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

Publisher's Description

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 tan 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.