Choice Review

As the title suggests, this book depicts conservative Protestant evangelicals as generally part of the "wide mainstream of American culture" rather than a distinctly separate subculture. Hankins (Baylor Univ.) identifies diversities among evangelicals but argues that except for particular religious practices, their similarities with other Americans are more striking than their differences. Historically, evangelicals have been significant in shaping American culture as they in turn have themselves been shaped by it. After carefully defining evangelicalism, Hankins examines key issues thematically, tracing their origins and historical development. He draws from the best secondary sources to explicate the evangelical intersection with theological liberalism and the beginnings of fundamentalism; Darwinism, creation science, and intelligent design; prophetic premillennialism; egalitarianism and traditionalism in feminism, civil rights, and gay rights; the political involvement of the Christian Right; and the serious intellectual engagement of recent evangelical scholars, especially in history and philosophy. Hankins previously dealt with religion and culture in Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture (CH, Jan'03, 40-2735), but the present work will be more broadly valuable to general readers and undergraduates as a brief, accessible introduction to the topic. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers. W. B. Bedford Crown College