Christian: The Politics of a Word in America
Matthew Bowman
(Author)
Description
Religious diversity has long been a defining feature of the United States. But what may be even more remarkable than the sheer range of faiths is the diversity of political visions embedded in those religious traditions. Matthew Bowman delves into the ongoing struggle over the potent word "Christian," not merely to settle theological disputes but to discover its centrality to American politics.
As Christian: The Politics of a Word in America shows, for many American Christians, concepts like liberty and equality are rooted in the transcendent claims about human nature that Christianity offers. Democracy, equality under the law, and other basic principles of American government are seen as depending on the Christian faith's sustenance and support. Yet despite this presumed consensus, differing Christian beliefs have led to dispute and disagreement about what American society and government should look like. While many white American Protestants associate Christianity with Western Euro-American civilization, individual liberty, and an affirmation of capitalism, other American Christians have long rejected those assumptions. They maintain that Christian principles demand political programs as wide-ranging as economic communalism, international cooperation, racial egalitarianism, and social justice. The varieties of American Christian experience speak to an essentially contested concept of political rights and wrongs. Though diverse Christian faiths espouse political visions, Christian politics defy clear definition, Bowman writes. Rather, they can be seen as a rich and varied collection of beliefs about the interrelationships of divinity, human nature, and civic life that engage and divide the nation's Christian communities and politics alike.Product Details
Price
$29.95
$27.85
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Publish Date
April 02, 2018
Pages
320
Dimensions
6.5 X 1.3 X 9.1 inches | 1.35 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780674737631
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About the Author
Matthew Bowman is Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and Associate Professor of History and Religion at Claremont Graduate University and the author of The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith.
Reviews
A timely and important book. Matthew Bowman brilliantly recovers a now long-forgotten history, in which Americans debated the meaning of 'Christian civilization' and in which evangelicals and conservative politicians made the politics of Christianity their exclusive terrain. Christian is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the trajectory of twentieth-century American culture and politics.--John G. Turner, author of The Mormon Jesus
Bowman tells the rich and complex story of how the term 'Christian' moved rightward from the Civil War to the present, through a series of fascinating chapters that cover unusual and unexpected topics. Anyone who wants to know why 'Christian nation' has come to mean what it does today will want to read this expertly argued book.--Paul Harvey, author of Christianity and Race in the American South
Spanning American history from Reconstruction to the present, Bowman's book shows that the word 'Christian' has persistently borne political and cultural meanings that far transcend theological beliefs and religious practices. Elegantly written, deeply researched, and persuasively argued, Christian sets a gold standard for serious scholarship about a topic that matters.--Grant Wacker, author of America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation
Bowman plunges us headlong into the political tensions behind American Christianity...Bowman illustrates through a series of anecdotes that Christianity has had changeable and politically convenient definitions from the end of the Civil War through the present day...A fascinating examination of the twists and turns in American Christianity, showing that the current state of political/religious alignment was not necessarily inevitable, nor even probable.--Steven Evans"Deseret News" (04/17/2018)
Bowman looks to tease out how religious groups in American history have defined, used, and even wielded the word Christian as a means of understanding themselves and pressing for their own idiosyncratic visions of genuine faith and healthy democracy...Make[s] for an interesting ride through some familiar and forgotten terrain in American religious history.--Micah Watson"Christian Century" (05/22/2018)
A thought-provoking series of case studies that charts the long history of Christian political rhetoric in the United States... Most striking for our current political moment may be Bowman's attention to the ways the politically powerful have used Christianity to claim a divine right to govern, derived--as they saw it--from the superiority of a racialized white Christian cultural heritage. Bowman, in this rigorous study, persuasively argues that Christianity has shaped a collective understanding of the national past and continues to lend spiritual weight to competing visions for America's future.-- (02/26/2018)
