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That Old-Time Religion in Modern America: Evangelical Protestantism in the Twentieth Century (American Ways Series)

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The growth and vitality of Evangelical Protestantism and its ascendancy into positions of political influence has come as a great shock to many in the secular culture. It is as if this seemingly backward and insignficant group came out of nowhere and siezed the reigns of the nation against its will. This attitude, shared by many on both coasts, is largely a myopic one born in a period when Evangelical Protestantism had withdrawn into a self-imposed exile and slid into an isolated subculture where it built up walls between itself and other Americans. Now that Evangelicals are again exerting their influence, there is shock on the part of many who assumed their beliefs had been relegated to a tiny rural minority. Yet in many ways, Evangelicals are attempting to reassert a dominance once unchallenged in American society.

Historian D. G. Hart has undertaken a thorough study of the withdrawal and reemergence of Evangelicalism in American culture in That Old Time Religion in Modern America. Hart begins by pointing out Evangelicalism's once dominant position in American culture, it's loss of that position, and speculates that much of the reason Evangelicals tend to feel out of place in contemporary American society is the loss of their once privelaged position in American society.

Hart divides his study of modern Evangelicalism into two parts. The first, stretching from the period of roughly 1920-1960, details the construction of the Evangelical subculture within a self-imposed ghetto when Evangelicals separated themselves from the larger culture and had little interaction with the larger culture. The second period, covering the period of roughly 1960-2000, covered the reemergance of Evangelical Protestants from their cultural withdrawal and their recent attempts to retake the culture for Christian ideals as they perceived them.

Moving effortlessly between the Evangelical response to theological, social, political, and academic controversies, Hart never forgets the importance of the personal conversion experience to Evangelicals. Thus, he is able to understand the Evangelical position on their terms and not just that of an outsider or an antagonist.

The Evangelical movement is reaching a crossroads as many in the movement are now beginning to question its allegiance to conservative politics, its compromises with the popular culture, and its ahistorical approach to theology and worship. In order to judge where Evangelical Protestantism might go in the future, we must first understand its past. D. G. Hart has provided a masterful guide and for those who seek to understand the Evangelical movement, That Old Time Religion in Modern America is essential reading.

In That Old-Time Religion In Modern America, religious historian Hart tackles the history and concepts of evangelicalism, tracing its development over the 20th century in America from its roots in Protestant faiths and agencies to its more modern insertion into politics and culture. An excellent survey which provides much focus on 20th century evangelical effects on modern society.

Hart traces evangelicalism's current reputation by tracing its development over the last hundred years, from its part in the Protestant denominations that modeled American religious thought to its controversies of the 1920s which marginzalized evangelicals in American denominations. An intriguing survey of the course of evangelical Protestantism in this century in America.

I read this after my first semester at Westminster Theological Semianry, where the author used to teach. I didn't like the book for the following reasons:

1. Completely leaves out the Black church, which all of his comtemporary Evangelical historians include in their treatments of Evangelicalism.

2. Tends to be hyper critical at times. He criticizes Adventures in Odyssey for being too works based moralism and too geared towars white suburbans.

3. He doesn't touch Pentecostalism at all. Without Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement, Evangelicalism would not be where it is now.

Overall, I found this book sorely lacking compared to American Evangelical Story, The: A History of the MovementAmerican Evangelical Christianity: An Introduction.

D.G. Hart does it again! If you've not read anything by Hart before, let this one be your first (it certainly won't be your last!). Hart combines accurate history telling with insightful analysis and draws profound conclusions. Through telling the story of 2oth century evangelicalism, Hart points up the inherent tension in evangelical thought and practice. Ever wonder why evangelicals have progressive (read: unchurchy) worship services and yet have conservative politics (i.e., wanting to make the world look like the church?). Hart answers this interesting question.

Here are just some of the better quotes from the book:

"For many evangelicals, the way they thought of their own quest for holiness was also the way that they ended up thinking about society . . . . The moral strenuousness of evangelical piety ordinarily invites born-again Protestants to demand of society the same sort of righteousness they expect from one another. [However] To conclude that Tim LaHaye, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, the Moral Majority, or the Christian Coalition represent[s] the political views of all evangelicals would be a mistake." (D.G. Hart, That Old-Time Religion in Modern America, p. 169).

"Yet at Fuller's opening exercises, students, faculty, and well-wishers heard more about the wretched state of Western civilization and the need for Christian thinking than they did about the condition of American churches and the importance of well-trained pastors" (D.G. Hart, That Old-Time Religion in Modern America, p. 115)

"In other words, evangelicals seem to be inherently inconsistent, striking a pose at once adaptable and rigid, progressive and conservative, modern and old fashioned, at ease and at odds with American ideals. The result of these apparent anomalies is a religion that on Sunday is comfortable with the church looking like the world (such as CCM) and throughout the rest of the week insists that the world look like the church (as in family values)." (D.G. Hart, That Old-Time Religion in Modern America, p. 215)