1st Edition

Exporting the American Gospel Global Christian Fundamentalism

    356 Pages
    by Routledge

    344 Pages
    by Routledge

    As the pressures of globalization are crushing local traditions, millions of uprooted people are buying into a new American salvation product. This fundamentalist Christianity, a fusion of American popular religion and politics, is one of the most significant cultural influences exported from the United States. With illuminating case studies based on extensive field research, Exporting the American Gospel demonstrates how Christian fundamentalism has taken hold in many nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

    CONTENTS: 1. Introduction; 2. Fundamentalist Americanism and Christian Fundamentalism; 3. The Changing Theology and Practice of Fundamentalism in the 20th Century; 4. Guatemala: Protestant Modernization or Evangelical Apocalypse?; 5. Spiritual Warfare; 6. South Korea; 7. Christianity in Liberia; 8. The ANew@ Christianity in Africa; 9 Spreading the Word; 10. By Defining Enemies, Christian Fundamentalism Defines Itself; 11. The New Spirit of Protestantism and the Global Consumer; 12. The Mystery of Capitalist Ethic

    Biography

    Susan Rose is Associate Professor of Sociology at Dickinson College; Paul Gifford is Professor of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London; and Steve Brouwer is author of Conquest and Capitalism.

    "The authors offer an impressive amount of information about the real or apparent connections between the global spread of such "fundamentalism" and the expansion of U.S. influence within the social and political conditions created by economic developments in the post-Marxist era." -- Interpretation, April 1998
    "[The authors] have made their case with welcome reability and an impressive . . . grasp of both the religious and economic dimensions involved
    ...a new kind of Christian fundamentalism...is spreading across the globe, the authors first look at its theological origins and permutations in the USA where it combined and simplified many elements already present in 19th and 20th century conservative Protestantism." -- NT General,(1, '97)