Mainline Christians and U.S. Public Policy

Mainline Christians and U.S. Public Policy PDF Author: Glenn H. Utter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1598840010
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This insightful reference work explores the relationship between mainline Christian denominations and U.S. politics and public policy, from colonial times to the present. Mainline Christian Values and U.S. Public Policy: A Reference Handbook provides a revealing and unbiased look at the emergence of Christian denominations as a political force, primarily from the late 19th century to the present. The book examines the origins, development, current organization and activities, and future prospects of nine mainline U.S. denominations: the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., the Catholic Church, the Christian Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. Readers will encounter a surprising variety of Christian voices offering a range of positions on the Iraq War, abortion, same-sex marriage, global warming, stem-cell research, the death penalty, and other controversial issues.

Mainline Christians and U.S. Public Policy

Mainline Christians and U.S. Public Policy PDF Author: Glenn H. Utter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1598840010
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description
This insightful reference work explores the relationship between mainline Christian denominations and U.S. politics and public policy, from colonial times to the present. Mainline Christian Values and U.S. Public Policy: A Reference Handbook provides a revealing and unbiased look at the emergence of Christian denominations as a political force, primarily from the late 19th century to the present. The book examines the origins, development, current organization and activities, and future prospects of nine mainline U.S. denominations: the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., the Catholic Church, the Christian Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. Readers will encounter a surprising variety of Christian voices offering a range of positions on the Iraq War, abortion, same-sex marriage, global warming, stem-cell research, the death penalty, and other controversial issues.

The Future of Mainline Protestantism in America

The Future of Mainline Protestantism in America PDF Author: James Hudnut-Beumler
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545037
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
As recently as the 1960s, more than half of all American adults belonged to just a handful of mainline Protestant denominations—Presbyterian, UCC, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and American Baptist. Presidents, congressmen, judges, business leaders, and other members of the elite overwhelmingly came from such backgrounds. But by 2010, fewer than 13 percent of adults belonged to a mainline Protestant church. What does the twenty-first century hold for this once-hegemonic religious group? In this volume, experts in American religious history and the sociology of religion examine the extraordinary decline of mainline Protestantism over the past half century and assess its future. Contributors discuss the demographics of mainline Protestants; their beliefs, practices, and modes of worship; their political views and partisan affiliations; and the social and moral questions that unite and divide Protestant communities. Other chapters examine Protestant institutions, including providers of health care and education; analyze churches’ public voice; and probe what will come from a diminished role relative to other groups in society, especially the ascendant evangelicals. Far from going extinct, the book argues, the mainline Protestant movement will continue to be a vital remnant in an American religious culture torn between the contending forces of secularism and evangelicalism.

Mainline Christianity

Mainline Christianity PDF Author: Jason S Lantzer
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814753337
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Since the Revolutionary War, Mainline Christianity has been comprised of the Seven Sisters of American Protestantism—the Congregational Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ. These denominations have been the dominant cultural representatives since the nineteenth century of how and where the majority of American Christians worship. Today, however, the Seven Sisters no longer represent most American Christians. The Mainline has been shrinking while evangelical and fundamentalist churches, as well as non denominational congregations and mega churches, have been attracting more and more members. In this comprehensive and accessible book, Jason S. Lantzer chronicles the rise and fall of the Seven Sisters, documenting the ways in which they stopped shaping American culture and began to be shaped by it. After reviewing and critiquing the standard decline narrative of the Mainline he argues for a reconceptualization of the Mainline for the twenty-first century, a new grouping of Seven Sisters that seeks to recognize the vibrancy of American Christianity.

