
Mainstreaming Fundamentalism
John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence
Keith Bates(Author)
University of Tennessee Press
Published on 30. March 2021
Book
Hardback
277 pages
978-1-62190-604-9 (ISBN)
Description
In Mainstreaming Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence, Keith Bates embarks on a thematic and chronological exploration of twentieth-century Baptist fundamentalism in postwar America, sharing the story of a man whose career intersected with many other leading fundamentalists of the twentieth century, such as J. Frank Norris, Bob Jones Sr., Bob Jones Jr., and Jerry Falwell.Unique among histories of American fundamentalism, this book explores the theme of Southern fundamentalism's reemergence through a biographical lens. John R. Rice's mission to inspire a broad cultural activism within fundamentalism - particularly by opposing those who fostered an isolationist climate - would give direction and impetus to the movement for the rest of the twentieth century. To support this claim, Bates presents chapters on Rice's background and education, personal and ecclesiastical separatism, and fundamentalism and political action, tracing his rise to leadership during a critical phase of fundamentalism's development until his death in 1980.
Bates draws heavily upon primary source texts that include writings from Rice's fundamentalist contemporaries, his own The Sword of the Lord articles, and his private papers - particularly correspondence with many nationally known preachers, local pastors, and laypeople over more than fifty years of Rice's ministry. The incorporation of these writings, combined with Bates's own conversations with Rice's family, facilitate a deeply detailed, engaging examination that fills a significant gap in fundamentalist history studies.
Mainstreaming Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence provides a nuanced and insightful study that will serve as a helpful resource to scholars and students of postwar American fundamentalism, Southern fundamentalism, and Rice's contemporaries.
Bates draws heavily upon primary source texts that include writings from Rice's fundamentalist contemporaries, his own The Sword of the Lord articles, and his private papers - particularly correspondence with many nationally known preachers, local pastors, and laypeople over more than fifty years of Rice's ministry. The incorporation of these writings, combined with Bates's own conversations with Rice's family, facilitate a deeply detailed, engaging examination that fills a significant gap in fundamentalist history studies.
Mainstreaming Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence provides a nuanced and insightful study that will serve as a helpful resource to scholars and students of postwar American fundamentalism, Southern fundamentalism, and Rice's contemporaries.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-62190-604-9 (9781621906049)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2023
1st Edition
University of Tennessee Press
€37.49
Available for download
Person
Keith Bates has a PhD in history from Kansas State University and currently serves as professor of history at Union University. He is the coeditor of Civil Religion and American Christianity, to which he also contributed a chapter as an author.