Global Faith, Worldly Power - by John Corrigan & Melani McAlister & Axel R Schäfer (Paperback)

About the Book

"Assessing the grand American evangelical missionary venture to convert the world, this international group of leading scholars reveals how theological imperatives have intersected with worldly imaginaries from the nineteenth century to the present. Countering the stubborn notion that conservative Protestant groups have steadfastly maintained their distance from governmental and economic affairs, these experts show how believers' ambitious investments in missionizing and humanitarianism have connected with worldly matters of empire, the Cold War, foreign policy, and neoliberalism"--

Book Synopsis

Assessing the grand American evangelical missionary venture to convert the world, this international group of leading scholars reveals how theological imperatives have intersected with worldly imaginaries from the nineteenth century to the present. Countering the stubborn notion that conservative Protestant groups have steadfastly maintained their distance from governmental and economic affairs, these experts show how believers' ambitious investments in missionizing and humanitarianism have connected with worldly matters of empire, the Cold War, foreign policy, and neoliberalism. They show, too, how evangelicals' international activism redefined the content and the boundaries of the movement itself. As evangelical voices from Africa, Asia, and Latin America became more vocal and assertive, U.S. evangelicals took on more pluralistic, multidirectional identities not only abroad but also back home. Applying this international perspective to the history of American evangelicalism radically changes how we understand the development and influence of evangelicalism, and of globalizing religion more broadly.

In addition to a critical introduction and essays by editors John Corrigan, Melani McAlister, and Axel R. Schäfer are essays by Lydia Boyd, Emily Conroy-Krutz, Christina Cecelia Davidson, Helen Jin Kim, David C. Kirkpatrick, Candace Lukasik, Sarah Miller-Davenport, Dana L. Robert, Tom Smith, Lauren F. Turek, and Gene Zubovich.

Review Quotes

"Cogent and wide-ranging. . . . [G]raduate students and established scholars will find this volume a useful corrective to a previously myopic narrative."--Journal of American History

"In foregrounding international forms of evangelicalism, this volume delivers thought-provoking visions of how the faith tradition's domestic manifestations might take inspiration from global communities and reckon with the darker episodes in its history. Scholars of American religion should take note."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

John Corrigan is Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor of Religion, professor of history, and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. Melani McAlister is professor of American studies and international affairs at George Washington University. Axel R. Schäfer is professor of U.S. history at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at the University of Mainz, Germany.