Original Sin and Everyday Protestants: The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, Billy Graham, and Paul Tillich in an Age of Anxiety

In the Years Following World War II, American Protestantism experienced tremendous growth, but conventional wisdom holds that midcentury Protestants practiced an optimistic, progressive, complacent, and materialist faith. In Original Sin and Everyday Protestants, historian Andrew Finstuen argues against this prevailing view, showing that theological issues in general - and the ancient Christian doctrine of original sin in particular - became newly important to both the culture at large and to a generation of American Protestants during the postwar "age of anxiety" as the Cold War took root. Finstuen focuses on three giants of Protestant thought - Billy Graham, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Paul Tillich - men who were among the era's best known public figures. He argues that each thinker's strong commitment to the doctrine of original sin was a powerful element in the broad public influence that they enjoyed. While each conceptualized original sin differently - Graham's interpretation especially contrasted with that of Niebuhr and Tillich - their appearances in mainstream magazines, on radio and television, and in speaking tours reopened American eyes and ears to the centrality of original sin to the Christian faith. Drawing on extensive correspondence from everyday Protestants, the book captures the voices of the people in the pews, revealing that the ordinary, rank-and-file Protestants were indeed thinking about Christian doctrine and especially about "good" and "evil" in human nature. Finstuen concludes that the theological concerns of ordinary American Christians were generally more complicated than is commonly assumed, challenging the view that postwar American culture was becoming more and more secular from the late 1940s through the 1950s.
ASIN: 0807833363
VSKU: BVV.0807833363.A
Condition: Acceptable
Author/Artist:Finstuen, Andrew S.
Binding: Hardcover
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Condition Notes: The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.