My friend Jonathan Leeman has written a thoughtful reflection on what he calls the project of evangelical deconstruction. I want to respond, in part because I expect some readers may view my forthcoming book, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong With Christian Nationalism, as a contribution to that project (though I started the book six years ago, long before any such “project” was getting attention). Leeman’s essay gives me a chance to clarify how I view these works, describe where my work fits in, and respond to some of Leeman’s arguments about the broader undertaking by historians and political scientists to describe and explain the cultural pathologies we have seen in the world of white American evangelicalism. Much of this debate ends up being about disciplinary and methodological approaches to knowledge, about how theologians approach things differently than social scientists.
Login to read more
Sign in or create a free account to access Subscriber-only content.
Topics:
