The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement

by Douglas A. Sweeney

The American Evangelical Story surveys the role American evangelicalism has had in the shaping of global evangelical history.

Author Douglas Sweeney begins with a brief outline of the key features that define evangelicals and then explores the roots of the movement in English Pietism and the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century. He goes on to consider the importance of missions in the development of evangelicalism and the continuing emphasis placed on evangelism. Sweeney next examines the different subgroups of American evangelicals and the current challenges faced by the movement, concluding with reflections on the future of evangelicalism.

Combining a narrative style with historical detail and insight, this accessible, illustrated book will appeal to readers interested in the history of the movement, as well as students of church history.

Genres: History, Church History, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Douglas A. Sweeney is professor of church history and the history of Christian thought and chair of the department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of The American Evangelical Story.

Reviews

[Henry Holmberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure if I am rating this book 3/5 or the history of American Evangelicalism in general. I enjoyed reading the book, and it covers a period of time that is often critiqued and rarely studied. The only serious complaint I have is Sweany’s attempt put a neat bow on a complex history. Evangelicalism is so broad that most bows just don’t fit around it. Good historical text.

[Stephen Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, engaging, and sympathetic overview that nonetheless avoids sugarcoating and partiality.

[Jim Gulley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a concise history of the evangelical Christian movement worldwide, beginning with the Great Awakening of the 18th century and ending with the emergence of neo-evangelicals like Billy Graham in the 20th century. Sweeney’s focus is on the movement's American history; however, in the introduction, he covers the ecclesiastic and theological climate in England that precipitated events in the colonies. The missionary journeys of the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield ignited the flame of the Great Awakening that reached its peak in 1740. He also includes elements of global history as he recounts the influence of American evangelical missionaries throughout the world, particularly in Asia.

Sweeney defines evangelicalism as a movement rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a Protestant view of the Gospel, and carrying the spirit of the Great Awakening. It is a well-written, scholarly church history accessible to all.

[J. Alfred · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book that can't seem to decide on its audience. It seems to be meant as an introduction, but keeps dodging into names and dates for their own sakes, as you'd expect in, well, a non-introduction. It also uses the term 'preacher's kid,' aiming toward the youth group crowd, and then throws in the term 'glossolalia,' for the seminary student.
It also, it seems to me, leaves out valuable information. (Pearl Buck made violent accusations against overseas missions? What, um, were they? The 'new' fundamentalists drew up a seven point system of doctrine as opposed to the earlier four points? The new points don't deserve a footnote?)
Some good chapters and good information, but mostly seems fall between two stools in terms of audience and specificity.

[Glenn Wishnew III · Rating 4 out of 5]

readable.

[Colton Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent survey. Nothing groundbreaking, but good for what its aiming for.

[Ashley Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful, clear, and easy to read history of American evangelicalism

[Joseph Henry Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by an evangelical Lutheran, Sweeney's book feels like a family history at times. He definitely loves the evangelical movement, but isn't afraid to call out its historical shortcomings. This is a good intro to the evangelical movement, one that attempts to point forward by looking back. There are some topics I wish he'd dealt with in more detail, but Sweeney also highlights themes that someone like me, from a more confessional Calvinist background, may be prone to overlook.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its reading lists are wonderful, but the chapters are an odd mix of too much specificity and too much generality. It is not hagiography, but it holds back too much on criticism (being an insiderish account) and also on the lessons of history. His historical conclusions are sometimes dubious to me and he is too interested in Edwards and his followers, too uncritical of the movement as a whole, too withdrawn from the mixture of church and culture in America. It is adequate, but far from great or insightful.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this might not be the best first stop on reading about American Evangelicals (one needs a bit of context to fully appreciate the book), it is a compelling and engaging read. I found this book hard to put down because the "story" is not told from a chronological standpoint, and the author is nearly magical with words at times. Not only did I learn something, I enjoyed doing it. Always a plus when you are required to read a book!

