Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America

by Randall Balmer

Randall Balmer's Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory is an insightful and engaging journey into the world of conservative Christians in America. Originally published fifteen years ago and the basis for an award-winning PBS documentary, this timely new edition arrives just as recent elections have
left an ever-growing number of secular Americans wondering exactly how the other half thinks.
From Oregon to Florida, and from Texas to North Dakota, Balmer offers an immensely readable tour of the highways and byways of American evangelicalism. We visit a revival meeting in Florida, an Indian reservation in the Dakotas, a trade show for Christian booksellers, and a fundamentalist Bible
camp in the Adirondacks.
For this fourth edition, Balmer adds two chapters, one on the phenomenally popular "Painter of Light," Thomas Kinkade, and one on Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life . Through the eyes of these and other people Balmer meets on his journeys, we arrive at a more accurate and balanced
understanding of an abiding tradition that, as the author argues, is both rich in theological insights and mired in contradictions. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory offers readers a genuine insight into the appeal that the evangelicals movement holds for thousands of Americans.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Christianity, Politics, Spirituality, Faith

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Randall Herbert Balmer, Ph.D. (Princeton University, 1985), is an ordained Episcopal Priest and historian of American religion, and holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth College. He also has taught at Barnard College; Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, Drew, Emory, Yale and Northwestern universities; and at Union Theological Seminary. Balmer was nominated for an Emmy Award for the PBS documentary "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory," based on his book of the same title.

Reviews

[Susie Meister]

Balmer claims he was motivated, not to reinforce stereotypes, but to get to the heart of the evangelical subculture. Using specific churches and leaders as examples he highlights some of the themes throughout the subculture. Leaders often use their roles to interpret scripture for their congregations in a "Here is what it says, so this is what it means" style. They emphasize an individual interpretation, but the plainest, most evident reading of the text is the proper one creating no need for an Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, etc... Evangelicals promote emotionalism above rationalism. An important subtext to the evangelical worldview, according to Balmer, is the belief that Christ's return is imminent. Evangelicals are only anti-modern in so far as they associate it with morality (see also Campbell). Although claiming to spread the "good news," Balmer argues much of what he heard was bad news (dooming most of us to hell). Balmer mentions that Weber's theory on the routinization of religion predicts a decline in evangelicals with the next generation. One aspect of the subculture covered by Balmer was the growth of Bible schools that allow evangelicals to attend university without being tainted by secular influences. While they often reject things of "the world," they often accept their standards of success, paving the way for such things as prosperity theology. Balmer argues the reason for evangelical pro-life focus is that 1) the fetus is symbolic of the vulnerability and innocence they see in themselves, 2) they have no tolerance for sexual indiscretion. Ultimately, evangelicals offer unambiguous morality in an age of moral uncertainty.

[Kari McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most excellent books I have ever read. The author, an ex-evangelical, wrote the book to combat stereotyping of evangelicals in the wake of “the televangelist scandals back in the 1980s” (376). He presents an almost tender portrait of the diverse spectrum of evangelical institutions and individuals. This presents my parents’ generation of evangelicals very clearly, and yet is still recognizable for the evangelicalism of my childhood and today. My only complaint with this book is the clear political ending, complaining about the political stance of contemporary evangelicalism. That seems out of place. I also as a historian disagree with the claim that evangelicalism was completely in favor of women’s rights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (376). Evangelicals were all over the map on this. Shamefully, evangelicals were also not all racially progressive in that era, either. So Balmer’s claims to the contrary are not completely correct, in my opinion. Overall, though, this was one of my favorite books ever!!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethnographic-leaning journalistic vignettes of a variety of evangelical scenes and point-people across the late 80s-early 90s. While not every chapter is critical to an understanding of the breadth of the subculture (the point of such a variety is to reinforce the scattered free-market-esque spirit of American religion), each story and scene are engaging and exciting in their own way. This examination of a distinctly American culture in the time this fieldwork was done makes it all-the-more engaging, especially with regards to media and entertainment. Dispatches from the decline of televangelism, Pat Robertson's Presidential primary campaign, and Jars of Clay at a critical time in both their career and in the genesis of CCM all contribute wonderfully to this documentation. Highly readable, highly recommended.

