motives but at the end leaves you holding your nose. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident then in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry. In his chapter "Jesus on Vinyl" Nichols shows the origin and growth of the CCM industry. It is not the fact that there is such a thing as the CCM that is so troubling, but rather it is the stale Christology that is so unabashedly promoted that causes concern.

Nichols quotes from several "Jesus is my boyfriend/girlfriend songs" to demonstrate the hollowness and frankly, the utter ubsurdity of singing about nothing when you are talking about Jesus who is, after all, everything!

"Consider some of these lyrics from different songs of Rebecca St. James. In `Take all of Me,' written by Marty Sampson, the first stanza ends with `Take all of me, yeah / all of me.' She also croons, `Take me I am yours' and `All I want is you,' in `Pray.' In her cover of Rich Mullins' `Hold Me Jesus,' she asks Jesus to, well, `hold her' because here life doesn't make sense, and she's `shaking like a leaf.' She adds in another song that she has fallen for Jesus `harder than the first time.' All of these songs focus not on any act of God in history, not on the concrete events of Christ's life and death and resurrection. These songs all lack exactly what Jon Fischer lamented as a great loss, linking Jesus' love not to anything done in history but to the personal experiences of feeling Jesus near, of feeling him close during those hard times. Like a good boyfriend, Jesus show up at the right moment, says the right thing, and knows how to hug. Take out the name Jesus that occurs from time to time and these songs could be sung to a boyfriend."

The morphing of Jesus continues through politics, commercialism, and the silver screen. And thankfully Nichols does a good job interacting with each. His writing style is clear, engaging, full of pithy assessments and biblically refreshing.

Overall I am very thankful that Nichols spent the long hours engaging with this topic so we might in a few hours, be more informed and where need be even corrected. The great lesson in a book like this is that when Christians skip Bible class they will spend their time in doodling a Jesus on their notebooks according to their imaginations. Christians must be informed and reformed by the Word of God. If we are not we will inevitably be back in art class molding a Jesus in our own likeness and then trying to sell him to the culture around us.

I heard excerpts of an early chapter of this book being read over the radio while on a long drive across the northern plains, and I was intrigued enough to buy the book when I got home. Mr. Nichols pinpoints the early planting of the seeds of neo-liberal Christianity in our nation's colonial history, as a reaction to the Puritans; he rightly points out some of the cultural prejudicial misconceptions about Puritans who took a truly renunciate view of government and politics and kept their focus on Christ and His teachings.

As a bit of a blinded patriot who had truly believed much of our country's foundation was established on Christian principles, the exposure of the hypocrisy of (many of) our founding fathers left me red-faced. Nichols then describes the culturalization of Jesus through our nation's history: the meek, effeminate Jesus of the Victorian era, followed by the overly masculinized Jesus of Teddy Roosevelt's America. But around that same time, the counter-Puritan movement began to fully take root in America through the Rockefeller-funded ministry of Harry Emerson Fosdick, who tried to turn Jesus into an American industrialist with wonderful principles rather than the scriptures' supernatural Man-God who came to save us from our sins.

The second half of Nichols' book concentrates on the modern Jesus Movement. Although Nichols describes himself as an American evangelical, he seems pretty well set against any and all commercial efforts undertaken by the evangelical community, such as the Christian music and film industries (he is careful not to bite the hand that feeds him, the Christian book industry). He points out several examples of entrepreneurs who have targeted the Christian market with theologically dubious product, but he doesn't stop there and seems to take delight in pillorying any Christians who are commercially successful.

To some extent I get it: sometimes we have let Jesus' house be turned into a den of thieves. But it begs the questions: How do Christians counteract the strong anti-Christian forces at work in America? And, are Christians to abandon the film and music industries?

For instance, Nichols has no tolerance for any film whose screenplay doesn't come straight from scripture, but as any filmmaker would tell you, scripture doesn't make a very compelling screenplay (nor was it ever meant to). In the end, Nichols' main argument is against experiential evangelization, but if cultural adaptation is experiential, it makes me wonder what is acceptable. Also, the authorities Nichols uses to prove his points are not from the ranks of respected evangelicals but rather liberal theologians like Martin Marty or (often) any secular writer who has a bone to pick with evangelicals.

