Bible-Carrying Christians Conservative Protestants and Social Power [Hardcover]

In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of Protestant churches whose members habitually carry their Bibles with them. These churches--often referred to as evangelical or fundamentalist --play a crucial role in shaping American society. In this book, David Watt draws on years of fieldwork to present an elegant reinterpretation of the way that conservative Protestants influence American politics and culture. At the heart of the book is a sympathetic, but far from uncritical, analysis of those forms of social power that are assumed to be natural among Bible-carrying Christians. While outsiders often presuppose that evangelical Christians take for granted the authority of certain institutions (among them the American state, corporations, ministers, men, and heterosexuals), Watt argues that the reality is far more complex. This is a concise and lively book that sheds new light on the way that Bible-carrying Christians influence the way that people in America think--and avoid thinking--about social power.

1. Fieldwork
2. Philadelphia
3. Social Power
4. Oak Grove Church
5. The Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship
6. The Philadelphia Church of Christ
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

These descriptive analyses are eminently readable. Watt presents an elegant reinterpretation of the way that conservative Protestants influence American politics and culture...The portrait that emerges is far more compelling than standard depictions of conservative American Protestants. --Journalof the International Society of Bible Collectors

David Watt's intensely personal engagement with bible-carrying Christians transforms our understanding of their churches by his sensitive exploration of the diverse ways in which these groups understand and make use of the Bible. His book illuminates brilliantly the vital issues of patriarchy, feminism, gender, sexuality, and politics in these very different contextlCß