Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith

by Elesha J. Coffman

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2024

Overview

American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. This book provides a brisk and lively yet deeply researched survey of these intertwined forces from the colonial period to the present.

American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. This engaging introduction provides a brisk and lively yet deeply researched survey of these intertwined forces from the colonial period to the present.

Elesha Coffman tells the story of Christianity in the United States by focusing on 13 key events over four centuries of history. The turning points are as varied as the movements they track, including a naval battle, a revival, a schism, a court case, an outpouring of the Spirit, an act of terrorism, the election of a bishop, and the election of a president. Coffman highlights women and men from a range of traditions and shows that throughout these events, Christians endeavored to discern what it meant to live faithfully in the diverse and rapidly changing place that became the United States.

This book helps readers understand their own faith and the landscape of American religion. Each chapter includes a hymn, a prayer, relevant historical images, excerpts from primary sources, and resources for further reading. Foreword by Mark A. Noll.

Key Features

• Helps readers understand their own faith and the landscape of American religion
• Shows how Christian women and men lived faithfully in a diverse and rapidly changing country
• Focuses on 13 key events over four centuries of history

Contents

• Foreword by Mark A. Noll
• Introduction
• 1. The Old World Order Upended: The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588
• 2. The Limits of Religious Freedom: Roger Williams Banished from Massachusetts, 1635
• 3. A Collision of Cultures: King Philip's War, 1675-76
• 4. Evangelicalism Sweeps America: George Whitefield Sparks the First Great Awakening, 1740
• 5. A Faith for Enslaved and Free: First African American Church Founded at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, 1773
• 6. Far from Rome: John Carroll Elected First Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States, 1789
• 7. The Benevolent Empire: American Bible Society Founded, 1816
• 8. Houses Divided: Methodist Church Splits over Slavery, 1844
• 9. Muscular Missions: Student Volunteer Movement Launched, 1886
• 10. Los Angeles Fire: Azusa Street Revival Catalyzes Pentecostalism, 1906
• 11. Science versus Religion? The Scopes "Monkey" Trial, 1925
• 12. Civil Rights and Uncivil Religion: Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, Birmingham, 1963
• 13. Religion Moves Right: Ronald Reagan Elected President, 1980
• Conclusion

Product Details

• Title: Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith
• Author: Elesha J. Coffman
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: United States—Church history
• ISBNs: 9781493445394, 1493445391
• Resource ID: LLS:TRNNGPNTSNTNFTH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-01-30T19:18:27Z

About Elesha J. Coffman

Elesha J. Coffman (PhD, Duke University) is associate professor of history at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She previously served as the editor of Christian History magazine and has taught at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. She spent a year as a fellow at the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. Coffman is the author of The Christian Century and the Rise of The Protestant Mainline, Margaret Mead: A Twentieth-Century Faith, and numerous articles on American religious history.