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

I was skeptical that Sweeney could produce any kind of decent survey of American Church History in less than 200 pages. But he provides a good survey of primarily Evangelical history in this slim volume. Not surprisingly he begins by trying to determine the meaning of the oft debated term 'Evangelical':

“Roughly one out of every ten people in the world is an evangelical. So say the number crunchers who keep the closest tabs on the global church. By the first year of the twenty-first century, the world population had topped six billion. Over two billion people identified themselves with Christianity. Of these, well over half a billion were evangelical Christians.” (p. 9)

There are four-fifths of a billion evangelicals today. Pentecostals and charismatics alone total 570 million. The number of other evangelicals exceeds 242 million. A century ago, the number of Christians of any kind was smaller than this, the twentieth century witnessed a virtual explosion of evangelicalism, a blast that rocked the two-thirds world more powerfully than the West. … Today, less than 40 percent of Christians live in Europe and North America. In fact, the church is growing faster now on the continent of Africa than it has ever grown anywhere before. (p. 9)

“The evangelical movement emerged less than three hundred years ago as a focused initiative for the renewal of Protestant Europe’s state churches. But over the course of its brief history, it has literally changed the face of the world.” (p. 10)

“As Timothy George defined us in Christianity Today, “Evangelicals are a worldwide family of Bible-believing Christians committed to sharing with everyone everywhere the transforming good news of new life in Jesus Christ, an utterly free gift that comes through faith alone in the crucified and risen Savior. … beyond this basic definition, precious little consensus exists among those who have tried to describe the evangelical movement.” (17-18)

“The best-known answer comes from Alister McGrath. ‘Evangelicalism is grounded on a cluster of six controlling convictions, each of which is regarded as being true, of vital importance and grounded in Scripture. . . These six fundamental convictions can be set out as follows: The supreme authority of Scripture as a source of knowledge of God and a guide to Christian living. The majesty of Jesus Christ, both as incarnate God and Lord and as the Savior of sinful humanity. The lordship of the Holy Spirit. The need for personal conversion. The priority of evangelism for both individual Christians and the church as a whole. The importance of the Christian community for spiritual nourishment, fellowship and growth.” (18)

“Among historians, David Bebbington’s definition is best known, though it features four rather than six evangelical characteristics. In his widely used book titled Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, Bebbington writes that “there are . . . four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Together they form a quadrilateral of priorities that is the basis of Evangelicalism.” (18)

“The taxonomies of Robert Webber are perhaps the best known, for he has mapped out no fewer than sixteen evangelical species—in the United States alone! Webber lists fundamentalist, dispensational, and conservative evangelicals; Anabaptist, Wesleyan, and charismatic evangelicals; black, progressive, and even radical evangelicals.” (20)

“A growing number of other pundits has chosen to cease with definitions, claiming that evangelicals defy a neat and tidy categorization. In The Variety of American Evangelicaiism, Donald Dayton and Robert Johnston have led the way. … evangelicals resemble a large, extended family and should be described in only a general manner in terms of their “family resemblance” rather than pigeonholed with excessive, propositional precision. Dayton has called for a “moratorium” on the label “evangelical,” which he rejects as “theologically incoherent, sociologically confusing, and ecumenically harmful.” (21)

Michael Horton and D. G. Hart complain, in Horton’s words, that “quarrels over the evangelical trademark are probably a profound waste of time and precious energy,” or in Hart’s, that “evangelicalism needs to be relinquished as a religious identity because it does not exist.” (22)
“If we evangelicals have so much trouble even deciding who we are, then how will we ever work together as evangelicals?” (23)

“I believe there is still such a thing as a definite and definable evangelical movement today. In fact, in my view, it is the most vital Christian movement on the scene. I will be the first to confess that we evangelicals are rich in all sorts of diversity.” (23)

“Evangelicals comprise a movement that is rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant understanding of the gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an eighteenth-century twist. Or put more simply (though less precisely), evangelicals evangelicals are a movement of orthodox Protestants with an eighteenth-century twist. … we are unique in our commitment to gospel witness around the world. Our uniqueness is best defined by our adherence to: (1) beliefs most clearly stated during the Protestant Reformation and (2) practices shaped by the revivals of the so-called Great Awakening.” (23)

1. Evangelicals are a movement not a church.
2. Evangelicals are descendants of the Protestant Reformation.
3. Modern Evangelicals ... are heirs of the Great Awakening.

