A Fascinating Journey

A review of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture by Randall Balmer

When I first found out that we were assigned to read MineEyes Have Seen the Glory, I expected it to be reminiscent of Salvation onSand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia that I read in an earlier course. In one way, it was: I found it fascinating. I found myself scribbling down the margins, underlining phrase after phrase and circling words. I thought I knew what there was to know about evangelicals – or at least how to spot them – but I found out that there is more variety to this group of people than I gave them credit for. It is for this very reason that Randall Balmer set out to research for this book – to show the variations that exist within the subculture of evangelicalism that many (like me) thought was monolithic[1]. Although he succeeds in painting a general picture of evangelicals by pointing out similarities that can typically be found across the board[2], he was successful in demonstrating the variety among them as well.

            I learned that although it was typical for evangelicals to be bible thumpers – those who place a huge emphasis on following scripture and the belief that the Bible is infallible – (as I believed they were), that not all believe that the bible is free from errors. Certainly the more fundamental groups – the majority – did, but not all. It reminded me that there are always exceptions. To demonstrate this point, Balmer focused on Douglas Frank[3] in chapter fourteen.

            I was also surprised to learn that some Episcopal churches are evangelical as well. Having grown up Episcopalian, I would never have considered Episcopalians as part of the evangelical subculture – mostly because I was hounded by a few evangelicals who thought so differently than me and because it was so different from my grandmother’s church, which was evangelical. I've always believed that the Episcopal Church in America was pretty liberal. After reading about … it caused me to stop and think for a moment about some members of my old church that could have fit the bill and were surely fired up for the lord[4].

            Some of the groups he visited and wrote about I wouldn't have immediately known were evangelical, as it seems like they are a little more closed off to the rest of society – so I may have just not had any contact with this type to know of them. I am familiar with the Amish from living near Greenville, MI, and I would never have considered them as Evangelical and I've had some run-ins with Mennonites and Seventh Day Adventists, again, without any of the usual testifying/witnessing. My interactions with them led me to believe they were tight knit and kept themselves away from the rest of “us”. To me evangelical meant someone who not only was excited about their born-again status, but wanted to round everyone up to join them – not keep it to themselves. Granted, the Mennonites in Balmer’s study were no longer Mennonites per se (they were born-again)[5], they just maintained the modesty of the culture they grew up with.

            Other of the groups are well known to many who watch or listen to the news, watch television or

listen to AM radio, use the internet (especially social media), and/or pay attention to politics. These are the

evangelical televangelists and leaders of the evangelical mega-churches. I’d be mighty surprised if an adult today hasn't heard the names Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggert, or Rick Warren – or even “Crystal Cathedral”.  What I did notice is that he seemed to visit more of the mega-churches that had met decline – the only church that seemed to be thriving was Warren’s. I wonder if that is a good portrayal of the status of mega-churches today or if it was more indicative of something else that I garnered throughout my reading of the book – that the author feels some disdain toward evangelicalism, even if he is or was a member of the subculture[6].

            I took to the habit of circling words that, I believe, identify his bias against either the group he was studying or evangelism as a whole. Balmer’s distaste for the “Phoenix Prophet”[7] is evident (I believe) by the use of the words he chose in his description of the Capstone Cathedraland of Frisbee[8]. It also appeared to me that Balmer is not a supporter of youth church camps by the way he spoke of it in chapter five.

            Balmer suggested that such camps are a way to keep children “safely within the evangelical fold” which eventually prevents the kids from potentially from experiencing the full drama of being born-again – especially since the evangelical beliefs and lifestyle have been “drilled into them since infancy”[9]. He later gives an autobiographical account of how such camps made him feel defeated and inadequate[10], none of which puts such camps in any kind of positive or ambivalent light.

            Other groups he seemed particularly taken with, especially Douglas Franks group in Oregon. Balmer admits in the epilogue that he probably let it show that Franks spoke for him about how he felt about evangelicalism. To be fair, he does indicate on page seven that the book is a not a “detached and dispassionate analysis”, but a bit of self-disclosure, albeit not an autobiography.

            One group that he didn't cover was Christian Scientists. I thought it odd that he left them out of his study, but he included a half-Pentecostal and half-Episcopalian congregation. The reason I say this is because of my own interaction with Christian Science in the past (I was engaged to a Christian Scientist). I remember the testifying/witnessing that went on there and some of the fundamental teachings of the religion. I thought that they would fit well in his variety show; alas, there was only a passing reference in the whole book.

