Friday, July 29, 2011

Pg. 99: David E. Settje's "Faith and War"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars by David E. Settje.

About the book, from the publisher:
Throughout American history, Christianity has shaped public opinion, guided leaders in their decision making, and stood at the center of countless issues. To gain complete knowledge of an era, historians must investigate the religious context of what transpired, why it happened, and how. Yet too little is known about American Christianity’s foreign policy opinions during the Cold and Vietnam Wars. To gain a deeper understanding of this period (1964-75), David E. Settje explores the diversity of American Christian responses to the Cold and Vietnam Wars to determine how Americans engaged in debates about foreign policy based on their theological convictions.

Settje uncovers how specific Christian theologies and histories influenced American religious responses to international affairs, which varied considerably. Scrutinizing such sources as the evangelical Christianity Today, the mainline Protestant Christian Century, a sampling of Catholic periodicals, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Church of Christ, Faith and War explores these entities' commingling of religion, politics, and foreign policy, illuminating the roles that Christianity attempted to play in both reflecting and shaping American foreign policy opinions during a decade in which global matters affected Americans daily and profoundly.
Learn more about Faith and War at the the NYU Press website.

David E. Settje is an associate professor of history at Concordia University Chicago and author of Lutherans and the Longest War: Adrift on a Sea of Doubt about the Cold and Vietnam Wars.

The Page 99 Test: Faith and War.

--Marshal Zeringue