Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to "The Passion of the Christ"

by Stephen J. Nichols

Jesus is as American as baseball and apple pie. But how this came to be is a complex story--one that Stephen Nichols tells with care and ease. Beginning with the Puritans, he leads readers through the various cultural epochs of American history, showing at each stage how American notions of Jesus were shaped by the cultural sensibilities of the times, often with unfortunate results. Always fascinating and often humorous, Jesus Made in America offers a frank assessment of the story of Christianity in America, including the present. For those interested in the cultural implications of that story, this book is a must-read.

Genres: History, Theology, Religion, American History, Church History, Cultural, Nonfiction

237 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Stephen J. Nichols (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries. Previously, he served as research professor of Christianity and culture at Lancaster Bible College. He is an editor (with Justin Taylor) of the Theologians on the Christian Life series and is the author of several books, including The Reformation, For Us and for Our Salvation, The Church History ABCs, and Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life.

Reviews

[Eric Chappell · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history about history's most fascinating character. I read this book as part of a "Cultural Text" book club. Essentially, this book does what we are trying to do by reading cultural texts: listen to and understand culture, speak truth into culture. Nichols' focus is much more limited; he's concerned not with broader culture, but with the portrayal of Christ specifically in evangelicalism' tumultuous history. Beginning with the Puritans and ending with the employ of Jesus in contemporary politics, Nichols helpfully charts how evangelicals have worshipped, read, used, watched, commodified, preached, and re-packaged the person and work of Christ.

Overall, this was an intriguing, readable, well-researched, and usefully-organized book. Three chapters were of special note. First, Nichols' research on Jesus in the New Republic was, without doubt, one of the most concise and helpful summaries of Franklin, Jefferson, and Paine's view of Jesus. Nichols leaves little wiggle room for those who try to contend that a majority of our nation's founders and framers were biblical Christians. The reality is: many of America's first leaders set a "Christological" trajectory that would have damaging effects on the church that are still being felt today. Going back to our nations' roots, in many cases, means returning to the god of Enlightenment Rationalism. Nichols' chapter on the Frontier and Victorian Jesus in the 19th century was superb. The Church has a love/hate relationship with an overly masculine or overly feminine Jesus. Nichols' history of Jesus on vinyl was also quite good. I had little knowledge of the rise of CCM before this book and Nichols' presents a solid case of the largely negative influence most contemporary Christian music has had on our view of Christ.

While I enjoyed most of this book, not all of it was entirely helpful. Nichols tends to put the Puritans on a pedestal. He offers very little (basically none) criticism of the Puritan-view of Christ, and at various points in the book hearkens back to the golden age of Edward Taylor and Jonathan Edwards. The same is true when Nichols reaches the chapter on Jesus in Modernity. Nichols juxtaposes Fosdick and Machen, with extensive criticisms of the former and essentially no criticism of the latter. For me this was quite interesting because the overall character of the book is negative and critical. Nichols admits as much in the epilogue. That's not a slam against critical works, but it is intriguing to me how the Puritans and Machen are able to escape criticism. I left this book humbly attempting to be self-critical of my view of Jesus, and wary (in probably an overly postmodern sense) that we will ever arrive at the "real" Jesus. But I digress. I'd like to see more self-criticism within Reformed and Presbyterian churches. Is our view too "doctrinally pristine," almost in a docetic sense? Total depravity effects Calvinists too; and our view of Jesus. While Nichols addresses some of my concerns in the epilogue, I felt that an incorporation of some of his encouragements to readers should be interwoven throughout the rest of the book.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

While well researched, entertaining, and theologically sound, Jesus Made In America relies too much on a dogmatic tone and one-sided argument to ultimately prove its thesis. Although I agree with most of Nichols’ conclusions, I don’t, however, think that he used the best method to develop his point. Ninety five percent of this book is critical in its tone, as little credibility is given to those for whom the book cites and denounces. This narrow minded, critical approach will only attract and maintain readers who agree with Nichols, while deterring the readers who don’t. It is important to promote open, critical thought that takes into account all sides of an argument, which is something Nichols fails to do. However, Nichols does make a solid argument, as he calls readers to re-structure their Christology first according to scripture, second by tradition, and third by experience. Therefore, Jesus Made In America functions as a well-researched indictment against American Evangelism and its consistent tendency to esteem culture more than Christ. While the argument in this book is spot on, it will unlikely convince those evangelicals whom it denounces, as its narrow-minded approach will do little to promote a critical, yet humble, discussion about the problems in American Evangelicalism today.

