How did American Christianity become synonymous with conservative white evangelicalism? This sweeping work by a leading historian of modern America traces the rise of the evangelical movement and the decline of mainline Protestantism鈥檚 influence on American life. In Christianity鈥檚 American Fate, David Hollinger shows how the Protestant establishment, adopting progressive ideas about race, gender, sexuality, empire, and divinity, liberalized too quickly for some and not quickly enough for others. After 1960, mainline Protestantism lost members from both camps鈥攃onservatives to evangelicalism and progressives to secular activism. A Protestant evangelicalism that was comfortable with patriarchy and white supremacy soon became the country鈥檚 dominant Christian cultural force.
Hollinger explains the origins of what he calls Protestantism鈥檚 鈥渢wo-party system鈥� in the United States, finding its roots in America鈥檚 religious culture of dissent, as established by seventeenth-century colonists who broke away from Europe鈥檚 religious traditions; the constitutional separation of church and state, which enabled religious diversity; and the constant influx of immigrants, who found solidarity in churches. Hollinger argues that the United States became not only overwhelmingly Protestant but Protestant on steroids. By the 1960s, Jews and other non-Christians had diversified the nation ethnoreligiously, inspiring more inclusive notions of community. But by embracing a socially diverse and scientifically engaged modernity, Hollinger tells us, ecumenical Protestants also set the terms by which evangelicals became reactionary.
Awards and Recognition
- A Word & Way Book of the Year
"[A] nuanced account. . . . [Christianity鈥檚 American Fate] offers a path to greater understanding of how a transformation occurring in full view over decades escaped the notice of many who watched in bafflement and horror as the events of January 6 unfolded. Rather than another January 6, the greater threat that Christian nationalism poses to American society may be, as [the book] warn[s] us, its normalization."鈥擫inda Greenhouse, New York Review of 快色直播
"Christianity鈥檚 American Fate is at once accessible and erudite, weighing in at a lean 199 pages and yet packing a formidable analytical punch. Hollinger touches on a wide range of issues. . . . [A]nyone who cares about the past, present, and future of American Christianity will be challenged by this book, which like the entirety of Hollinger鈥檚 corpus is provocative in the best of ways."鈥擧eath W. Carter, Christianity Today
"This is superlative religious history."鈥�Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A superbly concise examination of how American Christianity鈥檚 division into a Protestant two-party system parallel to the existing political one came to deeply alter the nation鈥檚 recent politics. . . . A critically important, authoritative history of great, immediate relevance. "鈥�Kirkus, starred review
"Brilliant and compulsively readable."鈥擜ndrew Preston, Annales
"Does Christianity have a future in the United States? David Hollinger poses this question in his important new book. Few people are more qualified to answer it than Hollinger, who over the course of five decades has established himself as one of America鈥檚 foremost intellectual historians."鈥擶illiam J. Schultz, Christian Century
"Written for a general audience, the volume accomplishes the rare feat of a scholar translating deep expertise into accessible arguments that challenge easy consensus."鈥擝eau Underwood, Word & Way
"The delight of Hollinger鈥檚 book is. . . the vigor, sparkle, and take-no-prisoners prose style. Christianity鈥檚 American Fate is a short but scintillating book."鈥擯aul Harvey, Reviews in American History
"A fresh analysis of the growing divide between American evangelicalism and secularism. . . . Americans are at a crossroads right now. Time will tell which path will be taken. Hollinger鈥檚 book is a helpful map showing how we reached this point in the journey."鈥擬ichelle Arnold, U.S. Catholic
"Thoroughly provocative."鈥擩oel Wentz, Englewood Review of 快色直播
"Yet despite its brevity, Christianity鈥檚 American Fate is far more than a cursory survey; each of its assertions rests on decades of Hollinger鈥檚 research and mature analysis, and the book therefore offers a remarkably insightful treatment of modern American religious and political trends."鈥擠aniel K. Williams, Journal of Church and State
"Genuinely fascinating."鈥擬adoc Cairns, Times Literary Supplement
"Hollinger’s narrative is eminently engaging, and his tone is refreshingly candid. . . . Hollinger has given us an admirably accessible, informative history of ‘the other Protestants,’ who played a crucial role in shaping American religion and politics over the past one hundred years."鈥擶illiam Stell, Journal of Religion
鈥淟ucidly written and expansive in scope, Christianity鈥檚 American Fate situates the ascendancy of conservative evangelicalism within the broader transformation of American religion. Accessible and generative, Hollinger鈥檚 narrative is a valuable contribution to our understanding of religion and public life in America.鈥濃�擪ristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
鈥淣o contemporary historian has probed more deeply, fruitfully, or insightfully into the mind of American Protestantism than David Hollinger. Christianity鈥檚 American Fate could not be more timely. Hollinger offers challenging, thoughtful, and well-grounded insights into the peculiar path American religion has taken over the past two decades. Hollinger鈥檚 scholarship has forced me to reevaluate many of my own assumptions. I suspect he鈥檒l do the same for you.鈥濃�擡. J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out and coauthor of 100% Democracy
鈥淚n this highly readable history, Hollinger shows us why even nonreligious people should take a keen interest in the divisions within American Christianity. The rise of reactionary evangelicalism has enabled a politics of the irrational鈥攚ith devastating consequences on American political discourse. A vital work that helps explain the growing threat of authoritarianism in the United States today.鈥濃�擪atherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism
鈥�Christianity鈥檚 American Fate is an ambitious, sweeping, and important book from one of the most knowledgeable historians working in the United States today.鈥濃�擬elani McAlister, author of The Kingdom of God Has No Borders: A Global History of American Evangelicals
鈥淭he most important feature of American religious history over the past century has been the continuing struggle between evangelical and ecumenical Protestants. This battle remains at the core of today鈥檚 extremely polarized politics, as the heirs of the Progressive Era ecumenical Protestants now find themselves in the secular, liberal camp, still fighting the ever-more-conservative evangelicals. In Christianity鈥檚 American Fate, David Hollinger, one of the country鈥檚 leading historians of religion, provides an accessible, well-written narrative about the causes, contours, and consequences of this central conflict.鈥濃�擱obert D. Putnam, coauthor of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
