Articles by Darin D Lenz
Journal of Early Modern History, 2022
In March of 1831, three American missionary families commenced service with the American Marathi ... more In March of 1831, three American missionary families commenced service with the American Marathi Mission in Bombay. In just over three years, half of the party had died, and the survivors set sail for America. Their story is like what happened to many American missionaries at the end of the long eighteenth century who sought to expand the empire of Christ. From their voyage on the high seas to their everyday life in Bombay, they were confronted by their various states of dependence. Forced to reckon with unfamiliar social, cultural, economic, and political realities, they struggled on the margins of Anglo-Indian society. This article explores the uneasy relationship between American missionaries, who were acutely aware of their dependency on others as colonial interlopers, and the maritime empires they encountered.
Pacific Journal, 2020
For the last several decades America's culture wars have raged and brought to the forefront compe... more For the last several decades America's culture wars have raged and brought to the forefront competing visions of what America was, is, and ought to be. 1 In the 1980s scholars began to map the battlefield, 2 but it was sociologist James Davison Hunter's 1991 book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, that most thoroughly articulated the phenomenon. 3 In the book Hunter observed, "this is a conflict over how we are to order our lives together. This means that the conflict is inevitably expressed as a clash over national life itself." 4 For Hunter, every aspect of American life that was being debated at the time, from the family and approaches to childrearing to gender roles, sexuality, education, media, law, and politics, was marked by deep divisions that were not easily reconciled. 5 Hunter's depiction of the struggle came to define the 1990s when one of the 1992 presidential candidates, Patrick Buchanan, popularized the notion of America being in the midst of a culture war with his speech at the Republican National Convention. 6 The idea that America was irreparably divided into warring camps has become part of the ongoing national political dialogue for ordinary Americans ever since. More broadly, religions, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jewish according to their traditional (orthodox) tenets, are at the crux of the debates over gender identity, sexuality, abortion, and shifts in contemporary morality. As for Christianity, this recent culture war has involved Christians from the beginning. Unsurprisingly, the politicization of Christianity in American history is nothing new. From the Revolution and the early Republic to the Civil War era, 7 Reconstruction, and the Progressive age, churches and those who led them often forwarded their political hopes for America without hesitation and often at the expense of their religious and political rivals. 8 Throughout the twentieth century, religion and politics have remained bedfellows. As James
Journal of the Social History of Medicine and Health (China), 2019
Indian Church History Review, 2018
Church History and Religious Culture, 2018
Martin Luther was and remains a controversial figure whose contentious legacy has been used to se... more Martin Luther was and remains a controversial figure whose contentious legacy has been used to serve a variety of agendas over the centuries. Nowhere is this better seen than in the use of Luther as symbol during the Cold War years in the United States. As American Protestants responded to the social, cultural, and political changes that defined this period they re-interpreted Luther in surprising ways to suit their own needs. Drawing on film, Roman Catholic responses, debates among scholars, Pentecostal, ecumenical, and political representations, this essay argues that Luther’s memory, as a lieu de mèmoire, was used during the Cold War era to promote whatever cause or concern interpreters wanted to associate with his name and legacy.
Studies in Church History, 2017
In the mid-1930s Joy Ridderhof, a Quaker missionary, returned from her missionary work in Hondura... more In the mid-1930s Joy Ridderhof, a Quaker missionary, returned from her missionary work in Honduras a physically broken woman. In the process of recovering from malaria and the other illnesses that had not allowed her to remain on the mission field she began a new project that would transform how the gospel message was disseminated around the world. Ridderhof imagined the possibilities associated with proclaiming the message of Jesus through the use of phonograph records for Spanish listeners. The benefit of making sound recordings was quickly recognized by missionaries who were trying to reach largely illiterate and, in some cases, preliterate populations. Ridderhof was soon asked to expand from her initial foray into Spanish language records to make recordings in other North American indigenous languages and, eventually, languages from around the world. This article analyses how Ridderhof managed this endeavour while embracing new media technologies to bring the sound of the gospel to the people of the world in their native tongue.