Wise and absorbing... In the last three hundred years [the term 'Christian' has] been used in every conceivable partisan way, as invitation and bludgeon, as warning and password. In deeply-researched chapters ranging across the whole of American history but concentrating on the last 100 years, Bowman takes readers through an impressively wide-ranging examination of the many roles Christianity has played in society... Bowman's insights are clear and well-put.-- (04/24/2018)
Bowman...illustrate[s] some of the ways in which Americans have used the language of Christianity to justify wildly diverse social and political perspectives about concepts such as liberty, equality, and democracy...This fascinating book will appeal to readers interested in understanding the historical complexities of a ubiquitous word in American politics that is deceptively difficult to pin down.--Brian Sullivan"Library Journal" (04/19/2018)
Demonstrates with depth and clarity the ongoing struggle over the relationship between Christianity and politics...Well researched and thoroughly engaging, this volume is a masterful achievement that blends scholarship and readability. Without a doubt, historians of religion should incorporate Bowman's work in their courses on American religious history.-- (12/01/2018)
Bowman is fast establishing a reputation as a significant commentator on the culture and politics of the United States.--David Martin"Church Times" (07/27/2018)
Bowman tells the rich and complex story of how the term 'Christian' moved rightward from the Civil War to the present, through a series of fascinating chapters that cover unusual and unexpected topics. Anyone who wants to know why 'Christian nation' has come to mean what it does today will want to read this expertly argued book.--Paul Harvey, author of Christianity and Race in the American South
Spanning American history from Reconstruction to the present, Bowman's book shows that the word 'Christian' has persistently borne political and cultural meanings that far transcend theological beliefs and religious practices. Elegantly written, deeply researched, and persuasively argued, Christian sets a gold standard for serious scholarship about a topic that matters.--Grant Wacker, author of America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation
Bowman plunges us headlong into the political tensions behind American Christianity...Bowman illustrates through a series of anecdotes that Christianity has had changeable and politically convenient definitions from the end of the Civil War through the present day...A fascinating examination of the twists and turns in American Christianity, showing that the current state of political/religious alignment was not necessarily inevitable, nor even probable.--Steven Evans"Deseret News" (04/17/2018)
Bowman looks to tease out how religious groups in American history have defined, used, and even wielded the word Christian as a means of understanding themselves and pressing for their own idiosyncratic visions of genuine faith and healthy democracy...Make[s] for an interesting ride through some familiar and forgotten terrain in American religious history.--Micah Watson"Christian Century" (05/22/2018)
A thought-provoking series of case studies that charts the long history of Christian political rhetoric in the United States... Most striking for our current political moment may be Bowman's attention to the ways the politically powerful have used Christianity to claim a divine right to govern, derived--as they saw it--from the superiority of a racialized white Christian cultural heritage. Bowman, in this rigorous study, persuasively argues that Christianity has shaped a collective understanding of the national past and continues to lend spiritual weight to competing visions for America's future.-- (02/26/2018)
Wise and absorbing... In the last three hundred years [the term 'Christian' has] been used in every conceivable partisan way, as invitation and bludgeon, as warning and password. In deeply-researched chapters ranging across the whole of American history but concentrating on the last 100 years, Bowman takes readers through an impressively wide-ranging examination of the many roles Christianity has played in society... Bowman's insights are clear and well-put.-- (04/24/2018)
Bowman...illustrate[s] some of the ways in which Americans have used the language of Christianity to justify wildly diverse social and political perspectives about concepts such as liberty, equality, and democracy...This fascinating book will appeal to readers interested in understanding the historical complexities of a ubiquitous word in American politics that is deceptively difficult to pin down.--Brian Sullivan"Library Journal" (04/19/2018)
Demonstrates with depth and clarity the ongoing struggle over the relationship between Christianity and politics...Well researched and thoroughly engaging, this volume is a masterful achievement that blends scholarship and readability. Without a doubt, historians of religion should incorporate Bowman's work in their courses on American religious history.-- (12/01/2018)
Bowman is fast establishing a reputation as a significant commentator on the culture and politics of the United States.--David Martin"Church Times" (07/27/2018)