[Keren Threlfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

If ever there was a case in which you should not judge a book by its cover, Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to "The Passion of the Christ,"  would be a classic example. Though the cover art leaves you thinking it's going to be a pop-theology book or Jon Acuff-style book (although there is definitely a place for Jon Acuff's books), this book is quite academic in its examination of American church history and theology.
Overview
Nichols purports that the American Jesus is a by-product of the cultural ideologies flowing from various eras, some of it good, but much of it deceptively harmful. As indicated in the title, the book begins by examining the origins of an American Jesus during the era and teachings of the Puritans. He traces the trajectory of this Jesus through American church history, from the times of the founding fathers (e.g., Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Paine), the concurrent Victorian and rugged-frontier eras, the emergence of liberalism and fundamentalism, the CCM and Christian filmmaking industries, Christianized consumerism, and finally the hijacking of Jesus in support of political movements and agendas. Each chapter looks at multiple facets of how each epoch shaped the identity of the American Jesus, both negatively and positively.

This is one of those books that, even while I disagreed with some of the author's conclusions, has nonetheless made a significant impact on my thinking for the year. Unless Tim Keller writes some more books fast (he did just release another), I'm guessing this book is going to go on my list of ten best reads for the year. :)
Value
Paradigm-Shifting and Perspective-Tilting

This book provides an excellent lens through which to view our current culture, both secular and Christian, both the culture at large and our smaller subcultures. I found myself doing this with clearer perspective after reading this book. Particularly with the increase of social media use this presidential election year, Facebook statuses and tweets laced with founding father quotes, spiritualized materialism, and religious elitism were an excellent reminder of how we all fail to see how much we've allowed culture to override our religion.

Sadly, American Christianity is far more influenced by culture than we would like to believe. So ensconced are we in our own culture that we accept spiritualized untruth and allow it to seamlessly flow into our once pure streams of pure doctrine, and it happens so gradually that we never notice the waters are tainted.

While Nichols exercise keen insight and awareness into the way our Christian subculture is a reflection of the cultural sensibilities at large, he is not aloof or misinformed of his surrounding culture. On the contrary, he seems very well-versed, a sometimes participant, in much of secular and Christianized entertainment, yet without appearing to indulge in it. This is a rare combination, but one that lends credibility to his cultural critique.

Highlighted the Importance of Robust Doctrine and Right Living

Both indirectly and directly, this book highlighted to me the importance of both robust doctrine and right living (and right community), and how they are united. Nichols seems to bifurcate the two throughout the book, giving the Puritans a pass on their glaring approval of human mistreatment, simply because their doctrine was correctly aligned. (To clarify, I realize that every era of theologians will have their own blind spots that will eventually be glaringly obvious when given the hindsight of time and distance.)

Robust doctrine is essential. We cannot have mere pendulum-swing theology and teaching that focuses on reacting to what the religious community perceives to be the cultural errors. Yet, this is what happened during various American eras, and we have allowed those cultural emphases to shape "our Jesus," both in conservative and liberal divisions of American Christianity.

As John R. W. Stott wrote (183), "every heresy is due to an overemphasis upon some truth, without allowing other truths to qualify and balance it." In the first portion of the book, Nichols highlights the dangers of reactions to the Puritans preaching, yet the reactionary back-swing of the pendulum can be equally dangerous when not taught along with all doctrine and the truths to qualify and balance.

For instance, we must study and teach diligently both Jesus' humanity and His divinity. If the culture or doctrinally weak religious institutions of the time overemphasize Jesus' humanity, it can be tempting to attempt to try to correct this by overemphasizing His divinity (or, vice versa--heresies exist in both overemphases). The Church must teach both aspects of Jesus' identity, though a heavier, still balanced, emphasis on one or the other may be appropriate in varying contexts.
Concerns and Criticisms:
Nichols seems to suggest, at times, that doctrine is more important than lifestyle. While one cannot have right living apart from right theology, it seems il-advised to elevate one above the other, or even to attempt to separate the two.

I'm not against strong writing, but there is a problem with overstatement. And, sometimes, Nichols tends to overstate his point. In demonstrating the Jesus Made in America of today or bygone eras, he seems to focus on otherwise innocuous expressions of contextualized biblical lifestyle or teaching as a sign of the Jesus made in their own image. When you're hunting coyotes in the woods, every moving branch appears to be a coyote.

Drawing major conclusions from historical instances is dicey work. For one, there are probably plenty of examples to counter the argument you're trying to make. Second, you may never know how many examples to muster in order to prove your point. Nichols is an admirable historian, yet there are points at which the point he is making seems dubious at best, based on the historical exhibits. (For example, he discusses the theology of Puritans Edward Taylor and Jonathan Edwards to make a broad conclusion regarding the Puritans as a whole. Choosing two out of the many American Puritans may be the case for an observation, but perhaps not an airtight conclusion.) In essence, Nichols runs the risk of historical cherry-picking — selecting one or two examples, then purporting such examples to be representative of an era, and thus the linchpin of a major point.

Where does contextualization end and misappropriation begin? Christianity must be contextualized for every age and culture, just as it was in its 1st century ancient Roman setting. The fine line between contextualization and compromise has vexed the church for centuries. In some areas, Nichols may simply be looking at appropriate contextualization, and vilifying it as an American fabrication of Jesus; yet in others, he very clearly and helpfully points out the dangers of subtle misappropriation dressed up in contextualization and spiritualization.

When reading an erudite author, it can be easy to think that whatsoever the author saying is truth. Nichols is both a brilliant scholar and a skilled writer, that it can be easy to let everything he says pass uncontested. There are some areas, as in any book, where we may view his conclusions with some degree of thoughtful hesitancy.

Helpful Statements

Some of these statements of the book are particularly insightful, and worth reflecting on.

"Once Jesus is liberated from the confines of revelation, he ends up looking a lot like the ideals of his reinterpreters." (55)
"The first step in retooling Christ means freeing Christ from the abstractions of creeds and instead looking to the simpler Jesus who graces the pages of the New Testament. The second step entails an emphasis on personally experiencing Jesus over merely learning of him. More often then not, this second step means looking beyond the pages of the New Testament." (77)
"Commodifying evangelism turns persons who relate into customers who buy, a rather alien approach to that of Christ's." (187)
"Listening to the critics of evangelicalism, both sympathetic and not, may go a long way to helping see blind spots. Perhaps evangelicals especially have such blind spots because of putting Jesus, whether its on the [political] left or the right, in the wrong place." (212)
"Co-opting Christianity for the cause of politics does not serve to elevate, but reduce Christianity, to relegate it to a place it does not deserve." (215)
"American evangelicals have sterling proficiency in the realm of the subjective and experiential. But not all of the answers to life's questions come from within or come from our own time." (224)

Back to Those Puritans
As to Nichols's seeming eagerness to gloss over the faults of the Puritans, I believe that theologian-pastor Thabiti Anyabwile does an excellent job addressing this common-to-more-than-just-Nichols issue in his somewhat recent article, "The Puritans Are Not That Precious," particularly from points five and onward. I believe this paragraph addresses the Puritans as presented in this book, in particular:

"[G]ood theology does not mechanically lead to good living. We need to understand this. It’s a commonplace Christian assertion that if we believe the right things we ought to do the right things. Then we’re perplexed when either people who believe the right things actually do vile things, or people with supposedly faulty theology actually live better than the orthodox. We’re left groping for explanations and defenses. How did the Puritans “miss it”? Why did “liberals” seem to “get it”? Well, “it” doesn’t follow mechanically, ipso facto, ex opere operato from some set of solid beliefs. There’s a whole lot of effort, application, resistance to the world, self-examination, and mortification that’s gotta accompany the doctrine in order for the duty to follow. As Flav put it, “They’re blind, baby, because they can’t see.” That’s why they missed it; they couldn’t see it. Their theology wasn’t a corrective lense; it didn’t fix the cataracts. It didn’t fix the degenerative sight of Southern Presbyterians who also missed it, or the Dutch Reformed of South Africa who not only missed it but supported Apartheid, or some of the German Reformed who missed it in Nazi Germany, and so on. And this is why I’m made slightly nervous by the tendency of some Reformed types to advocate “pure” doctrine and demur at “pure” social action. The Puritan movement was a movement in church reform and revival, and some of their heirs (I count myself one) can be too purely concerned about the purity of the church without a commensurate concern about the purity of social witness. We can stack our chips on theology, as though theology inexorably produces the social results we want with little to no attending effort. Mistake, I think. The Puritans prove that."

