Re-Forming the Center: American Protestantism, 1900 to the Present

by Douglas Jacobsen (Editor)

This book deals with the structure and identity of American Protestantism in the twentieth century. The standard picture of these years portrays Protestantism as divided into two diametrically opposed camps - fundamentalist/evangelical Protestantism and liberal/mainline Protestantism. Re-Forming the Center challenges this two-party thesis, questioning it on the basis of empirical validity and on the basis of contemporary usefulness. Most of the book's contributors argue that the two-party model not only provides an inadequate map of American Protestantism during the past century but also distorts Protestant hopes for the future. These insightful essays as a whole seek to move beyond a bipolar model and toward the formulation of a more accurate and sophisticated understanding of Protestantism in the United States.

492 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Douglas Jacobsen (PhD, University of Chicago) is distinguished professor of church history and theology at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.