Varieties of Southern Evangelical
edited with an intro by D. Edwin Harrell, Jr.
Foreword by Martin E. Marty
Evangelicalism, Martin Marty suggests, has been the characteristic way in which Protestants have related to the problems of modernity. The recent resurgence of Evangelicalism has been national, not just Southern. But perceptive observers recognize a real distinction between “Southern” evangelical religious experience and all other varieties. There may be little that is qualitatively unique about Southern Evangelicalism. Perhaps it is only quantitative: Southern Evangelicals are simply more so than any others. They are more individualistic, more unsure about social reform, more literal about the Bible, more moved by personal religious experience, and more given to sectarianism. Moreover, the South has been more solidly evangelical than any other section of the country: the “Bible belt” is a well-entrenched stereotype, one with clear and definable substance.
This collection of essays grew out of the Fourth Annual Hugo Black Symposium in which all six contributors were participants. The authors are: D. Edwin Harrell, Jr.; Martin E. Marty; Wayne Flynt; Joseph R. Washington, Jr.; William Martin; Samuel S. Hill, Jr.
These essays offer fundamental insights into the variety, uniqueness, and importance of that entity called “Southern Evangelicalism.”