Thomas Kidd also offers helpful, related thoughts and reactions here.

Contents: 

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
This book is a little more "in response to" other works (of which I'm ignorant) than a straight history, which was different than I expected and being ignorant of the works and writers Nichols often references, all of that was a little lost on me.

However! The history/topics covered and commentary provided are so good. I can imagine that this book was pretty controversial at the time of publication. It's also interesting to consider how much "worse" things have gotten related to consumerism and technology since its 2008 publication 🫥

It definitely made me feel validated that I'm not the only one seeing these negative things in the American church and that it isn't just happening now, in my lifetime. But these are also bittersweet realizations that nothing has stopped it before and it will likely continue in the future. My favorite lines in the book, which seem to represent the thesis well are: "American evangelicals, it seems, have a hard time recognizing the comic caricature they have become. More tragic, American evangelicals have allowed Christ to become a comic caricature. And even more tragic still, American evangelicals can't even seem to realize that Christ has become a comic caricature." (P. 181)

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nichols makes a number of very good points…however, he seems to completely misunderstand art - what it’s meant to be, what it can/cannot “accomplish,” and, ultimately, what its role is in the life of faith. Besides that, however, the book was a decently helpful overview of the shaping of the American evangelical image of Christ. Hate to say it, but it’s a rather unfortunate story.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was solid, it hadn't occurred to me when I checked this out that Nichols would be an evangelist himself, though it makes sense given the subject matter and who would likely be interested, and he manages to stay surprisingly level headed about the evolving way culture has appropriated Jesus since the dawn of America.

[Kari McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! I think it was a great survey of the various Christologies in American history and tremendously helpful to me as a historian and as a Christian. The book definitely stepped on my toes but that was a good thing. Will be rereading many times!

[Caleb Kolstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful presentation of how Jesus has been presented (Good and bad) over the centuries... Esp. helpful in terms of American Evangelism's/broader Christianities portrait of Christ.

[Tyler Timmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good scholarly overview of the christology of American history. Interesting to read yet thick in spots. Overall convicting and eye opening.

[Adam Kareus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative look at how American culture has shaped prominent views of Jesus within the church and culture.

[Logan Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting to see how Americans have distorted the gospel and Jesus. Every Christian should read this.

[Andre Filho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpectedly a good book. Very balanced point of view from the author

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. A little more detail than I wanted in some cases led to partial skimming. I won't be buying any "Christian" t-shirts! :-]

[Scott Tsao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on Professor Robert Tracy McKenzie's blog Faith and History which I read regularly. Since Professor McKenzie has a great passion in making a connection between Christian faith and US history, this particular book presents itself as one of the most worthwhile readings on this subject. Here are a few excerpts from the blog:

"Stephen Nichols is interested particularly in the perceptions of American evangelicals regarding the Man from Nazareth. An evangelical himself (a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary and a professor of theology at Lancaster Bible College), Nichols writes openly to evangelicals as well as about them."

" Nichols’ Jesus: Made in America seeks to edify as well as educate. Repeatedly, he challenges evangelical readers to find lessons in the story that he tells. If, after reading his book, we simply click our teeth in judgment of our ancestors for their blindness to the ways that they conformed to the culture, Nichols knows that he has failed. Rather, he wants us to see ourselves–at least potentially–in the pages he has written. He insists that his account should serve 'as a parable for contemporary American evangelicals.' The trap that ensnared previous generations can capture us as well."

"In the course of his study, Nichols points to several aspects of evangelical belief that make us especially vulnerable to being conformed to the world without even knowing it. …we ignore the past as a source of wisdom. This dismissive attitude toward history–what one specialist on American religious values has termed 'historylessness'–'leaves American evangelicals more vulnerable than most when it comes to cultural pressures and influences.'”

"In assessing whether our nation’s founders were Christian, we’re inevitably saying something as well about the Christian faith and Christ himself. Stephen Nichols makes this point marvelously in his book Jesus: Made in America. As Nichols puts it, when we exaggerate the degree to which the founders were Christian, we not only 'do injustice to the past and to the true thought of the founders,' but we also do 'injustice to Christianity and the true picture of Jesus.'”

