Onward, Christian Soldiers

Onward, Christian Soldiers
Author: Deal W. Hudson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2008-03-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1416565892

Like a mighty army moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we. One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. -- From the nineteenth-century hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers" What keeps America a country of religious practice and traditional values? How has the U.S. avoided suc-cumbing to total secularism? The answer to these provocative questions is found in the religious commun-ities of America today: In the past thirty years, the religiously active voter has migrated to the Republican Party, and the story behind this shift, evidenced in the emergence of Evangelical dominance over mainstream Protestantism and the defeat of liberal Catholicism, is at the heart of this fascinating cultural history. In Onward, Christian Soldiers, the Washington insider who was at the vanguard of the sea change in religious and political history that propelled George W. Bush into the White House offers an intimate perspective on those remarkable years -- and their influence over the ones to come. Deal W. Hudson analyzes how, steadily over-coming age-old misjudgments and misunderstandings that separated them, conservative Catholics and Evangelical Christians drew together because of what they viewed as profound assaults on shared core beliefs. They became allies to battle the forces of secularization, relativism, and atheism. And together they forged a grassroots movement across America that astonished political activists and surprised commentators as well as members of traditional religious organizations. How, exactly, was this coalition achieved and who were its movers and shakers? What enabled them to deepen, enrich, and activate the resurgence of traditional values in society to make America radically different from the secularized Europe that was so widely believed to be on the verge of becoming the model for the United States? Deal W. