The Protestant Voice in American Pluralism

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by Martin E. Marty

University of Georgia Press

Due/Published March 2004, 96 pages, cloth

ISBN 0820325805

For 350 years, Protestantism was the dominant religion in America--and its influence spilled over in many directions into the wider culture. Religious historian Martin E. Marty looks at the factors behind both the long period of Protestant ascendancy in America and the comparatively recent diffusion and diminution of its authority. Marty ranges across time covering such things as the establishment of the Jamestown settlement in 1607, the 1955 publication of Will Herberg's landmark book Protestant-Catholic-Jew, and the current period of American ethnic and religious pluralism.

For centuries, American Protestantism dominated in three main ways, says Marty: in the sheer numbers of its committed practitioners (spread across some two hundred denominations), in the Protestant leanings of nonadherents, and in the influence of the Protestant ethic in activities as diverse as business and art. To discover what is particularly "American" about Protestantism in this country, Marty looks at Protestant creencias, or beliefs, that complement or supplement pure doctrine. These include the notion of God as an agent of America's destiny and the impact of the biblical credos of mission, stewardship, and vocation on innumerable nonreligious matters of daily life. Marty also discusses Protestantism's vigencias, or binding (though unwritten) customs, of Protestantism. They include the tendencies to interpret matters of faith in market terms and to conflate biblical and enlightenment ideology into "civic faith."

Challenges to Protestant hegemony came and went over the centuries, says Marty, but never in such force and to such effect as in the twentieth century. Among other factors contributing to the rise of pluralism and to schisms between mainstreamers and Fundamentalists, Marty lists changes in immigration laws, U.S. Supreme Court decisions on school prayer, the women's movement, and Vatican II.

Today, our Protean spirituality is the topic of everything from sermons to bumper stickers. All in all, this is good, reassures Marty, for to debate our spirituality is to sustain the life of a functioning, thinking, believing republic. Those who pine for some golden age of Protestantism are misled by nostalgia or resentment. The real work to be done by Protestants now is to serve, partner, and cooperate where they once managed, controlled, and directed.

Review

Protestants, as Martin Marty puts it, used to run the show. From 1607 to 1955, Protestants “managed, controlled, and directed much of American religious culture and society in general.” The Protestant Ethic was a dominant societal motif, all U.S. Presidents were Protestant, and Protestant denominations successfully worked to minimize the influence of and opportunities afforded to non-Protestants, particularly Catholics and Jews. In this work Marty identifies Protestant creencias, or beliefs that distinguished American Protestantism and were integral to the development of U.S. political and social ideology. These include the notion of God as an agent of America’s destiny, the emphasis on individual conscience and individual agency, and the importance of biblical scripture. Marty also considers binding, unwritten customs of American Protestantism, including the tendencies to interpret matters of faith in market terms and to conflate enlightenment and biblical ideology into “civic faith.” While these customs and beliefs exerted and continue to exert a tremendous influence on American society, pluralism has replaced mainline Protestantism as the dominant factor in American life. Marty explains how the expansion of the middle class to include Catholics and Jews, changes in immigration law, the rise of the women’s movement, and Vatican II contributed to a dilution of mainline Protestantism. Moreover, the split within American Protestantism between evangelical and mainline Protestantism eroded its prominence in the United States. Despite all this, Marty argues that Protestantism still has an important role to play in a pluralist America. Mainline Protestantism continues to speak to the spiritual concerns of many Americans in times of personal and societal crisis. On a larger level, it also plays an important role in “dealing with the ‘other,’ in promoting interfaith activities, and in interpreting life positively within a pluralist society.” The Protestant Voice in American Pluralism collects three lectures by Marty, and provides an insightful, lively, and imaginative perspective on Protestantism’s complex role in American life.

Paul Boyer, editor-in-chief, The Oxford Companion to United States History, writes, “In three delightfully witty and deceptively informal chapters, Martin Marty distills decades of research and reflection on religion in America. All who wish to understand not only the complex trajectory of American Protestantism from 1607 to the present but also the broader contours of American religious history – and indeed the nation itself – will welcome this book.”