Protestant churches, 1:1944 -1950

This chapter looks at the tensions between biblical interpretation and the political, social, and cultural context of dissenting Protestant churches in the twentieth century. It notes that even a fundamental category, such as the ‘inspiration’ of Scripture, shifted across time as the nature of public debates, social and economic structures, and Western definitions of public knowledge shifted. The chapter progresses by looking at a number of examples of key figures (R. J. Campbell, Harry Emerson Fosdick, H. G. Guinness, R. A. Torrey, and R. G. McIntyre among them) who interpreted the Bible for public comment, and their relative positions as the century progressed. Popularization of biblical interpretation along the lines of old, new, and contemporary dissent, is explored through the careers of three near contemporaries: Charles Bradley ‘Chuck’ Templeton (b. 1915, Toronto, Canada), William Franklin ‘Billy’ Graham, Jr (b. 1918, North Carolina), and Oral Roberts (b. 1918, Oklahoma).

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Between Dechurchification and Religious Persistence

10.1093/oso/9780198801665.003.0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Detlef Pollack ◽

Gergely Rosta

Keyword(s):

Federal Republic ◽

West Germany ◽

Religious Communities ◽

Religious Change ◽

Protestant Churches ◽

The Church

The analysis conducted in this chapter of the religious changes undergone by the Federal Republic since its founding considers the religious losses as well as the sometimes astonishing resistance of religious and church entities, but also the observable small religious increases. It addresses the following questions among others: Is it really the case that there has occurred a break in tradition in terms of people’s ties to the church? In which periods was religious change particularly dynamic, and in which periods was it less so? Did this change occur in the Catholic and Protestant churches in parallel? Are there counter-movements when it comes to free churches and small religious communities such as the charismatic churches? How have individualized forms of religiosity developed, especially those of non-church religiosity? The chapter not only describes religious changes in West Germany, but by referring to contextual conditions also explains the main tendencies observable there.

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Religious Markets, Capital Markets, and Church Finances in Industrializing America

10.1093/oso/9780198798071.003.0003 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Eric Baldwin

Keyword(s):

Capital Markets ◽

Detailed Examination ◽

Social Stability ◽

Religious Institutions ◽

Moral Norms ◽

The Public ◽

Nineteenth Century America ◽

Protestant Churches ◽

Church Finances ◽

The City

A number of scholars in recent years have turned to market models to describe religion in nineteenth-century America, arguing that competition among churches largely accounts for the nation’s relative religious vitality. However, a detailed examination of one religious ‘marketplace’—the city of Lowell, Massachusetts—demonstrates the limits of such interpretations. First, such scholars fail to capture the ways that Protestant churches functioned as an interdenominational de facto establishment, co-operating in the shared project of promoting the public good and defending moral norms. Also, to the extent that churches did compete, they competed for money, as much as for adherents. In doing so, they appropriated new methods accompanying the expansion of capitalism, competing for funds in nascent capital markets. Thus, churches appealed to individuals not primarily as consumers of religious goods, but as potential investors in religious institutions, and presented churches as both safe and profitable investments and bulwarks of social stability.

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