[Walter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Propaganda for the Great American Evangelical Machine

I'll offer a quick summary of its contents, but my conclusion is: don't bother. It offers an insider, very pro-evangelical account. Lots of Christianese, which lends to it a propagandistic tone throughout. If starting each chapter with a bible verse is your thing, you should like it, but you'd learn a lot more about yourself and your culture if you read Marsden.
Most importantly, to be a history of the movement and to lack any discussion of premillennialism, liberal theology, higher criticism, the difficult relations with the scientific theories, and epistemology (though at least mentioned by name) leave me to recommend it only as a pretty soft-headed history. Cheers to another chapter in anti-intellectual Christian fluff, full of self-congratulatory hurrahs for Christian progress!

Summary of chapters:
The first chapter is devoted to definitions of evangelical. He quotes a bunch of contrary attempts and then proffers his own: "Evangelicals comprise a movement that is rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant understanding of the gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an eighteenth-century twist".

Scene 1: Sweeps through history to cover 1500s-1750, introducing Pietists, Moravians, Puritans and Wesley, Whitefield, and Edwards.
Scene 2: First and Second Great Awakenings. "The nineteenth century in America is the age of the evangelical 'righteous empire'".
Scene 3: Global missions to evangelize the world, and America.
Scene 4: African American churches in America, questioned as whether they are evangelical or not, and their relation to whites.
Scene 5: Pentecostal and charismatic movements in America.
Scene 6: Fundamentalism amidst the social gospel and liberal and modernizing trends. The Fundamentals and the Scopes Trial, Princeton and Machen, the net-evangelical movement characterized by media movements, Billy Graham, Carl Henry, and another fundamentalist dissent toward Fuller for dropping its doctrinal requirement of biblical inerrancy.
Scene 7: What the evangelical "movement" needs to do: 1) the church needs evangelicals; 2) at its best, evangelicalism functions as a renewal movement within the larger, universal church; 3)evangelicalism is not enough (don't lose sight of the long-standing tradition).

[Jay Vellacott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure Sweeney accomplished his purpose in writing the book. His introduction and conclusion are quite different in purpose in my opinion.

His wording is not specific enough to be scholarly, but not simplified enough to be widely marketed to the masses.

Sweeney also unintentionally reflects considerable theological bias in some of the "historical" statements he makes.

Having said all that, it was a decent survey of American evangelicalism. It was also arranged topically, which made it more interesting than a dry slug through 400 years of American Evangelical History.

It also reflected diversity in the topics it handled, such as Pentecostalism and its precursors and the history of Black Evangelicalism. Being that a good percentage of American Evangelicals are black, charismatic, or women I found this helpful and appropriate. Many scholars in Sweeney's shoes would have been tempted to simply chronicle the great awakenings, theological liberalization, and Billy Graham. This would mostly focus on white figures and white history. Only focusing on these events and figures is not a proportionate representation of the people that comprise American Evangelicalism.

(Btw I'm a white guy who would vote Republican if he wasn't Canadian).

[JR Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hits all the right points, I suppose but Sweeney seems to go out of his way to avoid criticizing the charismatic/holiness/pentecostal movement that has devastated the Christian witness over the years. I understand, from a sociological pint of view, with including them within a broad definition of "evangelicalism", but to narrate the spirituality of such a group without evaluating their idea of the "gospel" and their harmful and anti-protestant rejection of sola Scriptura seems ridiculous.

Part of being evangelical means believing, sharing, and protecting the...gospel. Sweeney seems to uncritically accept anyone who flashes the evangelical card without looking to see if it's been faked. For example, He calls T.D. Jakes an evangelical. The Tri-theist heretic. ID's don't match, but you have to look!

This book is history without teeth, written with the assumption that the cardinal sin is making value judgements of any kind, but the silence is deafening. Ugh.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times this book was dry, with all of the names of people and dates. Despite this, it is a helpful book for understanding where the evangelical church is today. Especially as people have been writing about evangelicals as a social voting bloc in the us political world. It's always helpful to know your roots. In the words of Sweeney, "The world still needs evangelicals." We have an important role to play. But we need to remember where we have come from.

