Tag Archives: american history

Call for Papers: Jonathan Edwards and the Early American Republic: Patriotism, Exceptionalism, and the Pursuit of Happiness

While Jonathan Edwards has been crowned “America’s Theologian,” his successors in the early republic can rightly be called American theologians. Known pejoratively as “The New Divinity,” the Edwardsean tradition was a socially-oriented Calvinism, confronting the most controversial and even volatile issues in their infant nation. With the ideas of Edwards and some of the mostContinue reading “Call for Papers: Jonathan Edwards and the Early American Republic: Patriotism, Exceptionalism, and the Pursuit of Happiness”

Edwards and Franklin (Pt. 4)

Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin lived in an era marked by change. People’s view of the natural world was changing, people’s views on religion and theology were changing, and people’s views on the nature of authority and government were really changing. Both men grew up in a particular tradition and they had to navigate theirContinue reading “Edwards and Franklin (Pt. 4)”

Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 3: Doctrinal Disputes)

In this brief series of posts I would like to examine the history of American Christianity through two lenses: 1-the lens of democratization and 2-the lens of doctrinal disputes. Last time we looked at Evangelicalism through the lens of “democratization,” in today’s post (which is the third post in this series) we will take aContinue reading “Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 3: Doctrinal Disputes)”

Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 2: Revolutionary Religion and Creationism)

In this brief series of posts I would like to examine the history of American Christianity through two lenses: 1-the lens of democratization and 2-the lens of doctrinal disputes. In today’s post, which is the second post in this series we will take a look at two movements in American Evangelicalism which can be interpretedContinue reading “Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 2: Revolutionary Religion and Creationism)”

Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 1)

It has been said that one of the themes in the history of evangelicalism is that energetic populist or democratic new movements eventually become more middle class and staid. One might seek to interpret the history of American Christianity in light of this lens (the democratization of American Christianity). However there are other primary lensesContinue reading “Interpreting the History of American Evangelicalism: 2 Lenses (Part 1)”