Illinois Authors

HarperOne, New York : ©2008.

Historian Balmer reveals the role religion has played in the personal and political lives of the last nine American presidents. Americans were once content to disregard religion as a criterion, as in most of the modern presidential elections before Jimmy Carter. But today's voters have come to expect candidates to disclose their religious views and to illustrate their personal relationship to the Almighty. This book explores the paradox of Americans' expectation that presidents should simultaneously trumpet their religious views and relationship to God while supporting the separation of church and state. Balmer tells the story of the politicization of religion in the last half of the twentieth century, as well as the "religionization" of our politics. He reflects on the implications of this shift, and offers a new lens through which to see not only these presidents, but also our current political situation.--From publisher description.

Randall Balmer takes a journey into the world of conservative Christians in America. This book, which is a tour of the highways and byways of American evangelicalism, describes a visit to a revival meeting in Florida, an Indian reservation in the Dakotas, a trade show for Christian booksellers, and a fundamentalist Bible camp in the Adirondacks. Through the eyes of those encountered on the journeys, the book shows a more accurate and balanced understanding of an abiding tradition that, as the text argues, is both rich in theological insights and mired in contradictions.

Oxford University Press, Oxford ; ©2011.

Quite ambitious, tracing religion in the United States from European colonization up to the 21st century ... The writing is strong throughout.--Publishers Weekly (starred review) One can hardly do better than Religion in American Life ... A good read, especially for the uninitiated. The initiated might also read it for its felicity of narrative and the moments of illumination that fine scholars can inject even into stories we have all heard before. Read it.--Church History This new edition of Religion in American Life, written by three of the country's most eminent hist.

Oxford University Press, Oxford ; 2008.

Basic Books, New York, N.Y. : ©2006.

Examines the involvement of evangelical Christianity in modern-day American partisan politics, criticizing the new generation of religious leaders who have corrupted the Christian faith on behalf of the Republican Party.