The Progressive Era

[Resha Caner]

I've been reading an interesting book:
Ministers of Reform
by Robert M. Crunden

When I was younger, I greatly admired the Progressives. My grandfather was a die hard supporter of who could be called the last Progressive, FDR. But over time the shine has worn off, so this book has been very interesting so far. The three points most interesting to me have been:
* The Progressives were largely raised in Protestant/Puritan households, and their reform agendas were an attempt to retain religious language and structure without believing in God.
* The Progressive agenda, though it had a huge impact on the U.S., was largely a failure.
* Seen as rebellious by their parents because they fell away from Christianity, Progressives didn't see themselves that way. They saw their reform efforts as an attempt to honor their parents by preserving Puritan moralism in a modern world.

For some time I've been on a journey to understand the question: How did we get here? That's a necessary start to answering the question: What should we do? ... Though I'm not sure I'll ever answer the 2nd question, or convince others if I think I have an answer, this book filled in an important piece in the puzzle.

It triggered some thoughts that led me to discover another book I plan to read next:
The 1960's Social Movements - Pathways to the Final Apostasy
by Philip Alajajian

That book might be the one that completes my historical journey on this question.

 

[~Zao~]

The series ‘Overtures to Biblical Theology’ written during the ’70’s and authored by various theological professors may be insightful to you in that area as well. They tended to by-pass God in their evaluations also.

 

[Resha Caner]

The series ‘Overtures to Biblical Theology’ written during the ’70’s and authored by various theological professors may be insightful to you in that area as well. They tended to by-pass God in their evaluations also.

I'll check it out.

 

[~Zao~]

I'll check it out.

I was thinking the same thing about your books!

 

[Resha Caner]

I was thinking the same thing about your books!

I love the title on this one:
Reconstructing Old Testament Theology: After the Collapse of History

We talked a lot about challenges to historical method in my graduate history program. The collapse of romantic, and then positivist, ideologies was a shock to the West that few now seem to appreciate.

I, myself, struggled for a long time with the philosophy of science and then the philosophy of history to determine whether I could, in good conscience, use those methodologies. That I now think there are valid approaches that work with my Confessional Lutheranism is something difficult to explain to many people.

 

[~Zao~]

I love the title on this one:
Reconstructing Old Testament Theology: After the Collapse of History

We talked a lot about challenges to historical method in my graduate history program. The collapse of romantic, and then positivist, ideologies was a shock to the West that few now seem to appreciate.

I, myself, struggled for a long time with the philosophy of science and then the philosophy of history to determine whether I could, in good conscience, use those methodologies. That I now think there are valid approaches that work with my Confessional Lutheranism is something difficult to explain to many people.

For myself it got frustrating to read that which goes against my grain of thinking, which is based on the character of God, but it’s also informative to see the patterns of decline. The methodology consisted of redrawing the lines to the Father rather than thru mankind and I found it very taxing. I still have more than a few of that series half-read. But what I did go thru proved fruitful despite the effort due to the in-depth study that the authors had done.

 

[Resha Caner]

For myself it got frustrating to read that which goes against my grain of thinking, which is based on the character of God, but it’s also informative to see the patterns of decline. The methodology consisted of redrawing the lines to the Father rather than thru mankind and I found it very taxing. I still have more than a few of that series half-read. But what I did go thru proved fruitful despite the effort due to the in-depth study that the authors had done.

Any key points you picked out after all that reading?