My uncle, Andrew Himes, and my father, John R. Himes, are both grandsons of noted fundamentalist evangelist John R. Rice (founder of the Sword of the Lord publishing company). Despite their shared heritage, they have taken two significantly different paths in their lives. Now my Uncle Andy is set to publish a unique take on fundamentalist Christianity in the 20th century with his forthcoming book, The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalistm in an American Family (see http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Lord-Fundamentalism-American-Family/dp/1453843752/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298981236&sr=1-1)
The book is currently in its prepublication stage; once it's published, I hope to do a full review on it, possibly with further discussion on the identity and influence of fundamentalism within broader evangelicalism. For now, suffice it to say that Andrew Himes provides a well-researched (including primary sources as well as ph.d. dissertations, etc.), intimate look into one of the major influences within both fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalsim of the early-to-mid 20th century. In addition, he deals with such divese topics as revivalism in the early 20th century, race and religion in the South, the early years of the National Association of Evangelicals (of which both Rice and Bob Jones played a part in), etc. At the least this has the potential to provide a welcome companion piece to George Marsden's works for any student of 20th century fundamentalism and evangelicalism.
I recently read Mark Noll's book "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind" in which he talks a lot about the role of Fundamentalism & Dispensational theologies role within Evangelicalism and American life. I have family that attends a leading Sword of the Lord church. I think I might squeeze this book into my reading list for this yr. Any chance I could get an "unofficial" advanced copy to review as well:)?
ReplyDeleteHey, Craig, good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Noll is a fairly good writer, though I really prefer George Marsden as far as the history of fundamentalism goes. Ironically, the Sword of the Lord ain't what it used to be! John Rice never inteneded it to be "kjv-only," for example.
Uncle Andy is eager to get people the book, so give me your address and we should be able to get an advance copy out to you in a jiffy! You can e-mail me your address at phimes@gmail.com and I'll make sure you get a copy.
Andrew Himes' own story is pretty fascinating; at one point he was a die-hard communist and student body president at University of Wisconsin Madison! But in the 80s, after John Rice died, he started exploring Christianity again; he's done some good original research on the history of fundamentalism, so hopefully it will be a profitable read.
Yes Marsden is a must which I read while @ Calvary. It is so good that I need to read it again because there is so much there! I appreciate the willingness to send me a copy and I emailed you my address!
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