Book contents
- Frontmatter
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Being a Christian in the early twentieth century
- PART I INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
- PART II NARRATIVES OF CHANGE
- 8 The Great War
- 9 The Christian churches and politics in Europe, 1914–1939
- 10 Latin America, c.1914–c.1950
- 11 African Christianity: from the world wars to decolonisation
- 12 The African diaspora in the Caribbean and Europe from pre-emancipation to the present day
- 13 Christianity in the United States during the inter-war years
- 14 Christian churches in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, 1914–1970
- 15 Catholicism and Protestantism in the Second World War in Europe
- 16 The Cold War, the hegemony of the United States and the golden age of Christian democracy
- 17 The religious ferment of the sixties
- 18 The crisis of Christianity in the West: etering a post-Christian era?
- 19 The revolutions in eastern Europe and the beginnings of the post-communist era
- 20 The transformation of Latin American Christianity, c.1950–2000
- 21 Religion and racism: struggles around segregation, ‘Jim Crow’ and apartheid
- 22 Post-colonial Christianity in Africa
- 23 South Asia, 1911–2003
- 24 Christianity in South-East Asia, 1914–2000
- 25 East Asia
- PART III SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IMPACT
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
13 - Christianity in the United States during the inter-war years
from PART II - NARRATIVES OF CHANGE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Being a Christian in the early twentieth century
- PART I INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
- PART II NARRATIVES OF CHANGE
- 8 The Great War
- 9 The Christian churches and politics in Europe, 1914–1939
- 10 Latin America, c.1914–c.1950
- 11 African Christianity: from the world wars to decolonisation
- 12 The African diaspora in the Caribbean and Europe from pre-emancipation to the present day
- 13 Christianity in the United States during the inter-war years
- 14 Christian churches in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, 1914–1970
- 15 Catholicism and Protestantism in the Second World War in Europe
- 16 The Cold War, the hegemony of the United States and the golden age of Christian democracy
- 17 The religious ferment of the sixties
- 18 The crisis of Christianity in the West: etering a post-Christian era?
- 19 The revolutions in eastern Europe and the beginnings of the post-communist era
- 20 The transformation of Latin American Christianity, c.1950–2000
- 21 Religion and racism: struggles around segregation, ‘Jim Crow’ and apartheid
- 22 Post-colonial Christianity in Africa
- 23 South Asia, 1911–2003
- 24 Christianity in South-East Asia, 1914–2000
- 25 East Asia
- PART III SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IMPACT
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
The period between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II was a critical time for the development of a religiously pluralistic United States. With more people living in the cities than in the countryside, urban culture began to overshadow agricultural life. Earlier generations of foreign-born Americans – many of whom were Catholics – now had children who were voting and assuming positions of power in the government, economy and education. Disputes over the nature of the scriptures and the place of Christians in the modern world fragmented the Protestant community into ‘fundamentalists’ and ‘modernists’. Other Christians established their own church communities based on religious innovations such as speaking in tongues or sanctification. Additional diversification occurred as Dust Bowl migrants carried their evangelical ways to the west and African Americans left the rural south for the urban north. The economic and social insecurities of the Depression encouraged both intense devotional practices that focused on the miraculous and creative combinations of politics with faith. All leaders, including religious ones, took advantage of new forms of communication, especially radio, to spread their messages. While certain forms of Protestantism would decline in the twenties and thirties, for the most part Christianity in the United States was varied and flourishing.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Christianity , pp. 236 - 251Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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