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The Evangelicals

the Struggle to Shape America
Jul 24, 2017lukasevansherman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Pulitzer Prize winning author Frances Fitzgerald's huge, sweeping, and deeply engaging book "The Evangelicals" is an important work for both the religious and non-religious reader. As those who follow politics know, white evangelical voters went overwhelmingly for Trump, whose values, such as they are, seem the very antithesis of Christ's message of love, compassion, humility, and forgiveness. Fitzgerald takes us back to the beginning of America and tries to answer the vexed question "Is America a Christian nation?" We begin with one of the few important American theologians/thinkers, Jonathan Edwards, and the Great Awakening and Fizgerald follows the development of American evangelicals and, specifically, how they interacted with the larger culture and, most interestingly, with politics. For me, a lapsed evangelical, the most provocative sections were about the emergence of the religious right and the merging of mainstream evangelicals with the Republican party, one of the many things that pushed me away from religion. It's a comprehensive and detailed history, swirling with colorful, polarizing figures like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, and Rick Warren. I think this will the standard work on the subject for years to come.