Douglas Sweeney is an associate professor of church history and the history of Christian thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.[1] He has written a good book on American Evangelicalism. This book is not an attempt to tell the history of Evangelicalism by “chart[ing] evangelical history everywhere in the world but by focusing narrowly on what has been its prodigious global center.”[2] Sweeney’s outline of the book is clearly stated. “After providing a summary of recent debates concerning the scope of Evangelicalism, I tell the story of its birth in the transatlantic Great Awakening and its development in the United States through many cultural changes and challenges. Along the way, I try to account for the broad range of individuals, institutions, issues, and doctrines that have made us who we are.”[3] This book aims to identify, define, and examine over 200 years of Evangelicalism in America. This book examines the role American evangelicalism played in the scope of history and demonstrates how evangelicals have endured to change the world while doing it one step at a time.
Summary
In
the first few pages of the book, the author explains the Evangelicalism
movement in America. This task is not easy, but Sweeney completed it honestly
and served it with a twist. Sweeney presents the American evangelical movement
with extreme honesty. He believes, “Evangelicals comprise a movement that is
rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant
understanding of the gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an
eighteenth-century twist.”[4] The author does not try to keep secret or
conceal the mistakes and landmines of the movement. The mission of Evangelicalism
in America was constant. Its mission was to see the Gospel message of Jesus
Christ spread to other places. It was in this mission that differences were meant
to be put aside, and unity among the participants could be found
Throughout
his work, Sweeney highlights the more modern movements that stemmed from these,
such as the Holiness Movement with Phoebe Palmer and Charles Finney,
Pentecostalism with the Azuza Street Revival, and the Charismatic Movement.
Throughout his writing, Sweeney shows that the evangelical movement has been
comprised of people from very diverse backgrounds, denominations, and
ethnicities working to spread the Gospel of Jesus. Any American Christian can
find their story in this book.
Analysis
It is obvious Sweeney comes from an
evangelical heritage he is proud of.[5] His narrative style, attention to
chronological detail, and personal insights provide the reader with an unbiased
view of history. Throughout his book, Sweeney does an excellent job of
connecting the dots and making a well-defined narrative. Sweeney highlights and
underscores the important events, peoples, and ideologies of American
Evangelicalism. He does it in an exciting and readable way that keeps the story
going alone gracefully.
In
defining the term Evangelicalism, Sweeney analyzes the original Greek, looks at
modern viewpoints,
and relies on theologians Alister McGrath and David Bebbington, who
both give lists of
characteristics and tenets of faith.[6] He defines Evangelicals as “a movement that
is rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant
understanding of the Gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an
18th-century twist.[7] He states that Evangelicals have been shaped
by two things that make them unique: “(1) beliefs most clearly stated during
the Protestant Reformation and (2) practices shaped by the revivals of the
so-called Great Awakening.[8] Sweeney does a commendable job of defining
the term evangelical. He does not hide the fact that defining such a term is a
difficult task. As shown throughout a review of his work, Sweeney’s definition
shows that an evangelical is not so much a specific belief or practice but a
combination of the two.[9] This lends credit to him, and it sets the
stage for the remainder of the work.
Sweeney’s ability to unite his
exemplary research with exceptional and critical analysis skills is important.
He does this in a way that allows the reader to sort out and assimilate what is
being said with ease. This ability is a strength of his work. For example, in
chapter 3, Evangelicalism’s transition from a grassroots movement to its
institutionalization is discussed. One of the main contributors to this
transition was revivals bringing new life into the movement. This steered it
from being a unified movement to becoming splintered into various divisions and
groups. Revivals created a rift in the way the people viewed Evangelicalism.
In
reviewing and summarizing the role revivals played in this rift, Sweeney stated,
“this cycle of revival and decline has created countless evangelical
institutions, each one needed to resurrect the life of its predecessors. These
institutions . . . have contributed to the development of a schismatic party
spirit, the very thing that Whitefield prayed against at the height of the
Great Awakening.”[10] The Great Awakening was an important time
because it brought forth a new wave of religious views and Whitefield was an
essential leader of this era. Whitefield as able to“make a popular appeal that
cut across denominational lines, socio-economic divisions, and geography. His
popular appeal was mostly over dramatizations of events that could lead a
follower to heaven or hell.
