IIRC, _The New Christian Right_ traces dispensationist (sp?) millenarialism to the tent revivals (and the "sawdust trail") that were growing in the late 1800s and took on increasing significance as the end of the 19th c. grew near. The authors left the impression of a very grim, impoverished people, camped out, awaiting the coming of the end of times. Urbanization, modernization, economic booms/busts, extraordinary wealth and extreme poverty pushed some evangelicals away from the Social Gospel, the idea that America was the New Israel, our "city on a hill." The tent revivals grew increasingly pessimistic, appealing to apocalyptic visions as Michael's pointed out.
I thought Carl would like this: ""The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." Mark Noll, _The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind_ (at Wheaton, above). (probably more rude is _Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think_ by Os Guinness.
Carrol:
>I suspect there is at least as much individual variation among those who
>belong to fundamentalist denominations. I have known a number of women
>in the depressive support group who were fundamentalist in religion,
>indifferent to formal politics, and supportive of single mothers on
>welfare. And so forth.
>
>Carrol
Sure, but there are trends. For instance, this http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/images/image040.gif
R D I None
Assemblies of God 59 16 19 6 Evang/Born Again 58 12 20 10 Mormon 55 14 26 5 Non Denom/Just Xtians 46 15 30 8 Presbyterian 46 25 26 3 Lutheran 39 26 31 4 Church of God 38 28 25 9 7th Day Adventist 38 28 31 13 Protestant 37 22 32 9 Methodist 36 32 27 6 Episcopalian 35 35 26 4 Congregational 34 28 33 5 Baptist 33 39 22 6 Pentacostal 32 24 27 1 Catholic 28 36 30 4 Muslim/Islamic 19 35 39 7 Jewish 13 56 26 5 Buddhist 9 31 48 12 Jehovah's 2 10 34 54
D R I None
Jewish 56 13 26 5 Baptist 39 33 22 6 Catholic 36 28 30 4 Muslim/Islamic 35 19 39 7 Episcopalian 35 35 26 4 Methodist 32 36 27 6 Buddhist 31 9 48 12 Congregational 28 34 33 5 Church of God 28 38 25 9 7th Day Adventist 28 38 31 13 Lutheran 26 39 31 4 Presbyterian 25 46 26 3 Pentacostal 24 32 27 1 Protestant 22 37 32 9 Assemblies of God 16 59 19 6 Non Denom/Just Xtians 15 46 30 8 Mormon 14 55 26 5 Evang/Born Again 12 58 20 10
Kelley
"Jesus is coming! The choice is your's: spit or swallow!"