Having read the book from cover to cover, I was not disappointed. And, in order to be "more mindful of our task in understanding, expressing and even contending for the faith, which has been delivered, entrusted over the centuries, to the saints (Jude 3; 2 Tim 2:2)," it was especially helpful to me as a student of history to learn some practical steps as follows:

"To start, it may be helpful to listen to Scripture first, then to tradition (our own church, denominational or confessional tradition), then to experience, rather than the more typical reversal of that order. … Second, it also might help to challenge the idea that because something is, it is acceptable. … At times our call to be Christ's disciples means challenging ideas and even whole systems that are presented to us. Often our cultural critique doesn't go deep enough. …looking to the past help us gain some perspective on the ways in which we have capitulated to our culture and have subjected Christ to our cultural predilections. … Third, we must build up and not just tear down. … Finally, and this is especially true in the area of Christology, we need not shrink back from complexity. Jesus comes to us primarily in complexity. He is the God-man, fully human and fully divine in one person. …the snapshots of the acculturated Jesus presented in this book, by and large, derive from attempts to reduce Christ, from attempts to relax the tension. But a reduced Christ is less than the Christ of Scripture."

If you are short on time, I would recommend that you read Chapter 8: Jesus on the Right Wing-Christ and Politics in America, and the Epilogue: Jesus and the Gospel in the Twenty-First Century.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nichols presents a history of Jesus in America. He demonstrates how the particular culture or interests of the times frequently shaped our view of Jesus. So the frontiersmen had a rough and rugged Jesus (ass seen in writings and pictures), those who stayed behind to settle eventually wanted their towns to reflect the more civil and gentile Victorianism popular in the big cities, and so we see an effeminate Jesus become predominate among many settlements. As history progresses, we see different Jesuses come on and off the scene. In our individualistic, consumer culture, we see a Jesus-as-life coach and Jesus as depersonalized trinket become popular. Due to the popularity of Christian Contemporary Music, and its desire to stay "culturally relevant," we see the Jesus-as-boyfriend motif gain in popularity. We have a Jesus divorced from theology and history who fills all sorts of roles we imagine for him. As Depeche Mode insightfully notes, we want our own, Personal Jesus. Rather than looking to what he did in history (as Paul does in Romans), we want him to "help" us by causing our favorite football team to win. Also, given the increasing "non-relevance" of Scripture to speak to what we think the "needs" of the day are (and these needs have often been falsely manufactured by advertising agencies, or the consumer cult in general), we focus on "baby" Jesus and "teenage" Jesus, speculating what Jesus was like in the areas Scripture is silent on.

So, what Jesus do you serve? Are you sure it's the biblical Christ? Given that history is replete with examples of how even the best of us have gone stray, I wouldn't rest in my confidence that it is the biblical Christ. Man loves to deceive himself.

Nichols begins with the Puritans and ends with the Jesus of politics. He offers crushing blows to the Christian Contemporary Music scene and the Jesus as movie star crew. It is interesting to see that the "evangelicals" have contributed just as much to the mistaken views of Jesus as have the liberals.

Though the book is mostly critical, Nichols offers some ways in which we can bring back Jesus in his proper role. We fail when we try to take the complex character of Christ and make him a spokesman for just one thing. One thing we need to do is recover the Christ of the Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds. The complex God-man. To do this is not to robotically function of detailed theology, the framers of the creeds correctly pointed out that a correct view of Jesus was vital. That's why they said a correct view was needed "for us and our salvation."

Evangelicals need to wake up. One way to do this is to read this fascinating history of "Jesuses" in American history and wake up from your dogmatic slumbers of following a Jesus fashioned by the changing tide of current opinion. One you wake up you can then rebuild. So after this book I'd recommend one by the same author - For Us And Our Salvation.

[Emmanuel Boston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Nichols writes with wit, wisdom, and knowledge. You will find yourself laughing aloud and soon after shaking your head at the truth of his insight. His style is easy to follow. His information is accurate. He relates information in such a way that you can imagine yourself in the era he discusses without ever having been there. But much more importantly, he helps you understand the era… even our own.

Book thesis: This book attempts to draw attention to the explicit ways cultural forces have shaped the identity of the American evangelical Jesus.

