Liberalism

The study of liberalism, long equated with the Protestant mainline and its Social Gospel ethics and modernist theologies, once dominated the field known as church history. However, scholars employing newer modes of scholarship in the history of religion, inspired by social and cultural history and cultural anthropology, have begun to broaden this understanding of religious liberalism, and explore its ramifications for and manifestations in a much wider array of communities and cultures. This paper will discuss, as a case study, the religious book business in the mid-twentieth century, drawing connections between religious liberalism, consumer culture, and market behavior. The interplay of political, economic, and religious liberalisms seen here continues to demand careful historical scrutiny, and, once dissected, challenges staid notions of secularization and reactionary fundamentalism.