[Christopher Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight out of ten.

A fascinating look at Evangelical subcultures. It does have a bit of an eighties flavour - some of the groups are no longer going concerns. (Does anyone remember Neal Frisby?) But the insights remain.

My favourite chapter was the fascinating story of a Pentecostal congregation joining the American Anglican communion. Made me think deeply about ecclesial possibilities.

I recommend this to anyone who is mildly interested in the sociology of American religion. I say mildly because it's definitely written on a lay level.

[Sologuboved · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating: succinct, capacious, candid, and respectful. Could do with a more comprehensive section on theologies, especially comparative theology, but I suppose this subject lies beyond the focus of this volume.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I'm a huuuuge nerd, I wrapped up a semester studying American religious history in grad school, and immediately turned to read for fun ... a classic book of American religious history. Welp. That's who I am, everyone.

But this is actually a really fascinating book. Balmer, one of the foremost scholars of evangelicalism, essentially took a big road trip and wrote about it, one chapter per stop on the tour. He writes with an accessible and engaging style, and generally lets his sources do most of the talking, which is more refreshing than it should be. He also injects his own reactions as an ex-evangelical himself, and these are also interesting and well worth reading without getting in the way of the ethnographic work he's doing.

The content of the book is particularly interesting because it was published in the late 1980s, at arguably the height of American evangelicalism. It cries out for a follow-up. Are the teens who attended a fundamentalist summer camp in the Adirondacks still holding on to their faith? Are the Black evangelicals in Mississippi still making progress toward racial equality? What happened to the faith-healing followers after their leader died? Evangelicalism itself has curdled into an amalgam of racial grievance, nationalistic jingoism, and paranoid condescension. How would that change the focus of a book like this? The fact that I closed the book wanting to know more about how the subsequent three decades have influenced the voices within it is a good sign.

A less good sign is that an update would allow Balmer to excise his unfortunate habit of describing women, and only women, as "attractive" and "articulate" or "well-spoken." I don't think I need to delve into why the former is a problem (not least because it's a subjective adjective that tells the reader nothing except that the author was physically attracted to this woman, and of course more important, it's straight-up objectification; her attractiveness is irrelevant to the story Balmer is telling), and the latter leaves the impression that being articulate is something worth noting in a woman, when really, the words he quotes her saying should be evidence enough of that without emphasizing it.

So in many ways, mostly good but a little bad, Mine Eyes is a product of its time, and overall well-deserving of the accolades it has received since its publication.

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The term evangelical has been bandied about a lot in recent years. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it simply: “Of or pertaining to the Gospel” of the New Testament, especially the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Do Evangelicals know this? However on another note, the Methodists have opened the gates to all binary and non-binary and all LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈. ‘bout time.

Evangelicals, as an umbrella term, refers broadly to conservative Protestants—including fundamentalists, evangelicals, pentecostals, and charismatics—who insist on some sort of spiritual rebirth as a criterion for entering the kingdom of heaven, who often impose exacting behavioral standards on the faithful, and whose beliefs, institutions, and folkways comprise the evangelical subculture in America.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole experience of reading this was like having a vivid flashback to my own childhood in evangelical circles, with the added irony being that this book was first published before I was even born. One of the takeaways from that is that evangelical culture honestly hasn't changed very much. The same kinds of personalities that Balmer chronicles here are still around, as are the peculiarities of its subcultural marketing, industries, and popular culture. Indeed, much of this book was actually just straight-up amusing for how well it describes facets of conservative culture that simply have not changed in the 30+ years since the book's first print run. Many of Balmer's observations, both cultural and personal, are poignant and incisive, and I think he does a nice job giving some of evangelical theology its due while also questioning particular elements of its efficacy and chasing down the logical, cultural, and critical conclusions that one must come to if you follow the chain of reasoning that certain elements of the theology necessarily engender. Overall this was a fun, interesting, colorful read, highly relevant to anyone who grew up in evangelical subculture, but also especially useful for those outside of it to get a grip on some of its curiosities.

