The Evangelicals

1. The Great Awakenings Forged American Evangelicalism

Awakenings, as the scholar William McLoughlin tells us, “are periods of cultural revitalization . . . that extend over a period of a generation or so, during which time a profound reorientation of beliefs and values takes place.”

Colonial transformation. The First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s), led by figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, challenged the formalism of established churches, emphasizing a "religion of the heart" and immediate conversion. This movement transcended colonial boundaries, fostering a shared evangelical faith and laying groundwork for a more egalitarian society. It also inadvertently undermined the authority of the clergy by promoting individual spiritual experience.

Post-Revolutionary expansion. The Second Great Awakening (late 18th century to 1850s) was even more explosive, spreading across the expanding American frontier. Methodist circuit riders and Baptist farmer-preachers, often uneducated, championed individual freedom and religious liberty, creating a populist, anti-intellectual strain in American Protestantism. This era saw the rise of new denominations and solidified evangelical Protestantism as the dominant religious force, leading to the separation of church and state.

Foundational attitudes. Many attitudes formed during these awakenings became part of America's common heritage, particularly the spirit of voluntarism. For evangelicals, these revivals pioneered mass evangelism and introduced communication techniques still used today. They also instilled a belief that America was fundamentally a Christian nation, a conviction that would profoundly influence future political and social movements.

2. Slavery Divided Early Evangelicalism, Shaping Regional Identities

In defending slavery against hostile northern opinion, southerners began to regard the advocacy of any kind of reform as potentially threatening.

Early opposition fades. Initially, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians in the early 19th century opposed slavery, with Methodists being particularly vocal. However, as cotton cultivation expanded and their membership grew, Southern evangelicals found it expedient to accommodate slaveholding, eventually sanctioning it to maintain their influence and convert more people. This shift extinguished much of their earlier reformist zeal.

Theological justifications. Faced with growing Northern abolitionist pressure, Southern clergy developed new arguments for slavery, claiming it was a civil institution outside the church's scope and biblically sanctioned. This led to the "spirituality of the Church" doctrine, asserting the church's non-involvement in state social reform, effectively preserving the existing social order and racial hierarchy. This doctrine would persist for 150 years, invoked whenever racial justice issues arose.

Regional divergence. The division over slavery culminated in the formal split of Methodists and Baptists along regional lines in 1845. This schism deepened the divergence in evangelical identity:

• North: Embraced perfectionism, social reform, and an optimistic postmillennial vision of building God's Kingdom on Earth.
• South: Focused intensely on individual conversion, personal morality, and evangelism, fostering a strong sense of regional identity and cultural isolation.

3. Modernity Sparked a Liberal-Conservative Theological Divide

An enlightened Mind, not raised Affections, ought always to be the Guide of those who call themselves Men.

Challenges to tradition. The late 19th and early 20th centuries brought immense economic, demographic, and intellectual upheaval. Darwinian evolution, German biblical criticism, and the problems of industrialization challenged traditional evangelical beliefs. This era saw the "disenchantment of the world" as secular domains expanded and universities adopted scientific objectivity, pushing religion to the periphery of intellectual life.

Rise of Liberal Theology. Liberal clergymen, influenced by Horace Bushnell's ideas on language and the evolving nature of revelation, sought to reconcile Christianity with modern thought. Known as the "New Theology," it rejected core Calvinist doctrines like predestination and eternal punishment, emphasizing God's love, human reason, and moral character. This led to the "Social Gospel," advocating for structural societal reform, not just individual salvation, to bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Conservative reaction. In response, conservatives, particularly at Princeton Theological Seminary, fortified traditional doctrines. They championed biblical inerrancy—the belief that the Bible is "free from all error" in every detail—and adopted dispensational premillennialism, which predicted societal decline and Christ's imminent return. Dwight Moody, a popular revivalist, blended these conservative themes, institutionalizing fundamentalism and laying the groundwork for a militant anti-modernist movement.

