Summary

America is often thought of as a Protestant nation, and slightly more than half of the population currently profess their membership in a church rooted in the original Protestant movement of the 16th century. Protestants established their churches in the American colonies early on, their descendents fought in the American Revolution, and they took the lead in conquering the continent and civilizing the frontier. Their culture dominated the land throughout the 19th century, and it continues to influence the direction of American life even today.

This volume focuses on those churches that trace their history to the Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church, including the Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Episcopal churches. More specifically, it explores the Protestant faith and addresses the impact these churches and their members have had on American culture and society. Given their early interest in education, they led in the founding of many of the country's most prestigious institutions of higher learning, including Harvard, Yale, Rutgers, and Princeton. Not only are a majority of the country's business and intellectual leaders Protestants, but more than half of the American presidents have been drawn from their ranks, 14 from the Episcopal Church alone. Protestant Faith in America offers an objective look at influence Protestant leaders have wielded on the direction of American life, from the early days to the present, through their educational, economic, and political accomplishments.

Chapters include:

• Establishing Protestant Faiths in America
• The Protestant Church in a New Land
• Protestant Faiths and American Culture
• Protestant Faiths and American Society
• Protestants and Politics
• Important American Protestants
• Protestants in America: Today and Tomorrow.

Specifications

Black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Bibliography. Glossary. Chronology. Index.

About the Author(s)

Author and series editor J. Gordon Melton is the director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, CA. He has an M.Div. from the Garrett Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Melton has been a teacher or lecturer at the University of San Francisco, the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Loyola University in Chicago, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has written or edited more than three dozen books and anthologies as well as hundreds of papers and articles for scholarly journals.