[Andy Zell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good snapshots of evangelicalism in America in the last 25-30 years. Each chapter focuses on a different person or congregation/place across America, from the premillenial dispensationalists at Dallas Theological Seminary to the director of Thief in the Night to a Billy Graham crusade to the studio of Thomas Kinkade to a Jars of Clay concert. Ballmer is clearly ambivalent about evangelicals since he himself grew up one and then left. But I feel that he is fair to the many people he interviews. He lets them have their say, even when he disagrees. It's a good companion book to Frances FitzGerald's The Evangelicals. In fact, it resembles the closely reported first person chapters of that book. Also reminds me of the reporting in Jeff Chu's Does Jesus Really Love Me?, another good look at the church today. If you read this one, I'd recommend getting the 25th anniversary edition because it has more chapters and an incisive afterword.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is super interesting. Randall Balmer, in the late 1980s, took a stroll through America in an attempt to identity some unique strands to the unwieldy subculture of evangelicalism (or fundamentalism, as he generally doesn't discriminate between the two). The result is a fascinating glimpse at the wide diversity of traditions (or counter-traditions) that have emerged under the umbrella of evangelicalism. Each chapter chronicles the exploits of a specific community or phenomena as a case study for that specific trend, be it health-and-weath prosperity gospel to stanch, codified fundamentalism.

It's quite a ride, though rather cynical at points. While it doesn't work as history per se, his sketch of the traditions that have developed in reaction to "modernism" are very interesting. I'd recommend it to anyone who wonders what evangelicalism is or what that term entails.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth edition of Balmer's book, which was also a series on PBS, most of the essays were written 20 years ago and now seem dated. This edition also contains two essays written ten years ago, and two more written for this new edition. Balmer, formerly a evangelical, approaches his subjects, who range from Jimmy Swaggart to a Native-American Episcopal priest in North Dakota, with respect and without comical irony. However, he does does point out the contradictions and short comings in his subjects' theology and teachings. He especially chides Evangelicals for being materialistic, when Jesus was concerned about the poor. The last essay in the book focuses on Rick Warren. My main complaint is that he didn't analyze his subjects deeper, still it is a good survey of Evangelicals

[Courtney Huskisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randall Balmer seeks to critique the evangelical culture through revealing stories and experiences of the groups he's interacted with over the years. Balmer is highly cynical, and though many of his critiques need to be heard, several are unfair. I think Balmer was also working out some of his own angst in his upbringing and it came out in several of his chapters. I will assume that Balmer's goal is to cause Christians to look in the mirror and encourage them not to be isolationists from culture.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a class back in 2006 and loved it. It's non-fiction but is very well-written and reads as fast as a fiction book. The author, born and raised as an evangelical christian, takes an educated pyschological and sociological look at the structure of Christian Fundamentalism in the United States and the reasons for it's popularity.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a Wheaton grad and an Oregon Extension alumni I loved Balmer's (he's an OE alum also)deep search for the truth behind the evangelical rhetoric. He can, however, slant towards the cynical.

[Josh Denslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this as research, but ended up loving it. I listened to the audiobook. The author read the book and he was a joy to listen to. Each chapter followed a different group or entity in the evangelical subculture so I was able to listen to a chapter here or there over most of this year. I was already fascinated by the subculture, but I found as I was going through this book, that I was pretty negative about it. I find myself holding them responsible for a lot of what I find wrong with our country now, and though I still find that they have backed a pretty terrible horse, it was nice to humanize them and see the conficting groups within the subculture and the shifting views that characterize a group with no real leadership and penchant for judging others. But there is a real warmth here, and even when being critical, Balmer attempts to rationalize, and while not making excuses, making us understand. They are human beings after all, even if they have tied themselves to some thinking that I find inexcusable. I read the 25th anniversary and I found his epilogue to be pretty wonderful and it just cemented how much I enjoyed listening to this. It reminds me that I need to temper my hate and realize that it's a long journey for people to establish their views. People are fascinating.

[Zak Schmoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love travel stories, and I love longform journalism. Balmer takes the reader a trip around the United States visiting a wide variety of different evangelicals. He does visit a disproportionately high number of Pentecostals, but he does a pretty good job covering the spectrum of evangelicals. I recognized plenty of names and places mentioned throughout this book.