4. Fundamentalists Forged a Militant Identity in Cultural Exile

Whatever they said would be overshadowed by the pejorative associations attached to the movement by the seemingly victorious secular establishment.

Post-WWI militancy. World War I shattered liberal optimism, but reinforced premillennialist beliefs in societal decline. This period saw fundamentalists, led by figures like William B. Riley, launch a militant offensive against modernism, particularly targeting liberal theology in denominations and Darwinism in public schools. The publication of "The Fundamentals" (1910-1915) aimed to unite conservatives around "essential doctrines" like biblical inerrancy.

The Scopes Trial's impact. The 1925 Scopes Trial, pitting William Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow over evolution, became a national spectacle. Despite a legal victory for the prosecution, media portrayal depicted Bryan and fundamentalism as ignorant and absurd, effectively marginalizing the movement in the public eye. This humiliation led to a period of "cultural exile" for fundamentalists, who were increasingly seen as outsiders.

Survival and growth. Despite public ridicule and internal schisms, fundamentalism thrived during the Great Depression and WWII. Leaders like J. Frank Norris built regional empires of separatist Baptist churches, particularly in the Sunbelt, while institutions like the Moody Bible Institute trained a new generation of preachers. This period fostered a strong sense of group solidarity, a "Manichean" worldview, and a rhetorical aggressiveness that would define future fundamentalist activism.

5. Billy Graham Unified Evangelicals, Bridging Divides

The one badge of Christian discipleship is not orthodoxy but love.

Post-WWII resurgence. Billy Graham emerged in the late 1940s as a national revivalist, attracting massive crowds and becoming a celebrity. His timing coincided with a widespread religious resurgence in America. Graham, a fundamentalist by background, skillfully navigated theological differences, focusing on a "simple message" of personal conversion and avoiding divisive doctrinal disputes.

National influence. Graham's irenic approach and organizational prowess, honed in Youth for Christ, allowed him to gain support from both Northern and Southern Protestants, as well as powerful businessmen and politicians like President Eisenhower. He helped forge a connection between religion and patriotism, framing the Cold War as a spiritual battle against "godless Communism," a civil religion that resonated widely.

The "evangelical" identity. In 1957, Graham deliberately broke with militant fundamentalists like Carl McIntire and Bob Jones Sr., who criticized his cooperation with mainline Protestants. He embraced the term "evangelical" to denote a broader coalition of "born-again believers," distinguishing it from the narrowness and belligerence of fundamentalism. This move, supported by figures like Harold Ockenga and Carl Henry, helped create a new, more respectable identity for conservative Protestants.

6. Pentecostalism and Southern Baptists Reshaped Evangelical Power

There was hardly any institution, pleasure, business, vice, or social group that escaped the scorn and opposition of Pentecostal preachers.

Pentecostal rise. Originating among the poor and marginalized, Pentecostalism experienced explosive growth post-WWII. Figures like Oral Roberts transformed its image, moving from tent revivals to television and building universities, making Pentecostalism more respectable and influential. The charismatic renewal movement further spread Pentecostal practices like speaking in tongues and divine healing into mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, challenging traditional theological boundaries.

Southern Baptist transformation. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), historically isolated and deeply conservative, began integrating into national life after WWII. While initially resistant to social change, the SBC gradually moved towards accepting federal civil rights legislation, albeit cautiously. Its rapid growth, particularly outside the South, and its centralized denominational machinery made it a formidable force, though internal theological debates over biblical inerrancy simmered.

Shifting dynamics. These two movements significantly altered the evangelical landscape. Pentecostalism's emphasis on spiritual experience and media savvy, combined with the SBC's institutional strength and growing national reach, created new centers of power. This diversification challenged the neo-evangelical leadership's attempts to forge a unified intellectual framework, setting the stage for future internal conflicts and the rise of new political alignments.

7. The "Long Sixties" Catalyzed the Christian Right's Emergence

Surprisingly, only the fundamentalists objected to all of them.

