Briefly Reviewed: April 2025

Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith

By Elesha J. Coffman

Publisher: Baker Academic

Pages: 304

Price: $24.99

Review Author: Alex Pinelli

The study of Christian history often stays within the confines of academia, seminaries, and select small-group discussions or pastoral conferences. Though its significance is undeniable, delving into the intricacies of denominational divisions, ecumenical dialogues, and doctrinal debates may not appeal to the casual history enthusiast. But for those so inclined, a wealth of resources spanning decades awaits discovery. Whether it be George Marsden’s Fundamentalism and American Culture, Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins’s Baptists in America: A History, Jay P. Dolan’s In Search of an American Catholicism: A History of Religion and Culture in Tension, James M. O’Toole’s The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America, Grant Whacker’s Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture, Mark A. Noll’s America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln, or Nathan O. Hatch’s The Democratization of American Christianity, scholars have provided enthusiasts and students much worthwhile reading material.

Still, something was missing: a work targeting a broader readership in which Christian history intermingles with American history. Elesha J. Coffman, associate professor of history at Baylor University, has filled this gap with her latest book, Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith. (The title is an homage to Noll’s larger history of global Christianity, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity.) Each chapter is centered around a singular event that shaped American Christianity and the nation at large. The work begins with the defeat of the Spanish Armada, which spurs the expansion of Protestantism over Catholicism at the end of the 16th century, and continues to the election of Ronald Reagan and the rightward political shift in American ecclesial bodies, which Coffman connects to the growth of the “religio-political” identity of evangelicals, the rise of the “nones,” and the demarcation and continued break along political lines within many American churches.

One chapter focuses on the 1789 appointment of John Carroll as America’s first Catholic bishop. Coffman lays out how a “distinctively American Catholicism” came about under Carroll’s tenure, influenced by American independence, with a localized view of ecclesial governance and religious practice, a dutiful respect for but distance from the pope, and support for use of the English language in worship. This echoes Hatch’s The Democratization of American Christianity, which argues that Christianity in the early days of the republic was shaped by larger sociocultural tendencies, such as anti-elitism and anti-clericalism. The second half of the chapter explains how the influx of European Catholic immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century reversed much of this. Indeed, Coffman notes how this immigration led to a more “hierarchical” Church and gave rise to ethnic parishes, an explosion of parish missions, and a devotional revolution that “enabled Catholic laypeople to rally around symbols that bound them together while distinguishing them from Protestants.” The juxtaposition of Carroll’s era with the transformations brought about by immigration underscores the dynamic interplay between historical events, societal shifts, and the development of American Christianity. Though this is the only chapter in her book dedicated solely to Catholicism in America, Coffman weaves the history of the Catholic Church and Catholic laymen into the majority of the chapters.

The highlight of the book for this reviewer regards the Azusa Street Revival of 1906. Coffman brings to life the story and personalities behind the start and growth of the Pentecostal movement in America. It is fascinating reading, even from a purely entertainment-focused perspective. The author captivatingly portrays the expansion of Pentecostalism and its profound societal ramifications. The reader is absorbed in first- and second-hand accounts of, as well as reactions from within the faith to, outbursts of speaking in tongues, healings, and other supposedly miraculous and outwardly unfamiliar acts. Besides the history of the movement itself, the burgeoning divisions therein gave rise to trends within American Christianity and the country that any student of history can appreciate. The creation of the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ along racial lines in the early 20th century, as well as the successes and failures of men and women like Charles Fox Parham, William Seymour, Florence Crawford, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Aimee Semple McPherson, exemplify the very real “attempts to erode or reinforce racial and gender hierarchies” in both the churches and the country.

Though its layout and stylistic choices commendably enhance its presentation, the book’s merits extend beyond mere aesthetics. Coffman aptly asserts, “Christianity is an indelible part of the nation’s story,” presenting this not as bias but as an undeniable reality. Throughout the text, she navigates the complexities of this relationship, addressing both its positive and negative aspects. Her candid approach is evident in her acknowledgment of the darker episodes of American Christian history. She specifically draws attention to the issue of racism, noting its presence within the churches, as seen in the racially motivated division of the Methodist Church. Additionally, she focuses on the civil unrest of the 1960s and incidents like the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, to illustrate how these events prompted many religious leaders to take action while others remained entrenched in their positions. Notably, Coffman examines the founding of the American Bible Society and critiques the “Benevolent Empire,” a network of Protestant organizations that promoted social reform. As she explains, “The Benevolent Empire was benevolent; illiteracy, slavery, and alcoholism caused real suffering, which Christians could not in good conscience ignore. Benevolent organizations improved the lives of prisoners, orphans, and persons with disabilities and mental illnesses. Yet, the Benevolent Empire was also imperialistic, imposing some Americans’ solutions on other Americans’ problems.” Nuanced analysis underscores Coffman’s commitment to presenting a balanced perspective.

Turning Points in American Church History is quite a journey. The author’s narrative style, coupled with her meticulous research and attention to detail, renders this scholarly work accessible and engaging to readers beyond the academic sphere. By shedding light on the multifaceted dynamics of faith in society, Coffman contributes to the broader historiography of American religious studies while offering an enriching and enjoyable reading experience for all.

