Winner of the 2001 Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

summary

In recent years, the leaders of the American evangelical movement have brought their characteristic passion to the problem of ethnicity, notably in the Promise Keepers movement and in reconciliation theology. But the authors of this provocative new study reveal that despite their good intentions, evangelicals may actually be preserving America's ethnic chasm.

In Divided by Faith, Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith probe the grassroots of white evangelical America, through a nationwide telephone survey of 2,000 people, along with 200 face-to-face interviews. The results of their research are surprising. Most white evangelicals, they learned, see no systematic discrimination against blacks; indeed, they deny the existence of any ongoing ethnic problem in the United States. Many of their subjects blamed the continuing talk of ethnic conflict on the media, unscrupulous black leaders, and the inability of African Americans to forget the past.

What lies behind this perception? Evangelicals, Emerson and Smith write, are not so much actively prejudiced as they are committed to a theological view of the world that makes it difficult for them to see systematic injustice. The evangelical emphasis on individualism, free will, and personal relationships makes invisible the pervasive injustice that perpetuates inequality between ethnic groups. Most ethnic problems, they told the authors, can be solved by the repentance and conversion of the sinful individuals at fault.

Combining a substantial body of evidence with sophisticated analysis and interpretation, the authors throw sharp light on the oldest American dilemma. In the end, they conclude that despite the best intentions of evangelical leaders and some positive trends, real ethnic reconciliation remains far over the horizon.

endorsements

"A fascinating account of the influence of white evangelicalism on black-white relations in the United States."-- The Journal of Religion

"This book cogently summarizes the race-related history of evangelicalism and then, based on data from surveys of 2,000 white evangelicals and 200 follow-up interviews, explores various dimensions of contemporary evangelical attitudes and practices related to race.... All academic levels."--Choice

"This is an important book. With thoughtful conceptual distinctions and careful analysis of data from a variety of empirical sources, Emerson and Smith provide an interesting account of how white evangelicals perpetuate the very racial divisions they publicly oppose. Divided by Faith breaks new ground in the study of religion and American race relations."--William Julius Wilson, Harvard University, author of The Truly Disadvantaged and The Bridge Over the Racial Divide

"This book is a report card for the church leaders and, I hope, the larger society. The authors show how racial valuations are basically built into the structures of society, and so we are, in a sense, failing by design."--Robert Franklin, Christianity Today

publication information

• Published by Oxford University Press, 2000
• Two appendices
• Extensive bibliography
• 224 pages

about the authors

• Michael O. Emerson is the Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs and Sociology at Rice University, the author of numerous articles on ethnic relations and religion, and the co-author of United by Faith. He lives in Houston, Texas.
• Christian Smith is the Chapin Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the author of American Evangelicalism and Christian America? What Evangelicals Really Want. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.