Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Gene Zubovich, "Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States" (UPenn Press, 2022)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Gene Zubovich, "Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States" (UPenn Press, 2022)
The study of the religious right has in many ways overshadowed other strands of U.S. religious history in the 20th century. This is owed in no small part to the powerful political role played by evangelical Christians in the Republican Party today, where they have helped set party positions for the past several decades. However, to focus on this dimension of religious history exclusively misses several other trends. Until the 1960s, the largest and most politically significant churches were mainline Protestant denominations such as the Methodist Church, and these bodies carved out a very different set of politics.
In his new book Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022), Gene Zubovich demonstrates the role these churches played in issues like the Great Depression, New Deal, the Cold War, and ultimately Jim Crow. These churches were politically powerful, large, and in many cases counted many adherents in the halls of political power in the United States. Zubovich notes the role of theologians whom he terms “ecumenical Protestants” that helped to create a framework of human rights, but also notes the ways that anti-racist discourses and other ideas taken up by these churches encountered backlash and resistance in the United States. Ultimately, Zubovich’s book is a reminder that even given the religious right’s political power, there are several different strands of religious history in the United States.
Zeb Larson is a writer and historian based in Columbus, Ohio. He received his PhD at The Ohio State University in 2019. To suggest a book or contact him, please e-mail him at [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies
View all episodes
By Marshall Poe
4
1616 ratings
The study of the religious right has in many ways overshadowed other strands of U.S. religious history in the 20th century. This is owed in no small part to the powerful political role played by evangelical Christians in the Republican Party today, where they have helped set party positions for the past several decades. However, to focus on this dimension of religious history exclusively misses several other trends. Until the 1960s, the largest and most politically significant churches were mainline Protestant denominations such as the Methodist Church, and these bodies carved out a very different set of politics.
In his new book Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022), Gene Zubovich demonstrates the role these churches played in issues like the Great Depression, New Deal, the Cold War, and ultimately Jim Crow. These churches were politically powerful, large, and in many cases counted many adherents in the halls of political power in the United States. Zubovich notes the role of theologians whom he terms “ecumenical Protestants” that helped to create a framework of human rights, but also notes the ways that anti-racist discourses and other ideas taken up by these churches encountered backlash and resistance in the United States. Ultimately, Zubovich’s book is a reminder that even given the religious right’s political power, there are several different strands of religious history in the United States.
Zeb Larson is a writer and historian based in Columbus, Ohio. He received his PhD at The Ohio State University in 2019. To suggest a book or contact him, please e-mail him at [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies
More shows like New Books in Christian Studies
View all
New Books in History
209 Listeners
New Books in Psychoanalysis
193 Listeners
New Books in Military History
162 Listeners
New Books in Economics
26 Listeners
New Books in African American Studies
161 Listeners
New Books in Anthropology
49 Listeners
New Books in Environmental Studies
23 Listeners
New Books in Philosophy
110 Listeners
New Books in World Affairs
25 Listeners
New Books in Intellectual History
61 Listeners
New Books in Biblical Studies
33 Listeners
Theology in the Raw
1,433 Listeners
BibleProject
18,921 Listeners
OnScript
609 Listeners
Kingdom Roots
284 Listeners
The Bible For Normal People
3,268 Listeners
Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith & Culture
1,235 Listeners
Ask NT Wright Anything
1,981 Listeners
The Biblical Mind
198 Listeners
Advisory Opinions
3,793 Listeners
The Dispatch Podcast
3,184 Listeners
Gospelbound
338 Listeners
Life and Books and Everything
626 Listeners
Good Faith
1,899 Listeners
Confronting Christianity with Rebecca McLaughlin
303 Listeners