Social Sciences and Missions, 2015
This essay analyzes Christian laypeople and church leaders who hoped for a new age of political, ... more This essay analyzes Christian laypeople and church leaders who hoped for a new age of political, racial, social, and religious cooperation at the beginning of the twentieth century. This new age was centered on a belief that the global rise of nationalism combined with the transformational qualities of Christian missions and ecumenical cooperation would spur a new camaraderie among diverse peoples and nations that would lead to peace and prosperity for the world. The essay explores how this pre-First World War idea for a new oikoumene arose out of a desire for reconciliation among Christian denominations and the call for the "evangelization of the world in this generation."
Journal of Religious History, 2008
This article investigates the relationship between religion and politics in the First World War b... more This article investigates the relationship between religion and politics in the First World War by examining the work of Rev. Alexander A. Boddy, a Church of England minister and key leader in early British Pentecostalism. The article surveys a wide variety of responses to the war in Great Britain, but focuses, in particular, on how Pentecostalism shaped Boddy's distinctive understanding of events, especially his view of supernatural phenomenon, his attitude toward the nations involved, and his eschatology. The article explores how Pentecostalism, by focusing on signs and wonders in everyday life, contributed to an interpretation of state politics and world events that placed unique emphasis on determining the role of the supernatural in contemporary events that remains part of popular Pentecostalism today.
Books by Darin D Lenz
“‘Loyalty to our Heavenly Country’: British Christianity and the First World War”
Building upon the work that Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard started in Civil Religion and... more Building upon the work that Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard started in Civil Religion and the Presidency, this book begins with examinations of how Lyndon Johnson, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton employed civil religion during their presidencies. Convinced that the influence of civil religion expands beyond the White House, the contributing scholars of this volume also explore the broader effects of civil religion upon Christian denominations and American social development.
This thought-provoking work analyzes the effects of American civil religion upon American politics and Christian denominations. Focusing upon particular presidencies and specific denominations, these essays examine how civil religion has helped to define religio-political discourse, revise the way certain Christians--most notably, Baptists, Mennonites, and Pentecostals--related to American life, and frame elements of debates about controversial issues such as gender, nationalism, and civic duty.
Book Chapters by Darin D Lenz
University Press of Kansas eBooks, Jan 26, 2023
Remembering Armageddon: Religion and the First World War, 2014
Online Articles by Darin D Lenz
Picador Modern Classics Reflecting Silence: Perspectives on Shusaku Endo's Masterpiece , 2016
Archives and History, General Commission on Archives and History, The United Methodist Church, 2015
commenting on Eugène Atget's photographs of deserted Paris streets in 1900, remarked, "The scene ... more commenting on Eugène Atget's photographs of deserted Paris streets in 1900, remarked, "The scene of a crime, too, is deserted; it is photographed for the purpose of establishing evidence" (Benjamin 1968, 226). Photograph #43434 from the Drew University missionary photo album titled Europe #2 is an image of church that has been badly damaged. The image is meant to be evidence of a great crime, one that would be obvious to viewers about a century ago.
Encyclopedia Articles by Darin D Lenz
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, vol. 19, 2021
PhD Dissertation by Darin D Lenz
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dis... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, "Strengthening the faith of the children of God": Pietism, print, and prayer in the making ...
Book Reviews by Darin D Lenz
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Apr 1, 2023
Church History, May 20, 2013
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Articles by Darin D Lenz
Books by Darin D Lenz
This thought-provoking work analyzes the effects of American civil religion upon American politics and Christian denominations. Focusing upon particular presidencies and specific denominations, these essays examine how civil religion has helped to define religio-political discourse, revise the way certain Christians--most notably, Baptists, Mennonites, and Pentecostals--related to American life, and frame elements of debates about controversial issues such as gender, nationalism, and civic duty.
Book Chapters by Darin D Lenz
Online Articles by Darin D Lenz
Encyclopedia Articles by Darin D Lenz
PhD Dissertation by Darin D Lenz
Book Reviews by Darin D Lenz
This thought-provoking work analyzes the effects of American civil religion upon American politics and Christian denominations. Focusing upon particular presidencies and specific denominations, these essays examine how civil religion has helped to define religio-political discourse, revise the way certain Christians--most notably, Baptists, Mennonites, and Pentecostals--related to American life, and frame elements of debates about controversial issues such as gender, nationalism, and civic duty.