God and Race in American Politics

Mark A. Noll is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. His books include "America's God", "The Civil War as a Theological Crisis", and "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind".

• List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Chapter I: The Bible, Slavery, and the "Irrepressible Confl ict" 13 Chapter II: The Origins of African-American Religious Agency 47 Chapter III: The Churches, "Redemption," and Jim Crow 60 Chapter IV: Religion and the Civil Rights Movement 102 Chapter V: The Civil Rights Movement as the Fulcrum of Recent Political History 136 Theological Conclusion 176 Notes 183 Index 203

Winner of the 2009 Award of Merit in History/Biography, Christianity Today "Mark A. Noll is one of our leading historians of religion... [God and Race in American Politics] tells us a lot about how we talk about God in politics, yesterday and today. As he does so often, Noll here writes serenely about volatile subjects."--Martin E. Marty, Chronicle of Higher Education "[Noll] has produced yet another admirable synthesis of a huge body of American history and historiography... [T]houghtful Christian readers will find this work indispensable in understanding the big picture of race, religion, and politics in American history."--Paul Harvey, Christianity Today "Noll's incisive history offers a significant introduction to the tangled relationship of race, religion, and politics in America."--Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., Foreword "[T]his work is just the sort of introduction that those unfamiliar with the contours of politics, race and religion need... Concerning the struggle for civil rights, Noll makes a powerful argument. While acknowledging the importance of the courts and community organizing, he aptly points out that religion was the indispensable foundation of the civil rights movement. The conviction that God was on the side of the black freedom struggle was powerful."--Randall J. Stephens, Christian Century "[Noll's] work will be a must read for scholars of U.S. religious and political history."--Choice "With the self-assurance of a skilled painter, Noll applies a series of brushstrokes that define five political alignments, each influenced by the comparative strength of the state, the market, and religion... Noll's is a tragic vision but one that nevertheless brings welcome clarity to the nation's primary moral dilemma."--Andrew Rojecki, Journal of Church History "God and Race in American Politics offers an in-depth view of the way religion has influenced politics and discourse on race and social justice throughout U.S. history. Based on a series of lectures he gave at Princeton in 2006, Noll supports his thesis with a very large body of relevant work and deftly elucidates the notion that opposing appeals to Biblical truth have created complex and, in some cases, contradictory religious and moral ideas."--Peter Lamal, The Humanist "In this important book, Mark Noll, one of the most influential historians of American religion writing today, traces the explosive political effects of the religious intermingling with race."--Spartacus Review "God and Race in American Politics contributes an enlightening historical analysis... It is written with forceful yet well-balanced argument fully achieving its main objective... It serves as a generous, informative guide for a wide readership, finding an audience in the general public as well as culture and religion historians and political scientists."--Adriana Neagu, American, British and Canadian Studies "Noll's book is ... a useful and astutely informed reading of foundational issues and themes that are essential to understanding historic and contemporary race and politics in American religion."--Sylvester A. Johnson, Journal of American History "Mark Noll's brief but incredibly insightful survey of God and Race in American Politics offers one of the most significant analyses of race and religion in American political history... Knoll's analysis of these most complicated issues in American history reveals a narrative of often contradicting religious and moral complexities. He wrestles with his subject, not shying away from this difficult assignment, with moral dexterity, skillful analysis, and solid historic research. Knoll has provided much food for thought."--Trevor O'Reggio, Andrew's University Seminary Studies "The book succeeds admirably as a study of the parallels between religious opinions, electoral strategies, and orientations to state power. Its successes invite further consideration of the messy, embodied modes by which religio-racial identities are enacted and destabilized, and of the role of churches as counterpublics... To acknowledge this is not to overlook the book's power as historical narrative. Rather, that Noll's book gives rise to such questions is an indication of its suggestiveness."--Jason C. Bivins, Journal of Religion