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Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism 1st Edition

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Molly Worthen (Author)
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Molly Worthen (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 24 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0199896462
ISBN-10: 0199896461
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  • Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 376 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0199896461
  • ISBN-13: 978-0199896462
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.2 x 6.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsDecent but not deep
By Dan Knauss on October 9, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The subject of Apostles of Reason is white, conservative Protestants (Fundamentalists/Evangelicals) in the United States during the 20th century. Worthen's central theme -- Evangelicals' crisis of authority -- is examined in its many permutations, but it is largely a story of Evangelicals' late 19th century descent into a fractious subculture marked by contradictory impulses to reject and react against mainstream theological and political authorities while also trying to engage if not replace them with more acceptable intellectual (and anti-intellectual) alternatives. Worthen covers how this process has played out within Evangelical circles and institutions on the level of national politics, higher education, and the wider cultural scene.

People familiar with Evangelicalism from the inside whose memories reach back at least to the 1970-80s and earlier will recognize Apostles of Reason as an accurate, fair, and familiar if not particularly illuminating history. Worthen is sometimes critical, but not as much as she could and probably should be. That may be partly due to the limits of what can be made to fit into 265 pages of text followed by 50 pages of endnotes. Given the scope of the subject, that is not enough space for more than a fairly superficial treatment.

That said, I am not at all convinced that it was necessary for the scope of Worthen's discussion of Evangelicalism and racial issues like segregation to take up a grand total of just three pages. This sort of omission seems to intensify rather than interrogate a serious historiographical problem. Worthen rightly notes in her introduction that African American Christians who are by nearly every standard "evangelicals" themselves refuse the label and would really need to be treated in a separate book.Read more ›
4 Comments 61 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Best History Book I've Ever Read
By Brandan Robertson on October 4, 2013
Format: Hardcover
Over the past few months, I have had the honor of interacting with a number of non-Evangelical writers that have dedicated a large portion of their lives to studying and understanding the Evangelical tradition. As I have engaged their works and talked with them personally, I have found that they have an understanding of Evangelicalism that no Evangelical could ever possibly have, and that their criticisms and critiques as well as praises for our movement must be received and heeded with great respect. Dr. Molly Worthen, a professor at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill is one of these insightful non-Evangelical scholars. In her upcoming work Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism, Dr. Worthen highlights some of the biggest challenges that have faced American Evangelicalism throughout the duration of our history and by doing so offers a critique and challenge for the new generation of Evangelicals to come.

This is primarily an academic history text (hence being published by the prestigious Oxford University Press), but it's not at all a dull, dry history book. Dr. Worthens insights and style of writing make this book hard to put down. From delving into the origins of American Evangelical doctrines like Inerrancy to uncovering the foundations of the Religious Right, Dr. Worthen sheds light on the foundations as well as the gaping holes in the Evangelical movement and helps us understanding the truth behind the veil of the image Evangelicals have projected over our short history. The centerpiece of this book is the Dr.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent history of modern Evangelicalism in context of post WWII American culture
By Adam Shields VINE VOICE on October 25, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
Evangelicalism is my tradition. I great up baptist, often going with a friend to an Evangelical Free Church youth group. I participated occasionally in Young Life. I went to Wheaton College and I now attend a non-denominational mega-church. I am solidly Evangelical.

Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism is a history of modern Evangelicalism. And like hearing about your family as an adult, you hear things you thought you knew about, but from a different perspective than what you thought you understood as a child.

Molly Worthen (professor at University of North Carolina) has written an excellent modern history of how Evangelicalism broke away from Fundamentalism and rose in power in the US.

The strongest feature of this history is that Worthen places the history in context. And in context it is clear that many of the features of and changes in American Evangelicalism were not unique or 'God movements' as much as responses to the broader culture of the United State.

As a small example, I have heard about Evangelicalism's commitment to higher education and how in the 1950s and 1960s as Evangelicalism grew it established new colleges and universities or changed old bible schools into real institutions of higher education with properly trained PhDs as the main staff. But Worthen tempers that story by placing that growth (which did happen) as part of a broader professionalization and expansion of higher eduction that was primarily driven by the GI Bill and requirements that schools that were receiving money from the GI Bill be accredited and professional.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 starsGood Golly Ms Molly, You Sure Missed the Boat!

The crisis of authority within evangelicalism that Molly Worthen identifies is to some degree a reality today but her reasons for the present crisis reflect her own biased views... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Felipe Vigosian
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Good overview of 'white' evangelicalism

Published 12 months ago by bob lewis
5.0 out of 5 starsA really smart and beautifully written examination of the tensions in...

A really smart and beautifully written examination of the tensions in the modern Evangelical movement over the whole issue of science, rationality, and faith.

Published 12 months ago by Eric Oliver
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

A friend recommended it. not finished reading it. What I read was what I expected

Published 22 months ago by Alva Steffler
4.0 out of 5 starsGood insights into the origins of the fundamentalist/evangelical...

Good insights into the origins of the fundamentalist/evangelical religious and political movements in the US. Good read if you are interested in the subject.

Published 23 months ago by John H. Gruetzmacher
3.0 out of 5 starsLots of detail. Interesting tracking of basic evangelical ideas ...

Lots of detail. Interesting tracking of basic evangelical ideas through history. Tends to fall for "it existed before so was the cause" fallacy. Read more

Published on July 22, 2014 by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent history of a religious movement

I teach Sunday School at a rural Methodist Church in the South and have, of late, been preparing for a series on the rise of Protestant Fundamentalism in America. Read more

Published on May 31, 2014 by J. Leeper
5.0 out of 5 starsA great history going back almost a century

I lived through much of what was documented in this book. Gives an in-depth perspective helping the reader to understand the various issues that were held and how they have brought... Read more

Published on April 5, 2014 by john stark
5.0 out of 5 starsVery worthy :)

This intellectual history of the American evangelical movement will not satisfy the specialist. It is, however, a wonderfully written book that for me, connected a lot of dots. Read more

Published on February 6, 2014 by John M. Poling
2.0 out of 5 starsA Missed Opportunity

Molly Worthen’s “Apostles of Reason” is an intriguing book. It is both insightful and condescending. It is enlightening while remaining blind to much of its subject. Read more

Published on February 3, 2014 by Darian Burns

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