It reminds me of a specific scriptural anecdote (Matthew 19:13-14; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17) where people were bringing their children to Jesus for prayer. The disciples rebuked these people; apparently, like Nichols, they didn't approve of the experiential approach. Jesus, in turn, rebuked the disciples. Nowhere in Jewish scripture did it say that the Kingdom of God belonged to those with the innocent minds of children, but Jesus stated that for them at that time. The same situation came up with the woman in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus was OK with their spontaneous - albeit non-scriptural - expressions of devotion.

Missionaries in foreign lands often seek to relate the Gospel to the culture of the people they're trying to reach. Apparently Nichols feels that shouldn't ever happen in America. My takeaway from the book was: Puritans good, anything else bad. "Jesus Made in America" is an interesting read, and while it has some constructive history challenges for us, it's also a little disappointing to see this kind of destructive nitpicking coming from within the evangelical movement.

Stephen Nichols' thesis is sound. Jesus in the American evangelical church has been defined by personal experience and often confused with elements from popular culture. The American Jesus is in danger of becoming disconnected from scripture and from the historical creeds and confessions of the church. Nichols argues that the Christology that was worked out in the early centuries of the church has been largely forgotten by evangelical American culture. He first examines the doctrine of the early English speaking church in North America, the Puritans. He follows the evolution of the American Jesus through the American Revolution, the Victorian Era and the early 20th Century. He then chooses a few facets of modern evangelical culture and examines the American Jesus in each: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), merchandising, movies, and politics.

The only problems I have with Nichols' analysis are in some of the examples he uses to prove his point. For instance, in an effort to prove that CCM has come unmoored from historical Christology, he repeatedly cites the song "Hold Me Jesus" by Rich Mullins as an example of the "me centered" theology of our time. While there is no question that much of CCM is oriented by personal experience, I'm not sure Rich Mullins was a good example. In fact, Rich's next song on the same album is called "Creed" which is a recitation of the Apostle's Creed with some commentary; the very thing Nichols argues CCM has cast aside. There aren't many artists that have wrestled with theology and its practical consequences as much as Rich Mullins. In these examples I wish that Nichols had evaluated an artist's entire body of work rather than picking a single song that was focused on personal experience.

In fact, Nichols concedes near the end of his book that personal experience does matter... it just needs to be subordinate to scripture and the historical creeds and confessions of the church.

On the whole, a fascinating read.

Nichols deftly takes us on a 400 year tour through American history, revealing how the general populous thought of, responded to and 'used' Jesus at various key points along the way. It is a tragic story which begins with a God-glorifying, biblically grounded view of Christ by the New England Puritans of the 17th century but ends in our own day with the wholesale highjacking of Jesus by Christian retailers, political activists, evangelistic film makers and the Christian music industry.

Using his skills as a professional historian and keen cultural analyist, Nichols conclusively topples, among others, the popular notions that our nation was founded upon the Christ of the Bible, that Veggie Tales presents an accurate Christology or that wearing Christian clothing and jewelry (or promoting Christian music or movies for that matter) makes for a church where Jesus is truly understood and worshipped and the true gospel is extended compelling the world to follow Him.

The upshot of the Jesus subculture we've made as American evangelicals is a trivialized Christ, a manipulated God and the creation of a Savior who itches us where we scratch rather than the God of the Bible Who brings us to our knees in repentance, hope and worship. If the American Christian ghetto has ever left you mesmerized or cynical due to its consumer-driven hypocrisy and obsession with 'cutting edge Christian culture,' then this book could prove a healing agent of hope in your life. On the other hand, if you happen to be one of the many Christians who swims so deeply in our evangelical subculture that you assume all its trappings are God-honoring and good, then perhaps you need Nichols' book most of all.

Will the real Jesus (not the 'American Jesus') please stand up! This book carefully, graciously and biblically helps us find Him in the crowd.