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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page book review on Balmer's text Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, which surveys evangelicalism in US culture. Balmer feels that the media's focus on TV evangelists and other highly public evangelical leaders distorted the popular concepts of this branch of Protestantism. His book tells of his cross-country odyssey to discern the core nature of American evangelicalism. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khrbeyes.rtf
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first turned his attention to the study of his childhood religious orientation. Balmer felt that the medias focus on TV evangelists and other highly public evangelical leaders distorted the popular
concepts of this branch of Protestantism (Mudder). He subsequently set out on a cross-country odyssey to discern the core nature of American evangelicalism. The resulting book is now in
its third printing and has become a classic of comparative religious studies. This is because, as John Mudder of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary points out, it is a "beautifully-written portrait
of the genius and limitations of American evangelicalism" (Mudder). Balmer offers detailed description of evangelical religion from the viewpoint of a participatory observer. He visits churches and evangelical groups in
California, Texas, Arizona, Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as Mississippi and other locations. For the most part, Balmer simply presents his experiences and observations, what people said and
did in the locations he observed. His personal judgements regarding evangelicalism rarely intrude into the text, which gives his account an even-handedness that allows the reader to reach personal conclusions
regarding this brand of religious practice. Mudder points out that even when Balmer is clearly repulsed by what he observes, he mixes these judgements with "empathy for those whose lives
are both liberated and trapped" by the piety of evangelical religious practice (Mudder). As someone who was raised in this subculture, Balmer does an excellent job of capturing the
"double-bind of evangelical piety" (Mudder). On the one hand, he shows how this religious orientation provides a powerful means for people to deal with the emptiness of modern life, but,
on the other hand, he also shows how the emphasis on sin and corruption imposes on a tremendous burden (Mudder). He quotes a California minister as saying, "We are living
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