Power, Politics and the Fragmentation of Evangelicalism: From the Scopes Trial to the Obama Administration - Softcover

Collins, Kenneth J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0830839798 ISBN 13: 9780830839797

Publisher: IVP Academic, 2012

Synopsis

Kenneth J. Collins tells the narrative history of the political and cultural fortunes of American evangelicalism from the late nineteenth century through the contemporary era. He traces the establishment of the evangelical enterprise in American culture and its influences on the political and social values of the American landscape throughout the twentieth century, as well as its fragmentation into competing ideological camps. Underlining how both sides of the liberal-conservative divide have diluted their message through political idioms, Collins suggests a way forward for evangelical political identity that avoids the pitfalls of fundamentalism and liberalism. Will American evangelicalism outlive its partisan history? As Kenneth Collins tells the story, there is reason to think so.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Power. Evangelicals have often sought it for national influence,
and have often lamented its loss. But has this pursuit of cultural clout been
the key to social transformation or the road to an ideological cul-de-sac?
Kenneth Collins narrates the turbulent history of American evangelical
engagement in national life since the 1920s. In the process, he argues,
evangelicals on both sides of the liberal-conservative debates have unintentionally
reduced the richness of their public testimony to an almost entirely
political rhetoric.
Yet Collins tells us that in light of the past--and often in spite of it--there
is hope for the future. With political power in its proper place, evangelicals
of all persuasions can be free to pursue together a calling to be fully engaged
in culture and politics, even while testifying to a kingdom that is beyond all
earthly powers.

About the Author:

Biography Kenneth J. Collins was born in New York City and was raised in an Irish Catholic family. His grandfather, Lawrence Collins, emigrated from Kilrush, County Claire at the beginning of the twentieth century. After living as a practical atheist throughout much of his college years, he had a life-transforming conversion experience upon reading the writings of John Wesley, eighteenth century British leader and founder of Methodism. He is Professor of Historical Theology and Wesley Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary.

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0830839798
• ISBN 13: 9780830839797
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 299