The Christian Century and the Rise of Mainline Protestantism

The Christian Century and the Rise of Mainline Protestantism PDF Author: Elesha J. Coffman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199938598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Since the 1972 publication of Dean M. Kelley's Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, discussion of the Protestant mainline has focused on the tradition's decline. Elesha J. Coffman's The Christian Century and the Rise of Mainline Protestantism tells a different story, using the lens of the influential periodical The Christian Century to examine the rise of the mainline to a position of cultural prominence in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Quiet Hand of God

The Quiet Hand of God PDF Author: Robert Wuthnow
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520233123
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
"For those who thought Mainline Protestantism was well on its way to extinction, this collection provides interesting—possibly even shocking—reading. It points to new life arising out of old structures and changing modes of engagement with the culture. The message the reader takes away is that while the future for this religious tradition will not look like its past, it has a future. The best book written lately on this topic."—Wade Clark Roof, author of Spiritual Marketplace: BabyBoomers and the Remaking of American Religion "An important contribution to our understanding of the public influence of mainline Protestantism. This well-written and expansive book reveals how socially, civically, and politically active mainline Protestantism continues to be in American society, contrary to much conventional wisdom. Yet it shows the mainline influence as having a particular character, different from that of other religious traditions. Mainline Protestantism has, without justification, been understudied lately. This landmark book puts it back on the map and will generate discussion and inquiry for years to come."—Christian Smith, author of The Secular Revolution "This important book provides a balanced, critical, yet genuinely appreciative analysis of the role of mainline Protestantism's public role. It is a stimulating and refreshing change from the mainline Protestant 'bashing' of the past three decades. In a time of increased calls for religious organizations to be involved in public life, readers will be helped to understand both the possibilities and limits of such involvement as the authors examine the practices and policies of the most publicly engaged of America's religious families."—Jackson W. Carroll, coauthor of Bridging Divided Worlds: Congregations and Generational Cultures "An essential book for anyone interested in the public nature and works of the Protestant mainline. The vast majority of American citizens believe that churches have a public role. But they disagree about what that role should be. Help has arrived."—Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy "This book is a comprehensive overview of mainline Protestantism's contribution to the public role of religion during the last three decades of the 20th century. It provides a firm platform from which to guide our vision in the new millennium."—Donald E. Miller, author of Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium

Faith and Foreign Policy

Faith and Foreign Policy PDF Author: Stephen R. Rock
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 144116684X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
The work examines how the attitudes and preferences of various Christian groups in the United States can influence U.S. foreign policy with specific examples.

Christians and the Common Good

Christians and the Common Good PDF Author: Charles Gutenson
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 144121447X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Christians across the spectrum have soured on religious involvement in politics, tempted either to withdraw or to secularize their public engagement. Yet the kingdom of God is clearly concerned with justice and communal well-being. How can Christians be active in public life without getting mired down in political polarization and controversy? For too long, the question of faith in public life has centered on what the Bible says about government. Charles Gutenson, a theologian respected by both evangelical and mainline Christians, argues that we should first ask how God intends for us to live together before considering the public policies and institutions that would best empower living together in that way. By concentrating on the nature of God, we can move past presuppositions regarding the role of government and engage in healthy discussions about how best to serve the common good. This lucidly written book includes a foreword by bestselling author Jim Wallis.

American Mainline Religion

American Mainline Religion PDF Author: Wade Clark Roof
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813512167
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Wade Clark Roof and William McKinney argue that a new voluntarism is slowly eroding the old social and economic boundaries that once defined and separated religious groups and is opening new cleavages along moral and life-style lines. Nowhere has the impact of these changes been more profoundly felt than by the often-overlooked religious communities of the American center, or mainline--Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish. "American Mainline Religion" provides a new "mapping" of the families of American religion and the underlying social, cultural, and demographic forces that will reshape American religion in the century to come. Going beyond the headlines in daily newspapers, Roof and McKinney document the decline of the Protestant establishment, the rise of a more assimilated and public-minded Roman Catholicism, the place of black Protestantism and Judaism, and the resurgence of conservative Protestantism as a religious and cultural force.

Boundless Faith

Boundless Faith PDF Author: Robert Wuthnow
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520268083
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Robert Wuthnow shows that American Christianity is increasingly influenced by globalization and is, in turn, playing a larger role in other countries and in US policies and programmes abroad.

Toward an Evangelical Public Policy

Toward an Evangelical Public Policy PDF Author: Ronald J. Sider
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 0801065380
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Deepens thinking about biblical and other conceptual foundations for political engagement in order to unify and give consistency to evangelicals' involvement in politics.