The Way We Were: American Evangelical
In my previous post here I announced a new discussion topic: the documentary “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” (PBS) narrated by historian Randall Balmer. I got very busy and have had to neglect this blog for a week. However, I still urge you to rent or purchase the documentary at Amazon Prime. I will soon watch it again myself and announce when the discussion will begin and what segment we will be discussing. Then, on that day, I will post my commentary and invite your participation.
About the documentary: Yes, it is old. Around 1990. So the American evangelicalism it displays and describes (with many video segments showing churches and interviews) will be of the 1980s. Still, that is the way we were.
Why this particular choice for discussion? Because I will be looking for hints that possibly explain how we (American evangelicals) are now (2024). Was there anything then that pointed toward now?
Besides that, though, I am very nostalgic. I miss the way some of us were then. And I have to admit that when I first watched this documentary on PBS I actually teared up at some points. Some of the scenes reminded me of the way we were in the 1950s!
How has American evangelicalism changed since this documentary was made? What might Randall Balmer feature now if he made a new documentary about American evangelicalism today? Well, he has made one! Or at least he is featured in one—one I recently reviewed here. “Bad Faith.” But is that all there is to contemporary American evangelicalism? I don’t think so.
Also, for those of you who live outside the United States, I would like to know how closely the American evangelicalism of the 1980s featured in the video correlates with the evangelicalism of your location. Are there segments of the documentary totally foreign to your evangelical contexts? Are there segments that compare closely with your evangelical contexts?
The documentary is on Youtube in segments, but I will not be announcing the segments for discussion using those as the documentary is copyrighted. I will be using the pay-per-view documentary and its segments. I cannot ethically recommend viewing the documentary on Youtube, but that’s up to you. I’m not even sure all the segments are on Youtube.
*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.)
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In