The Church in the Flesh

By Ida Friederike Görres

Publisher: Cluny

Pages: 302

Price: $22.95

Review Author: Stephen J. Kovacs

Originally published in German in 1950, The Church in the Flesh is available for the first time in English in a commendable translation by Jennifer S. Bryson. In this still-timely book, Ida Friederike Görres (1901-1971), an Austrian laywoman and Catholic writer, responds to common modern concerns about the Church’s nature, history, teachings, and mission to give readers a fuller picture of her true identity. Görres does so in the form of six letters, with the unifying principle that to comprehend the Church properly, we must understand the Church in her essence as a living, dynamic reality in the flesh.

Görres writes her letters with the choleric pen of St. Paul. Her style is authoritative, precise, and engaging, which makes the reader feel like she is talking specifically to him. The author avoids academic language and provides no footnotes (although some have been helpfully added to this edition for reference) to remain accessible to a wide audience. In the preface, she states that the book is not a work of philosophy or theology; even so, her insights are profound, and her thought evidences a strong foundation in realist philosophy and a solid grasp of Catholic theology. Görres explains intricate concepts in a simple way — often providing vivid, relatable examples and analogies to illustrate a point — and successfully demonstrates how the various facets of the Church are coherent and reasonable.

Ranging from 23 to 53 pages, each letter replies to a particular challenge by a fictitious correspondent. The first letter takes up the incarnate nature of the Church, in response to its recipient’s expressed skepticism toward the Church’s use of rituals, sacramentals, and other tactile signs and practices because they appear to concern the material realm rather than the spiritual. Görres explains that the dualistic view of spirit and matter is a timeless tendency, but revelation shows that the spiritual and material are both God’s creation and, therefore, good. The physical world mediates God’s presence to us, as seen most perfectly in the Incarnation. By extension, the Church “lives out the reality of the Incarnation…and she guards, defends, and lives out the primordial human right to ‘express’ faith by means of the earthly stuff of visible matter.”

The second letter discusses the historical dimension of the Church. Görres observes that many attacks and accusations against the Church involve her history, such as the complaint that the modern Church is different from the early Church. She examines how the Church, as a living reality across 2,000 years, experiences change while maintaining a “consistency of consciousness.” Görres gives the example of how cells of the human body regularly regenerate, yet the same body remains. Tradition, the purpose of which is the “transmission of life,” is the Church’s “handshake backward across the ebb and flow of culture” and is the means by which the Church remains herself through the centuries. Each era has its highs and lows, but the Church is “the tree that rebounds every spring, even after a storm and lightning strike.”

A common argument is that the Church’s beliefs are mere opinions. Görres responds in her third letter that believing means “holding something to be true based on witness.” The Church believes in Jesus Christ, who is real, not an idea or some other abstraction. As the principal witness to Christ and recipient of His revelation, the Church “demands faith in everything that she has said and will say as His message, everything she ‘presents’ in the name of God ‘to believe.’” She is bound in duty to transmit and guard the faith for all mankind, which she does by formulating dogmas, evangelizing, and combatting heresies.

The fourth letter addresses the question of why religion and morality go together. Görres explains that the separation of religion and morality is a mark of the Devil, for he delights in tearing apart what God created as a whole. Religion and morality are indeed distinct, but they belong together as part of God’s harmonious order. Man intrinsically has an “ethical disposition”; he inquires about good and evil. But if the Church does not outline moral norms, people inevitably fall back on reason or feelings for want of a proper foundation. We need the “general and universally valid proclamation of God’s will” to set a moral course for mankind.

In letter five, Görres responds to a grievance about the display of pomp for the 1950 Jubilee proclaimed by Pope Pius XII. She points out that while the Gospels paint a picture of Jesus as a humble man, other scriptural texts present a grand, kingly depiction, which is also the “biblical image of Christ.” Power and sovereignty are realities of Christ, and through His kingship the Church has authority in the world. Görres explains that the Church’s role involves primarily the pastoral care of souls, which requires preaching and living the truth of Christ, even when it offends and leads to attacks. By this mission, and in a special way through her elaborate celebrations of Christ’s glory, the Church conveys Christ’s divine majesty and builds His Kingdom.

The sixth and final letter is Görres’s reply to the question of why we should venerate the saints. She declares that “the saint is the most important person in the world because the saint is the decisive answer to the big riddle: What is a human being?” While we try to create a mold for what a saint should be in our timeless quest for the “perfect human,” Görres notes that actual saints amaze us with their uniqueness and variety. The saints show us that holiness — true human perfection — lies not in sinlessness but in remaining unconquered in the fight against sin, and they demonstrate that no one is left out in the call to holiness. The saints embody “the unity of the whole world with God who is distant and yet so near.”

Although the Second Vatican Council, social revolutions, rampant secularization, clerical scandals, and other major historical developments have significantly impacted the Church in the decades since Görres wrote The Church in the Flesh, the book remains relevant because the Church in her essence does not change. This new edition comes at a time when the laity has gained greater influence and sound ecclesiology has been lacking, rendering Görres’s words all the more powerful and necessary today to lead souls to deeper knowledge of the Church.

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