Randall Balmer

Randall Herbert Balmer (born October 22 1954) is an American author, professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, an editor for "Christianity Today" and an Episcopal priest. He earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985. He has been a visiting professor at Dartmouth College and at Rutgers, Princeton, Drew, Yale and Northwestern universities and at Union Theological Seminary, where he is also adjunct professor of church history. He has also taught in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. [ [http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/religion/balmer.htm Barnard College Dept. of Religion Bio] ]

Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for script-writing and hosting the PBS "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America" based on his book with the same title. [ [http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/religion/balmer.htm Barnard College Dept. of Religion Bio] ]

Balmer's criticisms of the Christian Right

In various books and articles, Balmer has criticized the politicization of the American Christian evangelical movement. In an article titled "Jesus is not a Republican" in the "Chronicle of Higher Education", Balmer writes:

Indeed, the most effective and vigorous religious movements in American history have identified with the downtrodden and have positioned themselves on the fringes of society rather than at the centers of power. The Methodists of the 19th century come to mind, as do the Mormons. In the 20th century, Pentecostalism, which initially appealed to the lower classes and made room for women and people of color, became perhaps the most significant religious movement of the century.

The leaders of the religious right have led their sheep astray from the gospel of Jesus Christ to the false gospel of neoconservative ideology and into the maw of the Republican Party. And yet my regard for the flock and my respect for their integrity is undiminished. Ultimately it is they who must reclaim the gospel and rescue us from the distortions of the religious right.

The Bible I read tells of freedom for captives and deliverance from oppression. It teaches that those who refuse to act with justice or who neglect the plight of those less fortunate have some explaining to do. But the Bible is also about good news. It promises redemption and forgiveness, a chance to start anew and, with divine help, to get it right. My evangelical theology assures me that no one, not even Karl Rove or James Dobson, lies beyond the reach of redemption, and that even a people led astray can find their way home. [ [http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i42/42b00601.htm "Jesus Is Not a Republican"] The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Bibliography

* "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America". 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-530046-7
* "Blessed Assurance: A History of Evangelicalism in America". Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. ISBN 0-807-07711-9
* "Protestantism in America". New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-231-11130-4
* "Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America". New York: Basic Books, 2006. ISBN 0-465-00519-5
* "God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush". San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008. ISBN 0-060-73405-1

Documentaries & e-seminars

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247970/ "Crusade: The Life of Billy Graham"]
* [http://ci.columbia.edu/ci/eseminars/1201_detail.html "Crucible of Pluralism: Religion in Modern America"]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HLDDBK "Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory"]

References