The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Contemporary Christianity in the United States by Mark A. Lamport

Author:Mark A. Lamport
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2022-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

BEYOND CONGREGATIONS

Beyond the congregations, theologians write with the hope of helping Christians understand their faith. The result is a wide variety of interpretations. Mainline theology extends from neo-orthodox to liberationist; evangelical, from premillennial dispensationalist to “open theist”; Catholic, from traditionalist to feminist; and African American, from evangelical to liberationist and womanist. Serious theology is a difficult discipline, and theologians sharply disagree with each other. Laity tend to accept the views of their pastors and priests, but if they are dissatisfied, they can find another option down the street.

Publishers continue to print record numbers of Christian books, but booksellers have suffered. Between 2000 and 2020, the largest Christian bookstore chains—both mainstream and evangelical—closed, and more than 150,000 local outlets went out of business. More than two thousand remain, though, and the mass-market chain stores are also selling more Christian books. Amazon sells books from every position on the Christian spectrum, including serious fiction with Christian themes. Most Christian bookstores in the evangelical world maintained doctrinal boundaries by refusing to sell books deemed unorthodox.15 This guardianship is now weakened, and the closing of so many local stores limits choices, but Internet booksellers are ready to step in.

The wide variety of options raises boundary issues. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for example, is advancing worldwide. In recent decades it has moved toward evangelicalism, but some Christians remain wary of lingering doctrinal differences. The prosperity gospel is also expanding in the United States and abroad. Emphasizing biblical passages that promise health and wealth, some prosperity preachers preach to thousands, oversee megachurches, and attract television audiences. The Word of Faith movement, a charismatic version, assures the faithful that Jesus was a wealthy man and that they can also be wealthy when they say aloud what they want and claim possession of it by faith. Both groups step beyond the boundaries of traditional Christianity, but they see themselves as Christian believers, and they are growing.16

The immigration of people of other religious faiths raises a different kind of boundary issue in the United States. Most American Christians have little knowledge about other religions—even about Judaism—but most are also accepting of them: 75 percent say that religions other than Christianity offer a path to God, and 67 percent believe that they can even lead to eternal life. In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, however, some evangelical leaders have felt called to excoriate Islam. A minority of conservatives—about 20 percent—would make it illegal for Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus to worship in the United States. Further immigration will severely test American hospitality and Christian love of the neighbor.17

Other immigrants are changing the character of American Christianity. Migrants from Spanish-speaking countries to the west and southwest already counterbalance Catholic losses in the northeast and swell the ranks of evangelicals and Pentecostals. More than 60 percent of immigrants from Korea, India, Nigeria, Kenya, and other countries are Christian. They bring cultural traditions that inform different ways of being Christian, and now these countries send missionaries to the United States.

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