His thesis is thoroughly supported throughout the book—eight chapters each delve into a different era, with only slight overlap between three chapters, but even so the area he addresses is always unique and offers a broad spectrum through which to view the cultural climate. Nichols provides great insight in discerning the cultural impact on Evangelical Christian understanding of the person of Jesus and calls Christians to think deeply on the person of Christ and restore him to his true position: Lord, not logo. He traces history so well that one can follow cultural trends and begin to say, “Oh… so that’s where that idea came from!” Like blonde Jesus. Or anti-establishment Jesus. The Puritans, the Founders, the Colonial frontiersmen, the Victorians, the Liberal-Conservative (theologically) era, contemporary Christian music, Jesus in the cinema, WWJD and t-shirts, and politics—Nichols covers all of these in depth, drawing undeniable connections between circumstances that occurred and prevalent mindsets of the day. There is no doubt you will walk away from this book with a firm grasp on how Jesus has been perceived throughout cultures, but more importantly you will begin to see how your culture has been affecting your perception of Jesus and you can start to evaluate what is true to Christ and what you have unwittingly tagged him with.

This book will help you understand Christ better.

[John Defrog: global citizen, local gadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who has weathered the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition WWJD and the general politicization of Christianity in America – to include endless arguments over the religious beliefs and intentions of the Founding Fathers – I thought this sounded interesting: a cultural history of American Christianity with a focus on how Jesus has been interpreted (and re-interpreted) by Christians in different historical contexts through the years, though not always necessarily for the better. The book gives a good overview of how the Founding Fathers viewed Christianity, and how Jesus has evolved since then, from Frontier Jesus and Meek Mild Baby Jesus to Capitalism Jesus, Boyfriend Jesus, Music Industry Jesus, Hollywood Jesus, Political Jesus and Buddy Christ. It’s not an anti-Christian book – far from it, as Nichols is an evangelical theologian – so much as a historical reality check and the potential consequences of reducing Jesus to a bumper sticker slogan or a national mascot. On the downside, Nichols’ observations are rooted in his own theological POV – as such, he occasionally gets distracted either by (1) arguing with other theologians who have covered similar ground in the past or (2) spending time explaining why various trends are theologically flawed, and what evangelical Christian leaders should be doing to reverse them. The former may be of interest to other academics or theologians, but maybe not so much for the rest of us. The latter may be useful to Christians (or at least the ones who agree with Nichols), but is arguably out of place in what is supposed be a cultural history (albeit one written by an evangelical and aimed at a Christian audience, so maybe that comes with the territory). Overall, though, there’s enough interesting information here to warrant three stars.

[Travis Long]

This book belongs alongside Mark Nolls book "The Scandal of The Evangelical Mind" as a great read on the history of evangelical thought on Jesus in America. As a bonus he makes some cool cultural references. He doesn't dive into pop culture much, as his movie chapter would hint at, which is disappointing, but for that Pinskey's book, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" or Short's "The Gospel according to Peanuts" is a better start.

[C.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted a history of how Americans adapt Jesus to the wants and needs of the given day. I got an evangelical guidebook on how to return to Puritan glory, which the author saw as a near perfect blend of doctrinal obedience, faith/piety and good works. While pointing out the hypocrisies of the ages, however, the author forgets to ask if HE and his fellow evangelical Christians are not also shaping Jesus "wrongly" as he accuses virtually everyone of doing. Except Jonathon Edwards et al.

I found the author sincere but intolerant of any deviations from HIS Jesus, HIS Christianity. He pulled the shabby trick that to me marks a sermonizer, not a true scholar: he would astringently and even stridently criticize someone, then turn around and assure us that someone was still no doubt an okay person despite their denial of HIS Jesus. Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine notably take hits, but even fellow evangelicals were not safe.

His scholarship at times was a bit glib, though I won't be the one to nitpick for errors.

I did get a laugh the author never intended. I am an inveterate footnote reader, and one footnote slammed the Enlightenment for the "maleffect" it had on America....but without the Enlightenment, there would be no America!

