The Word in the World: Evangelical Writing, Publishing, and Reading in America, 1789-1880

by Candy Gunther Brown

Brown shows how a 19th-century evangelical print community developed textual practices to use the Word of the Bible and printed words of their own to create a sanctified life and, in the process, to transform American culture.

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2004

Reviews

[Susie Meister · Rating 4 out of 5]

This study conceptualizes "evangelical print culture" as it developed between 1789 and 1880 as a distinctive set of writing, publishing, and reading practices centered on the power of the Word to transform the world. Brown describes the evangelical tension of purity (the sacred) and presence (their desire to get the Word to as many people as possible). The author emphasizes her argument that the evangelical decision to market their faith was not a compromise, but a proactive choice in order to make the gospel accessible by using commerce as religious instrument. Every denomination relied on the pulpit and the press. While Protestants emphasized the Word, Catholics emphasized the sacraments. Evangelicals saw themselves as breaching the gap between the sacred and the profane. There was some ambivalence about too much success (e.g. Ben Hur) because the world no longer hated them according to Charles Finney. Brown agrees with Reynolds (Faith in Fiction) that fiction allowed women to participate in theological discussions. Brown discusses how hymns became an important part of print that emphasized the heavenward journey. Interestingly, evangelicals could never hope to succeed because they needed to set themselves apart.