[Радостин Марчев]

Човек би помислил, че в обем по-малък от 200 стр. е невъзможно да се обхване качествено подобна тема, но авторът се е справил нелошо. Допълнителната литература също е качествена. По този начин, макар и без множество интересни детайли книгата представлява съвсем сносно въведение в темата - макар и основно за САЩ.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the Evangelical movement in the US starting with the Puritans, the Great Awakenings, the rise of missions, and coming to near current times (written in 2005). A well written and interesting book, not extremely detailed, but covering all the major people and events that went into developing the American "folk" Christianity, that has had profound impact around the world.

[Joshua Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm conflicted about my current relationship to Evangelicalism, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sweeney's overview of the movement in which I was raised. It sharpened my understanding of the historical origins of my earliest (and perhaps most formative) Christian influences.

[LMS · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful overview of evangelical history. I had lots of little things to quibble with but can’t argue that the aim of the book was fulfilled. The short analysis of modern evangelicalism in the last chapter gave me a lot to think about. Read for my church history class.

[Kimrey Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and concise overview of how Evangelicalism developed in American History. Balances both the positives and the negatives. If you are wondering how evangelicalism got “here,” this is the book for you!

[David Ridenour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid overview, not too many rabbit trails. Very honest and not biased, brought out some flaws but still overall not too negative, just critical.

[Casey Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very readable, concise history of American evangelicalism.

[Pamela Ikasalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!

[Monte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic, but not as academic as I wanted. Written as a history of Evangelical churches in America for Evangelical undergrad students.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immoderately ecumenical with a slight leftward bent, but very readable.

[Jake Ruefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful in getting a grasp on what the heck an evangelical is

[Jake Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seminary book 2/4

[Justin McLarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an engaging look at Evangelical history. We really are products of our history. It is wild to see the different elements of Puritanism, Methodism, and the Holiness movements within us today.

[Michael Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The American Evangelical Story, Douglas Sweeney tells the story of the movement’s emergence nearly three hundred years ago in the transatlantic Great Awakening. As Sweeney shows, defining Evangelicalism is difficulty, if not impossible, so instead he discussed what he calls, “a cluster of six controlling convictions”: the supreme authority of Scripture; the majesty of Jesus Christ; the lordship of the Holy Spirit; the need for personal conversion; the priority of evangelism; and the importance of the Christian community. The result is that evangelicals have little in common and are known more for their differences. It is not a church or a denomination but a “movement” of Christians “working together in pursuit of a common goal: gospel witness.”

Emerging from the Great Awakening in Britain and its North American colonies, the movement did not establish a new church. Instead, Christians worked together, ecumenically and interdenominationally as part of this movement of God. “The Great Awakening engendered a new sense of gospel urgency and a new spirit of cooperation.

Sweeney argues that “It is no coincidence that the rise of the modern evangelical movement took place at roughly the same time as the decline of Christendom. “The disestablishment of the churches resulted in the phenomenal growth of various types of churches and church institutions, none of which sponsored by or beholden to state authority. It “deregulated the religious marketplace,” making way for the establishment of many more groups than ever before.
Ultimately, evangelicals are most concerned with the evangelization of the world and have, since the beginning of the movement, sent numerous missionaries throughout the world and created a significant number of mission organizations to do so.

Sweeney does point out that the movement never did escape from the racial prejudice of its surrounding cultures, pointing out that only 5.5 percent of churches in the United States have an interracial membership.

Sweeney provides a fair and evenhanded discussion of the origins of the movement and its work throughout history and today. The most significant issue with the book is his inability to set clearer boundaries for who is “in” and who is “out” of the movement. He includes fundamentalists and Anabaptists within the evangelical world, but in my times in both communities, I can say that they would not appreciate or acknowledge the designation. Who gets to define who is an evangelical? Is there a point to a term that is so indefinable?

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good, concise (less than 200 pages!) overview of evangelicalism in America. For its length, Sweeney probably disproportionately stressed some aspects of the history, but on the whole struck a good balance between mainline (liberal) and evangelical (conservative) -- the latter of which Sweeney terms "fundamentalists." I am a new student to the history of evangelicalism, so it would be interesting to revisit this book after further study and see how balanced it appears after gaining a greater depth of knowledge about the various periods of history.