Cultural upheaval. The 1960s and early 1970s brought profound social and cultural changes: the election of a Catholic president, Supreme Court rulings banning school prayer and Bible reading, landmark civil rights legislation, and the counterculture's challenge to traditional morality. These events deeply unsettled many conservative Protestants, who perceived them as an assault on America's Christian foundations.

Evangelical divisions. While fundamentalists consistently opposed these changes, other evangelicals, including Billy Graham and the SBC leadership, reacted with more nuance. Graham cautiously desegregated his crusades and eventually accepted civil rights laws, though he avoided direct political advocacy. The SBC, despite internal struggles, officially moved to condemn racism and injustice, reflecting a growing, albeit slow, adaptation to national norms.

Seeds of reaction. The period also saw the emergence of a small but vocal evangelical left, advocating for social justice and peace. However, the broader cultural shifts, particularly around sex, gender roles, and abortion, began to coalesce into a powerful backlash among conservative Protestants. Initially, evangelicals, including neo-evangelicals and Southern Baptists, largely supported the liberalization of abortion laws, viewing it as a "therapeutic" issue, not outright murder.

8. Falwell and the New Right Mobilized Evangelicals into Politics

The idea of ‘religion and politics don’t mix’ was invented by the devil to keep Christians from running their own country.

Grassroots discontent. The cultural revolution of the 1960s sparked widespread grassroots protests among conservative Protestants, particularly against sex education and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Figures like Phyllis Schlafly effectively mobilized women against the ERA, framing it as a threat to the traditional family. Abortion, initially a nuanced issue for evangelicals, became politicized by Catholic right-to-life groups, pushing Republicans to adopt an anti-abortion stance.

New Right strategists. Washington-based New Right activists like Richard Viguerie and Paul Weyrich recognized the political potential of these "pro-family" issues. They sought to mobilize conservative Christians, who felt their values were under attack, into a potent voting bloc. A key catalyst was the IRS's proposed revocation of tax-exempt status for Christian schools that practiced de facto segregation, which galvanized many pastors into political action.

Falwell's jeremiad. Jerry Falwell, a separatist Baptist pastor, emerged as a leading voice, founding the Moral Majority in 1979. He crafted a powerful jeremiad, linking America's moral decay (abortion, homosexuality, secular humanism) to its economic and military decline, urging Christians to "turn America around or prepare for inevitable destruction." This rhetoric, combined with his media savvy and organizational efforts, played a crucial role in channeling evangelical discontent into national politics and supporting Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid.

9. Intellectuals Provided the Christian Right's Ideological Framework

What is today a matter of academic speculation begins tomorrow to move armies and pull down empires.

Beyond populism. While the Christian Right was largely a populist movement, two systematic thinkers, R. J. Rushdoony and Francis Schaeffer, provided crucial intellectual foundations. Both came from the strict Calvinist tradition of J. Gresham Machen and Westminster Theological Seminary, offering comprehensive critiques of modern secularism and justifications for Christian political engagement.

Rushdoony's Reconstructionism. Rushdoony, a controversial figure, developed Christian Reconstructionism, advocating for a society governed by Old Testament biblical law (theonomy). He argued that America was founded as a Christian nation, its Constitution rooted in Calvinist principles, and that Christians had a divine mandate to establish God's dominion on Earth. His ideas, though radical and often detached from their author, influenced segments of the Christian Right, particularly on issues of law, education (home schooling), and anti-pluralism.

Schaeffer's "Christian Worldview." Francis Schaeffer, a widely influential evangelical intellectual, critiqued Western civilization's "line of despair" caused by humanism's rejection of objective truth. He argued for a "Christian worldview" as the only coherent framework for understanding reality. His documentary series, "How Should We Then Live?", and his book "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" (co-authored with C. Everett Koop), powerfully framed abortion as murder and a slippery slope to infanticide, galvanizing evangelical opposition and making it a central issue for the Christian Right.

10. Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition Integrated Faith and GOP Power

The Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political organization in America.

Robertson's unique blend. Pat Robertson, a charismatic televangelist, emerged as a key leader after Falwell's Moral Majority declined. His Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and "The 700 Club" blended spiritual healing and prophecy with political commentary, reaching millions. Robertson's 1988 presidential campaign, though unsuccessful, demonstrated the potential of an "invisible army" of evangelical activists to influence Republican primaries.

The Christian Coalition's rise. In 1989, Robertson founded the Christian Coalition, led by the politically astute Ralph Reed. Unlike the Moral Majority, the Coalition focused on grassroots mobilization of lay evangelicals from diverse traditions, forging alliances with other conservative groups. Reed's strategies, including sophisticated voter identification and distribution of "voter guides," effectively integrated Christian Right activists into the Republican Party machinery at local and state levels.

Political impact. The Coalition played a significant role in the 1994 Republican Revolution, contributing to the GOP's takeover of Congress. It became a formidable lobbying force, pushing for "pro-family" legislation and influencing the Republican platform. Despite internal tensions and legal challenges over its tax-exempt status, the Christian Coalition cemented the alliance between white evangelicals and the Republican Party, making it an indispensable faction within the GOP.

11. George W. Bush Solidified the Christian Right's Influence

There was a very high level of trust among white evangelicals and George W. Bush. If he said that’s what we needed to do, then they were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

A sympathetic president. After the Christian Right's post-impeachment despair, George W. Bush's presidency revitalized the movement. A "born-again" Southern Methodist, Bush cultivated strong ties with evangelical leaders and spoke their language, particularly after his narrow 2000 election victory, which Karl Rove attributed to insufficient evangelical turnout. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" and faith-based initiatives signaled a new era of access and influence for religious conservatives.

9/11 and the Iraq War. The September 11th attacks and the subsequent "War on Terror" profoundly solidified the alliance between Bush and the Christian Right. Bush's rhetoric, framing the conflict in stark terms of "good versus evil" and portraying America as a divinely guided nation, resonated deeply with evangelicals. Anti-Muslim sentiment surged among some Christian Right leaders, and many supported the Iraq War for both geopolitical and theological (Christian Zionist) reasons.

The "moral values" vote. The 2004 election saw the Christian Right rebound dramatically. Mobilized by state-level constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, evangelicals turned out in record numbers, giving Bush 78% of their vote. Exit polls showing "moral values" as a top priority suggested the Christian Right played a crucial role in Bush's narrow victory, leading to demands for judicial appointments that would reverse Roe v. Wade and advance their social agenda.

12. The "New Evangelicals" Challenged the Christian Right's Hegemony

Evangelicals don’t want themselves identified as the Republican Party at prayer.

Post-Bush backlash. The Christian Right's close alliance with the Bush administration and its perceived overreach (e.g., Terri Schiavo case, judicial activism) sparked a significant backlash, even within the evangelical community. Younger evangelicals and those outside the traditional Southern base grew uncomfortable with the movement's narrow focus on sexual morality, aggressive intolerance, and partisan alignment.

Emergence of new voices. A new generation of evangelical leaders, dubbed "new evangelicals" (e.g., Rick Warren, Joel Hunter, Jim Wallis), began to publicly challenge the Christian Right. They advocated for a broader agenda encompassing poverty, global health, environmental care ("creation care"), and racial justice, often emphasizing Christ's teachings on "the least of these." This shift reflected a desire to reclaim evangelicalism's historical reformist roots and distance it from partisan politics.

Demographic and cultural shifts. Long-term demographic trends further eroded the Christian Right's dominance. The rise of millennials, who were more ethnically diverse and socially liberal (e.g., on gay rights), and the growing number of religiously unaffiliated Americans ("nones") challenged the traditional evangelical base. While the Christian Right maintained influence in some Southern states, its national power waned, leading to internal divisions and a struggle for the future direction of American evangelicalism.

Last updated: March 23, 2026