If you want evangelical Christianity reformed, purified, and crammed with intellectualism, this is your book. if you really want a simple history, flee it.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nichols' book is an odd beast. It's subtitle claims to be a cultural history, but it certainly is not that. Fox and Prothero have done that in recent years about Jesus in America and they are excellent historians of religion and talk much better about the cultural setting than Nichols does, or even attempts to do (Blum and Harvey, The Color of Christ, examines one corner of that as well). Nichols, before the 20th century, tries to write an intellectual sort of history focusing on specific individuals and holding the Puritans as a Christological ideal. Everything is declension from them, from the founders to the revivalists to Victorian sentimentalists. When he gets to the twentieth century, after praising Machen and attacking liberal Protestantism, he tosses aside historical development for topics - music, movies, consumer goods, and politics. He seems not to be a historian by training because he is very wooden and fairly narrow in his references to other historians. I do appreciate his taking on of capitalism and of politics, the last chapters saved the book for me, but its overall problem is that it slips from a focus particularly on Jesus to larger commentary on the state of American Christianity. Such a jeremiad is perhaps necessary, but not what I anticipated in picking up the book.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often with little attention to the historical figure, each subsequent generation of American Christians have re-created the person and ministry of Jesus. This is particularly true to American Evangelicals, the subject of Nichols’ “cultural history.” Using the Puritans (e.g. Jonathan Edwards and Edward Taylor) as the theological standard of American orthodox Christology, Nichols traces the cultural trajectory of Christological beliefs in ensuing generations – as represented by frontier Jesus, modernist Jesus, Jesus People Jesus, Hollywood Jesus, T-Shirt Jesus, and Republican Jesus. Nichols provides an insightful cultural exegesis, but seems guilty of theological and historical reductionism – or at least favoritism. B

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the cover and title, this book looks very much like a "pop theology" type book. However it is written with a much more scholarly/academic tone than I expected. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it: I did.

Nichols traces the various views our culture has had of Jesus since the country's inception and analyzes what those say about our culture and Christian beliefs.

My favorite parts were the later chapters where he talks about Jesus as a marketing tool, an empty commodity, a symbol devoid of meaning.

There are also numerous references to other books that will provide a great jumping off point for my future reading.

[Timothy Bertolet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book analyzing the various perspectives on Jesus down through American history. His primarily focus is on culture. Nichols looks briefly at the Puritans, the founding fathers, Victorian culture vs. frontier culture, liberalism vs. fundamentalism, pop evangelical culture and the Jesus of the right vs. the Jesus of the left in politics. Often times he has cogent critiques for both sides. The book contains great warnings for the church that we not loose what is essential to the church: that Jesus is "for us and our salvation" (quoting the Nicene Creed). We have domesticated Jesus away from the God-man of the Bible.

[Juli · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good discussion of the way culture has played a part in the way we as Americans view Jesus and our theology. The author has some opinions that he states pretty blatantly (I might even say rudely) at random times in the book which I didn't like if the book was supposed to be an academic discussion from a historical point. It did make me think more about the culture I am in and how it has affected the way I think about Jesus but I think there are probably better books out there on the same topic.

[Thomas Grosh IV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid challenge for followers of Christ as they consider how much of their understanding of Jesus has been/is being shaped by the larger American culture. As part of Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church/InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network's "Christian Scholar Series," Stephen Nichols presented on this title and "Jesus for the Academy: Freeing Christ from our Agendas." His material was well received.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly and readable history of major cultural forces and influences that have effected how the Jesus of the Bible has been understood from the early settlers until the present day in America. A very important read as the author deals with the theology of the Puritans, frontier life, Victorians, civil religion, the founding fathers (in their own words), the proposed Christian Amendment in 1862, the Civil War, Jesus in movies, the Jesus Movement, WWJD and engagement in politics.

[Scott Korljan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, this is a must read for those in church leadership, especially pastors. Good overview of the various ways which American culture has hijacked Jesus and made him into its own image. The primary point I took away was that we must hold firmly to the complexity of the biblical Jesus. All of the perversions of Jesus that he highlights in this book to some degree or another occurred out of a desire to simply the picture of Jesus in the Gospels.

[Tim Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nichols does a good job of surveying America's different ideas of Jesus. I found myself in several of the different era's thinking, much to my own dismay. Christian plumber really made me think about the efficacy of using "Christian" as an adjective. My only critique of Nichols' critique is that not enough of his story comes through in this historical survey.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can be a little pessimistic for me at times, but overall, really helpful. Very David Wellsian throughout!

[Lizzy MacRae Garvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A phenomenal book on the ways we've attempted to adapt Christ to our culture since the time of our Founders.