The role of liberalized, ecumenical Protestantism in American history has too often been obscured by the more flamboyant and orthodox versions of the faith that oppose evolution, embrace narrow conceptions of family values, and continue to insist that the United States should be understood as a Christian nation. In this book, one of our preeminent

Preface ix 1. The Accommodation of Protestant Christianity with the Enlightenment: An Old Drama Still Being Enacted 1 2. After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Ecumenical Protestantism and the Modern American Encounter with Diversity 18 3. The Realist-Pacifist Summit Meeting of March 1942 and the Political Reorientation of Ecumenical Protestantism in the United States 56 4. Justification by Verification: The Scientific Challenge to the Moral Authority of Christianity in Modern America 82 5. James, Clifford, and the Scientific Conscience 103 6. Damned for God's Glory: William James and the Scientific Vindication of Protestant Culture 117 7. Communalist and Dispersionist Approaches to American Jewish History in an Increasingly Post-Jewish Era 138 8. Church People and Others 170 9. Enough Already: Universities Do Not Need More Christianity 190 10. Religious Ideas: Should They Be Critically Engaged or Given a Pass? 199 Epilogue: Reinhold Niebuhr and Protestant Liberalism 211 Index 227

"Liberal Protestantism is not appreciated enough, not studied enough, and keeps getting written off as a movement destined to fade away. David Hollinger, one of our finest and most provocative intellectual historians, reminds us how important liberal Protestant ideas have been in advancing movements for social reform and in shaping our current self-understandings. And his account of the struggle of Christians with the Enlightenment is hugely instructive at a moment when all our faith traditions continue to confront the effects of the acids of modernity. In bringing together some of Hollinger's most important work, After Cloven Tongues of Fire is an exciting book that challenges many of the assumptions lurking behind our debates over religion's role in American public life."—E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Our Divided Political Heart and Souled Out

"This book by America's leading intellectual historian is essential reading for anyone who cares to understand the rise, decline, and enduring legacy of what was once our dominant religious tradition. David Hollinger's essays, always empathetic but never uncritical, treat the 'worldly' Protestants with the moral rigor they deserve."—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation

"Hollinger's book will take its place as one of the most important works in modern American intellectual history published in recent decades. It shows this exemplary scholar practicing his craft at the highest level of scholarly excellence and deliberately and self-critically reflecting on his practice."—James T. Kloppenberg, Harvard University

"A splendid book. Hollinger's trenchant, sweeping, and at times jolting essays pose critical questions about central issues in American religion, philosophy, and history with depth, insight, and understanding. After Cloven Tongues of Fire will attract a wide spectrum of readers."—Jon Butler, Yale University