Balmer adds his opinions throughout the book, and he does not agree with many of the people he visits. However, he does not go out of his way to slam people. He does not look down his nose at people. He genuinely tries to tell people's stories. A lot of times people write about religion with the intention of tearing it down or making it look silly. I did not get that feeling from this book at all, even though Balmer does point out many areas of his own personal disagreement.

As we all wrestle with what the term evangelical means, this is an enjoyable read. I highly recommend it. I will point out that it is a little bit dated, but I still think it has explanatory power.

[Ryan King · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent panoramic view of evangelicalism from around the turn of the century. Balmer’s book is rich in the grassroots stories of individuals and communities that fit within the broad categories of evangelicalism. Throughout his journey he will drop defining statement about the evangelical movement, like this one on page 332, "...Saddleback - and evangelicalism generally - is all about adaptation and experimentation." These statements are cleverly inserted - he shows without telling to much. He is an excellent wrier; as you read you will catch both his wit and cleverness shine through in the ways he juxtaposes ideas or simply states facts, such as the detail about "faggot fires" on page 99. 

This book predates the 2016 election, so a first time reading of it makes it all the more fascinating, lamentable, and prophetic. I appreciate the practical hope Balmer allows to shine through regarding his thoughts on the future of evangelicalism. Because of this, I would like to read more of his writing and thoughts since publishing this book. What are his thoughts on the greater movement - did it remove itself from the mire of reactionary politics? How might current events shape how he sees these individual stories? I would love for someone to take a journey into the subculture of Evangeliclism today and write a book just like this, I believe it would confirm present fears about evangelicalism but maybe, possibly, shine some light upon possible redemption.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories of the author’s visits to various evangelical people, places and events from 1986 to 2013: Calvary Chapel, Dallas Seminary, a Christian movie producer, an Adirondack bible camp, a charismatic turned Episcopal church, Jimmy Swaggart, Thomas Kinkaid, Rick Warren, Latinos in Chicago, and more. Balmer comes from a Fundamentalist family so he knows the culture, and he mostly tries to retain a reporter's objectivity, although he ocassionally lapses into disparagement of what he's seeing. The stories are intelligent and engaging. I'm inspired to look up the documentary he did on the topic.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Balmer's observations and insights. Some of the chapters were far more relevant to me than others. The one called Adirondack Fundamentalism about kids in church-sponsored summer camps really hit home with my background. Also interesting was his observation of how Bible colleges are broadening in scope and changing their names.

[Kieran Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Each chapter is a self-contained vignette that explores a pocket of evangelicalism in America. I was able to connect to many of the stories and talking points, and I appreciate the author’s view, which was neutral enough for me to bring my critical perspective to the text.

[Jillian McNally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an cool book showing the diversity of evangelicalism in America; the good, the bad, and the in between described with honesty and respect. I appreciate the author switching between detailing a specific congregation and then describing the history and theology that shapes a denomination. It felt like visiting a ton of different churches while getting a brief theology and history lesson.

[Laura Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s gives a good history of evangelical subculture. Only reason it 4 stars is because of age of book. It’s well written and informative. Gives a perspective of the times and how we are influenced culturally by religious or non religious traditions( faith,rules etc )

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written and informative book on evangelical history in the US. Explains a lot about the beliefs and practices of these groups.

[Donia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started getting tedious after the first half. It would have been better to wrap it up than lament.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some chapters are more engaging than others. Dragged at the end for sure.

[Patrick Elsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s very good but outdated and maybe doesn’t make the deep dive I was looking for

[Nikki Leick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me when I am INSPIRED!!!!!!!!

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Sociology of Religion course

[Kathy]

Still working on this book as quite frankly lots of evangelicals have stolen Christianity and most Catholics are very unschooled in Bible and biblical knowledge.

Brings up some interesting critical points regarding the Second Coming (which Catholics don't mention but most evangelicals are obsessed with). And the storming of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (fit that in with the Second Coming).

Also the Rapture? Christ would have to return 3 times........

[Joshua Reinders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a skilled writer and I enjoyed his accounts of various slices of evangelicalism, even if it was plain that he liked some more than others...