History of American Protestantism in the Twentieth Century

Protestantism in the United States: World War I and the Great Depression

• Impact of World War I in the United States:

  • Unlike Europe, the United States was spared from actual destruction and bloodshed on its own soil, as it entered the war during its final stages ($1917-1918$).

  • Public opinion initially favored neutrality until $1916$, but once war was declared, it was viewed as a matter of "glory and honor."

  • Role of Churches during the War:

  • Churches transitioned from supporting the peace movement to adopting war rhetoric.

  • Liberals and fundamentalists both spoke of "saving civilization."

  • Radical fundamentalists interpreted the war as the fulfillment of prophecies from the books of Daniel and Revelation.

  • Traditionally pacifist denominations, such as the Mennonites and Quakers, were exceptions to the general "war fever" and chauvinism.

  • Some pulpiteers went as far as calling for the total extermination of the German people in God’s name.

  • This climate created difficulties for moderate Americans of German descent, including figures like Walter Rauschenbusch.

• Post-War Consequences and Isolationism:

  • President Woodrow Wilson's hope for a fair treaty for the vanquished and the establishment of a League of Nations was shattered by Allied ambition and lack of domestic support.

  • The United States never joined the League of Nations.

  • A period of isolationism, fear of foreigners, and suppression of dissent followed.

  • Revival of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK):

  • Increased membership in both the North and South during the $1920s$.

  • Expanded its list of enemies to include Catholics and Jews alongside Black Americans.

  • The "Red Scare":

  • A series of witch hunts for radicals, Communists, and subversives.

  • Evangelist Billy Sunday famously suggested that radicals should be lined up and shot rather than just deported.

• Denominational Splits and the Scopes Trial:

  • A divide emerged between liberal national leadership and the conservative rank and file within mainline denominations.

  • The "Scopes Trial":

  • A symbol of the fundamentalist effort to ban the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools.

  • Highlighted the issue of the inerrancy of Scripture, which became the hallmark of fundamentalist orthodoxy.

  • J. Gresham Machen, a defender of fundamentalism at Princeton, led to the founding of a rival seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in $1936$.

The Prohibition Era

• The Campaign for Prohibition:

  • United both liberals (who saw it as a practical application of the Social Gospel) and conservatives (who sought to return to a perceived state of national purity).

  • Many proponents linked drunkenness with Jewish and Catholic immigration, fueling xenophobic prejudices similar to those of the KKK.

  • Legal status: The $18th$ Amendment to the Constitution made Prohibition the law of the land in $1919$.

• Failure and Repeal of Prohibition:

  • Enforcement was difficult; business interests, gangsters, and the public collaborated to break the law.

  • The illicit trade led to massive corruption.

  • The failure of the law gave rise to the American folkloric notion that "one can't legislate morality."

  • This argument was later adopted by conservatives opposing legislation against racial segregation.

The Great Depression and New Theologies

• Economic Collapse:

  • The New York Stock Exchange crashed on October $24, 1929$.

  • By middle of $1930$, most of the Western world was depressed.

  • In the United States, $1/4$ of the labor force was unemployed ($25\%$).

  • The lack of social security or unemployment insurance led to common sights of soup kitchens and breadlines.

• Political Response:

  • President Herbert Hoover and his cabinet initially denied the depression and relied on the free market for recovery.

  • Hoover was compassionate but surrounded by those hoping the depression would break labor unions.

  • Will Rogers famously called the government's intervention at the top "trickle-down" economics.

• Shift in Theology:

  • The optimism of earlier generations was shattered, making room for more realistic or pessimistic theologies.

  • Karl Barth: His book The Word of God and the Word of Man (published in English just before the crash) influenced Americans.

  • The Niebuhr Brothers:

  • H. Richard Niebuhr: Published The Social Sources of Denominationalism ($1929$) and The Kingdom of God in America ($1937$). He criticized denominationalism as an adaptation to class and race.

  • Reinhold Niebuhr: Parish minister in Detroit; convinced that unbridled capitalism was destructive. Joined the Fellowship of Socialist Christians in $1930$. Published Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man ($1941$, $1943$).

  • Paul Tillich:

  • Forced to leave Germany due to the rise of Hitler; joined Union Theological Seminary in $1934$.

  • Developed the "method of correlation": examining existential questions (ultimate concerns) and showing how the gospel responds.

  • Author of Systematic Theology.

