Protestant Clergy Debate the Nation's Vocation, 1898-1899
A review in the New York Times observed that “the church abandoned the Negro in the 19th century and took up Hugh Hefner in the 20th. Churchmen in America have always been followers instead of leaders.” While this wry comment is not entirely true, it has enough truth to keep clergymen from undue sel...
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
[1973]
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| In: |
Church history
Year: 1973, Volume: 42, Issue: 1, Pages: 110-118 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | A review in the New York Times observed that “the church abandoned the Negro in the 19th century and took up Hugh Hefner in the 20th. Churchmen in America have always been followers instead of leaders.” While this wry comment is not entirely true, it has enough truth to keep clergymen from undue selfesteem. It is clear, on the other hand, that churchmen on occasion have been leaders as well as followers. An equally wry comment attributed to Lincoln Steffens provides a clue to the clergy's leadership role. Americans, Steffens remarked, never learned to do wrong knowingly. Whenever they compromised with principle, they had to find a pious justification for it. Clerical leadership was especially prominent in the period prior to World War I, since this was a time when the American public looked to the pulpit for its pious justifications. |
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| ISSN: | 0009-6407 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Church history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3165049 |