From Publishers Weekly
While the roles of American clergy have changed over the past 400 years, this thorough account argues that the narrative of decline is unwarranted: in congregational leadership... the clergy have as much authority now as they did in the 17th century. According to Holifield, professor of American church history at Candler School of Theology, the gospel is both world denying and world affirming, which means that clergy stand in an irreducibly paradoxical relation to American culture. After summarizing the roots of Christian ministry from the first century through the Reformation, Holifield traces the shifts in authority from the American colonies through 2005. Using parallel chapters covering Protestant and Catholic issues, he weaves in portrayals of African-American clergy and the contested place of women in the ministry. Topics include the trend toward an educated clergy and their ongoing professionalization; the populist revival, which valued religious enthusiasm over theological accomplishment; increasing tensions between liberal and conservative Christianities; the social gospel; the changing role of the laity; and the impact of Vatican II. Holifield's section on clergy from 1970 to the present is tantalizingly brief but incisive. Full of detailed research, this balanced historical study is clear, well-organized and perceptive. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Interpretation
"This volume is a masterful performance. . . Writing an integrated narrative involving many streams of Christianity over a four hundred year period is no small achievement. Holifield accomplishes this with excellence and grace. He has created a readable account from a vast array of material, both primary and secondary. In my judgment, this volume will become a classic. It will be of interest to all who practice ministry as well as those who are preparing to enter its ranks."
Reviews in Religion & Theology
"Brooks Holifield has undertaken the significant task of chronicling the story of America's clergy. He does so with grace and eloquence, making God's Ambassadors must reading for any one, clergy or scholar, interested in the place of Christian ministry, Protestant or Catholic, in American life. A book that is not just readable, interesting, challenging, but that is also a book to which clergy and scholars should give close attention. (Starred Review)."
Stephen J. Stein
— Indiana University, Bloomington
"E. Brooks Holifield has framed the social and ecclesiastical contexts and the historical development of the Christian ministry in America in its denominational complexities with fresh clarity and insight. His work on the diverse and changing challenges to clerical authority will be of great interest to social and religious historians, to the general religious public, and especially to members of the clerical profession or those in training for it. This volume will immediately become the standard historical account of the topic for many years to come."
Mark Chaves
— Duke University
"Brooks Holifield has synthesized a vast amount of scholarship into a compelling story, gracefully written. God's Ambassadors will stand for a long time as the authoritative history of Christian clergy in America, but this remarkable book is more than that. It is a new history of religion in America, one with the clergy at center stage."
Publishers Weekly
"While the roles of American clergy have changed over the past 400 years, this thorough account argues that the 'narrative of decline' is unwarranted. . . Holifield's section on clergy from 1970 to the present is tantalizingly brief but incisive. Full of detailed research, this balanced historical study is clear, well-organized, and perceptive."
Katarina Schuth, O.S.F.
— University of St. Thomas
"In this extraordinarily well-documented historical account of the ministry in the United States from its early stages, Brooks Holifield captures a sense of the soul of the minister. His engaging descriptions of the varied missions of 'God's ambassadors' are threaded with just the right combination of fascinating details and serious theological reflection. The reader comes away with a balanced understanding of the achievements and disappointments of these ministers, both Protestant and Catholic. Through the centuries their work has left a deep impression on American culture, and Holifield's unique history brings to life the significance of their contribution."
