Currently Reading The Lost Soul of American Protestantism By D. G. Hart see related

For better or for worse, Canada’s biggest economic trading partner is also a significant influence on the character of many of our churches.  Particularly if you live near the border with the United States, you can be sure that American radio programming and other influences are having their impact.  Because this is so, it’s helpful for us to reflect on the history and character of American Protestantism.  How did things get to be the way they are?  This thought-provoking book by Orthodox Presbyterian historian D.G. Hart is a helpful guide for such reflection. 

Most historians of American religion see a division between evangelicalism and liberalism as the defining feature of Protestantism in the last century.  Hart argues that this way of viewing the history of American Christianity fails to account for two other major factors:  revivalistic pietism and confessional Protestantism.  He argues further that both evangelicalism and liberalism are heirs of revivalistic pietism, with their anti-clerical, anti-confessional, and anti-liturgical prejudices.  So, if there is a division in American Protestantism, Hart insists that it is actually between pietism and confessionalism, or between neo-Protestants and paleo-Protestants.

Hart makes his case looking at the struggles in a number of confessional, or previously confessional churches.  He does this under the rubrics of confessions (Presbyterian), church government or polity (Reformed), and liturgy (Lutheran).  In each case, there are profound lessons to learn. 

This is an important book chiefly because it draws our attention again to the question of identity.  Hart challenges us to consider the question freshly:  what sorts of churches are we going to be?  Are we going to be confessional churches, defined by our creeds, polity and liturgy (all shaped by Scripture)?  There are certain blessings we receive from our American neighbours, but careful thought is needed before accepting everything labeled “Christian” from below the 49^th (and, I would hasten to add, frequently from above too).  We need to keep going back to our own confessional heritage, not because it’s old and old must be good, but because that heritage keeps drawing us back to Scripture where we find the gospel of our Lord Jesus.