I think that Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory is a good book to introduce the reader to evangelicalism as it shows that there is variation within the fold, just as anywhere. Although it may lead to a bit of a stereotype, it helps break down some of them and open the eyes of the reader to the diversity that exists even in subcultures like evangelicalism. Perhaps it will even interest the reader enough to learn more about specific groups written about in the book or to ask more questions instead of making assumptions when interacting or learning Christians (or members of any religion) in the future.  

Bibliography

Balmer, Randall. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. 4th. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2006.

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[1] (Balmer 2006, 7)

[2] Conservative dress; use of certain phrases like “on fire for the lord” and talking about being “saved”; campaigning or generally supportive of republican or conservative candidates; anti-abortion efforts; emotional outbursts in church or when discussing religion; avoidance of “worldly” things like modern music (unless it is contemporary Christian Music); avoidance of alcohol, adherence to traditional gender roles; and a view that homosexuality is sinful (Balmer 2006)

[3] Douglas Frank believed in a living Bible instead of an inerrant bible (Balmer 2006, 265).

[4]

[5] (Balmer 2006, 229)

[6] In the prologue of the book, Balmer spoke of his fundamentalist youth, including an anecdote about witnessing to a Catholic (because he didn’t consider the boy to be a “real” Christian) (Balmer 2006, 4-11)

[7] This is the title of Chapter 4 which is about Neal Frisbee who is also called the Rainbow Prophet.  (Balmer 2006, 71-90)

[8] “gaudy jewel sitting atop some otherworldly launching pad … overwhelming scale”, “claims of healing” (the use of the word claim here tells me than Balmer didn’t believe that Frisbee had any such abilities – especially since he felt nothing at the healing he took part in),  “frequently boasts”, “antics”, “carnival atmosphere”  (Balmer 2006, 71-90)

[9] (Balmer 2006, 93-94)

[10] (Balmer 2006, 105)

Evangelicalism - American’s Folk Religion and Subculture

In Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (1), Randall Balmer presents a picture in which Evangelicalism is a subculture within America, while also referring to it as “America’s folk religion”. Folk religion is defined as “religion which occurs in small, local communities which does not adhere to the norms of large systems” or as “the appropriation of religious beliefs and practices at a popular level” in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2).  Evangelicalism as described in Balmer’s book fits these descriptions as he shows the reader that evangelicalism is not a unified system that is the same across the nation, rather there is much diversity, not only in practice, but in thought (3). In the epilogue, Balmer opines that it is the popular appeal that better explains evangelicalism than the popular reference to a “mosaic” (4). Balmer visited eighteen different centers of evangelicalism across the nation and each one differed from another, although they held some commonalities, such as a personal conversion experience, the importance (and typically, infallibility) of scripture, and the expectation of an impending apocalypse (5).

Throughout the book, be frequently referred to the evangelical subculture in America, by subculture, I believe he meant that evangelicals across the nations, although varied in form, exhibit cultural norms that are not part of the wider American culture. They are a sub-set that can easily be identified because of their behavior and beliefs. It is often evangelicals’ literal interpretation of the bible that gives way to a list of rules that a “true” Christian (6)  must follow after being born-again that sets them apart as a subset of American culture, but also sets them apart from other Christian groups, like Roman Catholics (7).  Balmer includes conservative Protestants: fundamentalists, charismatics, and Pentecostals in his study of evangelicalism (8).

Typically, these groups all eschew modernity – not modernity in the sense of technology (here they follow previous evangelical innovators like Whitfield and Finney) – but in morality (9). In fact, several of the groups that Balmer interviewed/studied made great use of some of America’s modern marvels (Radio, Television and Cinema, and the Internet) to aid the spread of evangelicalism. Some ways in which they spurn modernity include rules about modest dress (10), the role of women at home and in the church (11), their firm views on reproductive rights (anti-abortion) (12), and their anti-evolution/pro-creationist agenda in the school system (13).

Evangelicals also exhibit some behaviors that tend to identify them as such: conservative dress; use of certain phrases like “on fire for the lord” (14) and talking about being “saved”; campaigning or generally supportive of republican or conservative candidates; anti-abortion efforts; emotional outbursts in church or when discussing religion; avoidance of “worldly” things like modern music (unless it is contemporary Christian Music); avoidance of alcohol, adherence to traditional gender roles; and a view that homosexuality is sinful (15).

