Resources on the History of Evangelicalism in America

Over the winter break, I was trying to trace down a couple of answers to some questions. On both occasions I found myself answering the question by uncovering some key historical developments around the history of evangelicalism. The term “evangelical” seems to have surprising elasticity. What does it mean? Where did it come from? How did we get here?

As is often the case when we learn things, we find out how much we don’t know. After talking through this further with a couple of staff members here at Emmaus, we decided to put together a short “course” on evangelical history. We agreed to read a number of books and have scheduled discussions on the material. This study has been more rewarding than I had anticipated.

In talking with some other friends, I was encouraged to share the details of what we read and were trying to do. I share the objectives and the reading list below. (If you have further suggestions for reading or general comments, I’d love to hear from you).

Description

A brief study of the evangelical church in America from its Colonial beginnings to the current day, with emphasis on the numerous influences that have shaped where we are today.

Objectives

• To gain spiritual enrichment through a better understanding of our evangelical heritage, particularly through the lives and ministries of important leaders
• To trace the shift in American religious thought from Puritanism to evangelicalism, and then liberalism
• To see the sovereign, merciful, and loving work of God throughout the history of the nation
• To better understand why and how movements started and trace their effect on history
• To explain the causes, developments in, reactions to, and criticisms of evangelicalism since the mid-nineteenth century
• To gain insight into contemporary challenges in the American evangelical church
• To relativize our present moment in light of the past and future
• To foster increased faithfulness to the Scriptures and humility before God and men

Required Reading

1. The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement (Sweeney)
2. The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America (Kidd)
3. Fundamentalism and American Culture (Marsden)
4. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (Carpenter)
5. Christianity and Liberalism (Machen)
6. Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism  (Marsden)
7. Awakening the Evangelical Mind: An Intellectual History of the Neo-Evangelical Movement (Strachan)
8. Evangelicalism Divided (Murray)
9. The Essential Evangelicalism Dialectic: The Historiography of the Early Neo-Evangelical Movement and the Observer-Participant Dilemma Church History 60.1 (March 1991): 70-84 Sweeney, Douglas A. (Free)
10. No Place for Truth: Or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (Wells)

Recommended Reading

1. American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism (Sutton)
2. Revival and Revivalism (Murray)
3. The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (Henry)
4. America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation (Wacker)
5. Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader (Hankins)
6. The Advent of Evangelicalism: Exploring Historical Continuities  (Hayken & Stewart)
7. God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Wells)
8. Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (Wells)
9. God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our World (Wells)
10. The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism (Stout)
11. The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism: True Religion in a Modern World (Hindmarsh)
12. Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America  (Hart)