Re-forming the center
Subtitle: American Protestantism, 1900 to the present
By: edited by Douglas Jacobsen and William Vance Trollinger, Jr.
Contributors: Jacobsen, Douglas G. 1951-; Trollinger, William Vance.
Publisher: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Grand Rapids, Mich
Language: eng
Number of pages: 492
Subjects: Protestantism -- 20th century.; Protestant churches -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Liberalism (Religion) -- Protestant churches -- History -- 20th century.; Evangelicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; United States -- Church history -- 20th century.
Description: 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.