As with any culture, the evangelical subculture has made contributions to the world in areas like education, music, art, and politics. Grassroot evangelical movements have been responsible for the creation of several Bible Schools, Colleges, and Universities over the years, as Balmer’s study indicates (Biola University and Temple University, to name a couple) (16).

US Governors Map, January 2013 (Wiki)

Politically, evangelicals can consider themselves responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s (17) and for the rise in votes for republicans as a whole. It is because of evangelicals that a war is frequently forged against women’s reproductive rights and who make the pro-choice camp nervous and worried of a return to the old days of back-alley coat hanger jobs (18). They are certainly a force to be reckoned with if our red/blue maps are any indication.

In the form of art contributions, we find the visual artist, Thomas Kinkade, who paints scenes that evoke certain wistful emotions and are considered not surreal, but unreal by Balmer (19). The paintings are meant to be a window into an idealized world – perhaps a window into a heaven-like beauty in which “true” Christians hope to find themselves one day. Another art form has been hugely influential on the spread of evangelicalism: music.

A still from Jesus Christ Superstar

As Balmer points out in chapter sixteen, the evangelical music scene was fairly static from inception until the 1960s, when it exploded (14). David Stowe brought this explosion into focus for us in class while he lectured on his book, No Sympathy for the Devil. He not only explained that the hippie generation, which was already heavily involved in the enjoyment of music, became a huge part of the evangelical scene when they found Jesus and converted into Jesus Freaks, rather than just hippies. He played some key songs for us so that we could get a taste for the sound and the words of worship and calling within the music. Voices of the time included: Love Song, Children of the Day, Barry McGuire, Bob Dylan, Larry Norman, Rez Band, the Jesus Christ Superstar musical and soundtrack, Billy Preston, Andrae Crouch, Edward Hawkins Singers, Elvis, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and the Vineyard Group (21). Balmer focused primarily on the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene, which didn’t evolve until the 1990s. He interviewed the group, Jars of Clay, that was instrumental (pun intended) in the second evangelical music boom (22).

So, if you encounter an individual that is modestly dressed, witnesses to you about the fire he has for the lord from being saved (while listening to contemporary Christian music), and hands you a bible and tells you that it is protected by God and free of any error, you might have found yourself an evangelical.

(1) (Balmer 2006)

(2) (Bowker 2000)

(3) In a discussion about folk religion as compared to the Native Americans, Goustad writes, “Similarity of structure, however, does not imply uniformity in expression.” (Goustad and Noll 2003, 2) I found that there was a parallel between the variety of early native traditions and Evangelicalism as described in Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.

(4) (Balmer 2006, 335)

(5) (Balmer 2006, 336)

(6) There are several references throughout the book (Balmer 2006) about the “true Christian”: speaking in tongues (or other spiritual gifts), xv; witnessing, 4; attending a particular kind of church (one that teaches inerrancy of the Bible and End Times prophecies), 60; followers of a particular preacher (in some cases), 78; can’t mix the Bible and “heathen” traditions, 220; and repentance and obedience, 241 to cite a few.

(7) Roman Catholics are not considered “real” Christians by many Evangelicals. (Balmer 2006, 4)

(8) (Balmer 2006, xvi)

(9) (Balmer 2006, 64)

(10) (Balmer 2006, 97, 108, 228-230, 231, and 237))

(11) (Balmer 2006, 41-44 and 161)

(12) (Balmer 2006, 44, 148-173, 190, 205, and 236)

(13) (Balmer 2006, 44)

(14) (Balmer 2006, 21 and 98)

(15) (Balmer 2006, 44, 81, and 205)

(16) (Balmer 2006, 134 and 323)

(17) (Balmer 2006, 82, 148, 173, and 299) and (Stowe 2013)

(18) I must admit that I am pro-choice and this is an issue I have been debating the sixth grade, As such, I have heard many accounts, over time, about what used to happen to desperate women who sought to end an unwanted pregnancy before it was legal.

(19) (Balmer 2006, 320)

(20) (Balmer 2006, 297-298)

(21) (Stowe 2013)

(22) (Balmer 2006, 293-308)

Bibliography
Balmer, Randall. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. 4th. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2006.

Bowker, John. "Folk Religion." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford University Press. 2000. 

http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001/acref-9780192800947-e-2493 (accessed December 8, 2013).

Goustad, Edwin Scott, and Mark A. Noll. A Documentary History of Religion in America: To 1877. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003.

Stowe, David. "No Sympathy for the Devil Lecture." East Lansing, December 2, 2013.