Southern evangelical theology spread to dominate all of white American Christianity

Evidence

Through impressive growth from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries, evangelical Christianity, although anchored in the South, became the dominant, most dynamic expression of American Christianity. Leading church historian Charles Marsden estimates that in the late nineteenth century, over half of the general population and more than eight in ten Protestants were evangelical. When southern Methodists rejoined their northern brethren in denominational reunification in the late 1930s, they brought their Lost Cause theology with them into what was at the time the largest Protestant denomination. By the second half of the twentieth century, Southern Baptists had become the largest single denomination in the country, claiming more than sixteen million followers at their apex. And beginning in the late 1970s, white Catholics received a powerful infusion of this theology through their involvement with the Christian right movement, which fortified their own existing streams of colonialist theology. As I show in chapter 5, even though white evangelical Protestants have begun to shrink as a proportion of the population in the last decade, the diffusion of their theology into white Christianity generally has meant that their particular cultural worldview, built to defend their peculiar institution, holds influence far beyond their ranks today. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 261

Categorization

• SEED: The chapter’s own claim that an institution (Lost Cause theology) built to defend a losing cause could outlive its defeat to dominate — despite its demographic base shrinking — is a potent essay angle on persistence-through-diffusion.
• XREF: connects to: Evangelical Christianity predicts higher symbolic racism among White Americans — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2189; White Christianity has been the primary institution legitimizing white power — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 210; Christian theology and institutions served as the central support for American white supremacy — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 32 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• White Christianity has been the primary institution legitimizing white power #expands (0.80) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 210
• Christian theology and institutions served as the central support for American white supremacy #expands (0.80) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 32
• White churches historically functioned as agents upholding racist social structures #exemplifies (0.80) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1055
• White Christian churches constructed the American project protecting white supremacy #exemplifies (0.80) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 30
• Evangelical Christianity predicts higher symbolic racism among White Americans #corroborates (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2189
• White Christian theology adapted to changing times only by shifting to subtler racism #qualifies (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 234
• Evangelical Christian faith now promotes rather than restrains racial prejudice #expands (0.75)
• White American churches historically worshipped a Jesus who demanded racial hierarchy. #expands (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 31