Evangelicalism and Politics in the United States

3 credits · Graduate School

Evangelicalism is influential, not only as a religious movement, but also as a political force in the United States. This course examines the history of evangelicals in the United States from the eighteenth century to the present, focusing on their social and political activism. Numerous scholars have examined evangelicalism's diverse social and political influence on a variety of issues. Most recently, however, politicians and the news media in the United States often have more narrowly defined evangelicalism as a conservative Christian movement comprised of whites who overwhelmingly support the Republican party. How did this understanding develop and why? How accurate is this view in accounting for the complexities of evangelicalism? Also, how do we evaluate the moral claims many evangelicals have made in relation to their political loyalties and activism? This course addresses these and other questions from a historical perspective. [3] Mr. Byrd