In the book, Sweeney looks at some
of the peculiar and little-known strands of American Evangelicalism. Sweeney
also commitments a chapter to “The Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic
Movements,” which are often overlooked in the evangelical conversation. Many
historians can isolate or marginalize people groups and their religious
contributions by not labeling them “evangelical.” These groups and their
fundamental understanding of the Christian faith could align with “evangelical”
theology and historical thought. Sweeney’s approach to the holiness,
charismatic, and Pentecostal groups gives the reader a magnificent perspective.
These groups still carry the same mission. Despite some practical differences,
they are still a great part of the evangelical movement.
Throughout history, racism remains a
sore spot and “while evangelicals did not invent the sins of racism… millions
of white evangelicals have participated in or sanctioned one or more of these
things, leading to four million slaves in America by 1860… and evangelicals are
still untangling themselves from this sordid legacy.”[11] A. Derwin illustrates, “less than five
percent of evangelical churches are multi-ethnic… [making the] evangelical
church one of the most segregated people in America on Sunday morning. The horrifying
and protruding smell of racism still lingers in our churches like a bad odor
that will not dissipate.”[12]
As
shown throughout the book, racism is a bad thing to take part in. Race and
racism have always been foundational parts of Evangelicalism in America. Racism
fuels America’s educational, political, social, and cultural mores. Scholars of
Evangelicalism like Mark Noll, David Bebbington, Thomas Kidd, and others
focused on “defining evangelicalism via theology and history”[13] and missed the ways racism infused Evangelicalism.
I believe focusing exclusively on evangelical theology obscured the
longstanding problems in many factions of American evangelical culture.
Historically,
evangelicalism was a theological movement.
But I am not convinced that the same could be said of the movement
today. The one downside to this book was its length and failure to cover any
modern Evangelical movements in America over the past 60 years. This book has
been a good source to use in any church history class because it provides a
sense of understanding to bridge the gap of Evangelical history. What historically
was meant to be a theological movement stemming from the influence of Jonathan
Edwards has metamorphosed and transposed into a political movement. This new
movement is now centered around shared conservative societal values rather than
around biblical and theological convictions.
Conclusion
All in all, this book achieves its
goals fully. It does a great job of explaining the American Evangelical
movement in broad strokes of color. Throughout the book, Sweeney’s optimism for
the future is evident, but perhaps providing more insight into these matters
and how to provide unification would further his goal. This book allows readers
to gain a richer understanding of the movement and a brighter hope for the
future of American Evangelicalism as a movement and a theological faction.
Bibliography
Baker
Publishing Group Website,
http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/douglas-a-sweeney/344 (accessed
July 24, 2021).
Butler
Anthea, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America
Chapel Hil, University of North Carolina Press, 2021.
Derwin,
A. “The Emergence Of The Emerging Church,” Christian Apologetics Journal 07,
no. 1 (Spring 2008).
Sweeney,
Douglas A. The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement, Grand
Rapids, Baker Academic, 2005.
[1]
Baker Publishing Group Website, http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/douglas-a-sweeney/344 (accessed
July 24, 2021).
[2]
Douglas A. Sweeney, The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement,
(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 10.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Sweeney, 24.
[5]
Ibid 5.
[6]
Sweeney, 18.
[7]
Ibid 23.
[8]
Ibid 24.
[9]
Joshua R. Ziefle. “The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement –
Douglas A. Sweeney”. Religious Studies Review. 32, no.2 (2006)
137.
[10]
Sweeney, 25.
[11]
Ibid 108.
[12]
A. Derwin, “The Emergence Of The Emerging Church,” Christian Apologetics
Journal 07, no. 1 (Spring 2008). 35.
[13]
Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America
(Chapel Hil, University of North Carolina Press, 2021).
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