Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey Into the Evangelical Subculture in America

This review originally published on [...] Randall Balmer, professor of American Religious History at Barnard College, has scoured America's cities and countryside in search of understanding the religious phenomena that is American Evangelicalism. His book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, recounts these tales in a lively and readable format that is informative and critical, yet respectful and loving, toward this institution of his heritage. Yes, Balmer was reared in the Evangelical subculture, but became distanced and disheartened with it as he grew up. Now, though, he is beginning to understand what it really means to him. Thus, Balmer's book serves two distinct purposes. First, he is dealing with his own personal feelings and experiences about and within the Evangelical movement. As Balmer wrestles with his thoughts on the subculture, the reader can better understand his own. Second, Balmer displays the variations in a subculture that to so many people appears so monolithic. He says, "I was pretty sure that the press had missed the story, that they had bunched Evangelicals together and failed to appreciate the spectrum of Evangelicalism in America." Balmer demonstrates that American Evangelicalism has a breadth and diversity that renders distinct categorization as a singular entity very difficult, if not impossible. It would be nearly impossible to summarize the content of Balmer's book entirely. The book is organized in a travelogue style, and thus the chapters vary wildly. It would be better to describe the individual chapters as self-contained. In fact, reading the book is almost like reading a collection of short stories. Balmer certainly has a reason for doing so. If indeed it were possible to cram modern Evangelicalism into a box, then describing the movement in all its supposed diversity would be almost self-defeating. Two examples from different ends of the spectrum (in this author's opinion), should assist us in understanding the breadth of American Evangelicalism that Balmer wishes us to consider. In chapter 5, "Adirondack Fundamentalism," Balmer visits the Word of Life Camp on Schroon Lake in upstate New York. The founder is Jack Wyrtzen, a fundamentalist Bible teacher from New York City. The chapter is about church camps and the never-ending struggle of Evangelical parents to pass on their faith to their children. Balmer thinks that the greatest fear of Evangelical parents is that they will not follow in the footsteps of their parents' faith. In recent years, churches often hire youth pastors who job it is to "shield them [Evangelical children] from the perils of worldliness." Wyrtzen's camp functions as a sanctuary for fundamentalist parents, it is "a place where strict parietal rules would be enforced and, more important, where some sort of religious commitment would be exacted." Wyrtzen is the consummate fundamentalist and the services at Word of Life Camp reflect these values. It begins with music, of course, the kind that get

This book will make you think. The book is being used as reading material for my daughter's college course in religions. We bought it early and I read it during her break. The author states upfront that he will try to remain unbiased. I believe that for the most part he does. Each chapter is on a different person or organization that could claim to be evangelical. I found it very interesting and enlightenling to see the beliefs of these organizations. Some of my preconceived thinking was changed and some reinforced. The book was easy to read and not at all like a textbook. Since most of the book was written in the late 1980's, I was able to go on the internet and see the status of the people and organizations today.

Randall Balmer's widely recognized (in its fourth printing) "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" lives up to its well-earned reputation. In this excellent book, Balmer takes the reader on a tour of US Evangelism with visits to or with: * The Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana, CA.), the home of Chuck Smith who revolutionized evangelism by reaching out to the "disillusioned of the 1960s * The Dallas Theological Seminary, a fortress of evangelical and fundamentalist orthodoxy, and Darby's rapture * Filmmaker Donald Thompson, maker of Christian Films * The Capstone Cathedral (Phoenix, AZ.), the home of evangelist and healer Neal Frisby * The Word of Life Fellowship youth camp, home of Adirondack Fundamentalism * The Church of the King (North Valdosta, GA), a charismatic church that merged with the Episcopal Church, starting a charismatic renewal * The Multnomah School of the Bible (Oregon) and its doctrine of the end times * The Right to Life movement in Iowa * John Perkins, founder of Mendenhall Ministries, who returned to his native Mississippi to break the cycle of poverty, despair, and oppression of blacks * The Christian Booksellers Association's annual convention (Bibles are a big business) * Father Innocent Good House, a Sioux Indian, and pastor of St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Fort Yates, ND) on the resistance of evangelicals to the integration of Christianity with the Indian's native religions * Camp Freedom, an adult faith camp (St. Petersburg, FL.) and the holiness tradition. * The Billy Graham Crusade in New York City * The Oregon Extension of Trinity College (Klamath Falls, OR) and the misuse of the Bible by evangelicals * Jimmy Swaggart, since his fall, at his Family Life Center (Baton Rouge, LA) * Thomas Kinkade and his world vision * The purpose driven megachurches - Willow Creek (Chicago) and Saddleback (Lake Forest, CA) In "My Eyes Have Seen," Balmer conveys the multiplicity, diversity, and complexity of Evangelicalism in the US today highlighting its folk appeal and grass roots character. Evangelicalism is quintessentially American - a free market religion which has churches competing with one another for popular followings, providing a unmistakable populist cast to religion. "Evangelicals generally galvanize around a personality who articulates - and even defines - the faith of his followers according to his own idiosyncratic reading of the Bible. Balmer feels that Evangelicalism will persist because of its timeless appeal, promising intimacy with God, a support community, an unambiguous morality, and answers to the riddles of eternity. "My Eyes Have Seen the Glory" is the perfect reference book for those interested in in the history and many faces of American Evangelicalism. It is a not only a "must" for anyone involved in religious ministry, but also for most Americans as Evangelicalism is major force in our society society. It cannot be easily dismissed.

In this book, Balmer chronicles his journey across America encountering various Christian evangelicals. Each chapter describes a specific encounter such as a Billy Graham crusade, a visit to Jimmy Swaggart's ministry, the artwork of Thomas Kinkade, the Christian Booksellers Association convention, etc. This book gives interesting perspectives on the evangelical movement, and perhaps allows evangelicals themselves to see how the rest of the world perceives their witness. However, much of the book was written in the 80's and early 90's and so now is somewhat dated, more of a historical retrospective than a description of the current evangelical movement.

This is a great, affirming book. It's really about a spiritual search, and the author does a great job relating the conflicting passions of modern evangelicals (desire for safety, certainty, security, in a rapidly changing and apparently [to them at least] amoral world) and, in the final chapter relates them to the original protestant vision articulated by Luther and others and to his own struggles with the culture. As he points out through interviews "it's really a lover's quarrel," but one with profound implications for day to day religious belief.