The Politics of the Depression and WWII

• Laissez Faire Critique:

  • In $1932$, the Methodist Church and the Federal Council of Churches (founded in $1908$) supported government economic planning.

  • This was met with a fundamentalist and anti-socialist reaction, with some church segments even sympathizing with Adolf Hitler as a bulwark against socialism.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal:

  • Implemented many policies previously advocated by church "socialists."

  • Moderate steps for poor relief and labor security potentially saved the capitalist system in the U.S.

  • The Great Depression only truly ended in $1939$ due to war preparation.

• World War II Involvement:

  • The nation was divided until the attack on Pearl Harbor on December $7, 1941$.

  • Japanese-American Internment: Many Japanese-Americans, including long-term residents, were interned; churches were largely silent on this injustice.

  • Church Stance: Most supported the effort and provided chaplains but were careful not to confuse Christianity with national pride, having learned from WWI.

The Postwar Decades ($1945 - 1960s$)

• Prosperity and the Nuclear Age:

  • Postwar years were defined by the horror of Hiroshima and the dawn of the nuclear age.

  • Affluence: Industrial production for war shifted to consumer goods, creating an affluent society.

  • Suburbia: The affluent moved to suburbs while inner cities were abandoned to the poor and minorities. Churches became sources of stability in suburban life.

• The Cold War and McCarthyism:

  • The emergence of Soviet Russia as an enemy led to witch hunts for Communists.

  • During the McCarthy era, lack of church membership was seen as a sign of anti-Americanism.

• Key Figures and Movements:

  • Billy Graham: Incorporated the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in $1950$. Used advanced communication techniques and modern revivalism.

  • Norman Vincent Peale: Authored works on "positive thinking" and "faith in faith" for inner peace and happiness.

  • Sydney E. Ahlstrom's critique: Churches provided social identification but did little else for a mobile people.

The Black Civil Rights Movement and Black Theology

• Background of the Movement:

  • The NAACP was founded in $1909$.

  • Black veterans returning from WWII found a lack of freedom at home.

  • Desegregation of the armed forces occurred in $1949$; the Supreme Court integrated public schools in $1952$.

• Leadership and Faith:

  • Leadership was largely drawn from the clergy (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Martin Luther King, Jr.).

  • Movement milestones: Sit-ins, arrests, and marches in Montgomery and Selma, Alabama.

  • Organizations: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

  • Black Muslims: Attracted militant Blacks who saw traditional denominations as white-dominated.

• Black Theology:

  • Emerged from the Black reality, struggle, and hope.

  • James Cone (Union Theological Seminary): Stated that Christian theology must be identified unreservedly with the humiliated and abused. Published A Black Theology of Liberation ($1970$).

The Feminist Movement in the Church

• Empowerment and Ordination:

  • Women won the right to vote in $1920$ through the suffrage movement.

  • By the mid-$1980s$, most major Protestant denominations ordained women.

  • Critiques of male-dominated theology were led by Letty M. Russell and Rosemary R. Reuther.

  • Mary Daly: More radical perspective, calling for a "female incarnation of God."

The Vietnam War and National Crisis

• Social Impact:

  • The longest war in U.S. history; escalated in $1965$.

  • Protests at Kent State University and Jackson State College resulted in student fatalities.

  • The U.S. lost the war and its sense of "innocence" as a defender of justice.

  • Watergate Scandal: Resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

• Theological Fragmentation:

  • "Death of God" theology: Attempted to express the Christian message in secular terms.

  • Harvey Cox: Wrote The Secular City regarding urban society challenges.

  • John Cobb: Developed theology based on process philosophy.

  • Liturgical renewal and a focus on eschatology joined with social involvement.

The Charismatic Wave and Modern Evangelicalism

• Charismatic Movement:

  • Roots in the early $20th$ century Azusa Street revival.

  • Spread to suburban mainline denominations and the Catholic Church in the late $1950s$.

• The Electronic Church and Moral Majority:

  • TV preachers created vast corporations in the late $1970s$ and early $1980s$.

  • The "Moral Majority" was organized to defend traditional values and conservative economic policies.

• The Chicago Declaration ($1973$):

  • A pivotal statement by evangelical leaders (including Ronald J. Sider) calling for social justice, attacking materialism, and challenging racism.

  • Quote: "We must challenge the misplaced trust of the nation in economic and military might… We must resist the temptation to make the nation and its institutions objects of near-religious loyalty."

  • Signified the American church coming to grips with a "post-Constantinian" and "space age" world.