The Evangelicals

The Struggle to Shape America

By: Frances FitzGerald

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

Length: 25 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction

This groundbreaking book from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Frances FitzGerald is the first to tell the powerful, dramatic story of the Evangelical movement in America - from the Puritan era to the 2016 presidential election.

The evangelical movement began in the revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries, known in America as the Great Awakenings. A populist rebellion against the established churches, it became the dominant religious force in the country.

During the 19th century, white evangelicals split apart dramatically, first North versus South and then, at the end of the century, modernist versus fundamentalist. After World War II, Billy Graham, the revivalist preacher, attracted enormous crowds and tried to gather all Protestants under his big tent, but the civil rights movement and the social revolution of the '60s drove them apart again. By the 1980s, Jerry Falwell and other Southern televangelists, such as Pat Robertson, had formed the Christian right. Protesting abortion and gay rights, they led the South into the Republican Party, and for 35 years they were the sole voice of evangelicals to be heard nationally. Eventually a younger generation of leaders protested the Christian right's close ties with the Republican Party and proposed a broader agenda of issues, such as climate change, gender equality, and immigration reform.

Evangelicals have, in many ways, defined the nation. They have shaped our culture and our politics. Frances FitzGerald's narrative of this distinctively American movement is a major work of history, piecing together the centuries-long story for the first time. Evangelicals now constitute 25 percent of the American population, but they are no longer monolithic in their politics. They range from Tea Party supporters to social reformers. Still, with the decline of religious faith generally, FitzGerald suggests that evangelical churches must embrace ethnic minorities if they are to survive.

©2017 Frances FitzGerald (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Massively learned and electrifying...magisterial." ( The Christian Science Monitor)

"A page turner.... We have long needed a fair-minded overview of this vitally important religious sensibility, and FitzGerald has now provided it." ( The New York Times Book Review)

An important story told with too many words

Fitzgerald has done an amazing amount of fact gathering and attention to detail. That has, however, distracted from the message of the origin, evolution and present state of the folks we call evangelicals. While co-mingling the religious and political worlds he did not make a clear case why so many would agitate & vote against core religious beliefs. The important summary was limited in the afterward in about one paragraph- that needed much more explication.
The spoken performance was about perfect- clear, well paced & free of mispronounced words- Roy needs to do more books.

Historical look at fundamentalist, evangelicals, and the Christian Right

FitzGerald goes all the way back to the Great Awakening to trace the history of the Christian Right. If you want to know why Evangelicals vote Republican, and how they came to their beliefs, read this book. It is fascinating. A great insight into the political leanings of Christians in America.

Enlightening!

This detailed and thoughtful overview of how the gospel-Christians have shaped the course of American politics over the past two millennia helps one understand recent and current social directions in that country. I'm glad I took the time to work through it.

The reading by Francis Roy is calm, clear, very well articulated and never overbearing.

Compelling, if a bit biased

A comprehensive, sometimes tedious but often fascinating history of the whole evangelical movement in one volume. (To be fair, I think "tedious" means hearing about people I'm not so interested in, like Ralph Reed; "fascinating" with people I was curious about, like Billy Graham and James Dobson.) It charts the movement from its Great Awakening beginnings through the election of Donald Trump, focusing on the major players along the way.

What struck me was the movement's continual emphasis on politics and the issues of the day, trying to force a heavenly society into being using worldly political, legislative means. Not surprisingly, it doesn't appear God has blessed such efforts even after 20+ years.

The author tells the story from the leftish point of view, minding PC buzzwords like "anti-abortion" to describe the pro-life community, and "pro-choice" for the anti-life abortion supporters. He tells of the Republican Senators who suddenly confessed to adulterous affairs during the Clinton impeachment, but he doesn't say why: Clinton had Larry Flynt on his side, who dug up the dirt on the Senators. As if to say, What about your own indiscretions?

The author also brought my attention to another book, this one by two former Christian Right leaders, "Blinded by Might." I'll be checking that one out next.

Well told journalistic account

Well told journalistic account of Evangelicals in America and in politics. Defines Evangelical vs. Fundamentalist vs Southern Baptist vs religious right. Discusses the leaders and their influence. Also the constant battles and often surprising sides taken in battles, such as position on slavery and on social programs for the poor. Must read for anyone who wants to understand this flavor of Christianity and their role in politics.

Tradtionalism Vs. Fundamentalism

This book stands as a model of how to handle one of the most important issues in modern religion, traditionalism vs. fundamentalism. In a traditionalist model where there is no clear and present danger from any Enlightenment or secularism. In a traditional society, people might be fairly conservative in practice while caring little for ideology. Religion is the society in which they live. It is important but, like oxygen, easy to take for granted and ignore. To be a fundamentalist, you first have to be conscious that you are under attack. This makes people much less tolerant because all of a sudden even minor deviations become signs that a person has aligned with the "enemy."

A good example of this is the infamous Scopes trial regarding the teaching of evolution. Fitzgerald argues that the push to ban evolution from classrooms had little to do with people from Tennessee, where there were few actual "unbelievers" to threaten anyone. Rather, the attack on evolution came from northern fundamentalists, who were fighting a losing battle with the liberal wings within their own denominations, not just regarding evolution but over the authority of scripture itself.

Fascinating history

As somebody who grew up in the Evangelical Church oh, I was unaware of how much history there was to learn. I learned a lot from this book. You can truly see how the events of our day have been molded by our history. I strongly recommend this for anyone who wants to know more about why they believe the things that they believe.

Understanding. I’ve listened to it twice so far.

I recommend the work. It is deeply researched and well written. She succeeding in capturing the essence of white evangelical (what I like to call “political”) Christianity. Much of the early material was new to me. The recent history, I lived through. I came to the work desperate to “figure out” the trauma I experienced as teenager. I thought I had dealt with it, buried it, until 2016. Trump was elected. (My parents met at Baylor. I “born again” when I was 12. I left the church when I came out at age 16, in 1992. I was forced into pray away the gay groups.) The material is dense, but never too much for my intense curiosity. She is critical but respectful, sympathetic when appropriate, but overall the tone is detached, matter of fact. Her understated dry wit bites just right. Some conservatives won’t like her moral perspective: too humane. For that, and more, I thank the author.

Fascinating!!

An unexpected page-turner! Had no idea how influential the evangelical movement has been in American social and political life. A well researched and artfully written history of a very American movement. Jacques Roy is a steady reader and delivers the material with minimal emphasis or expression.

GREAT historical narrative

This was a great work connecting the religious and political actions of a group operating under a Christian banner. Many ask the question about Christian's having so many different moral views. This helps explain only a part of them. This has helped me greatly as a sociologist and a Christian.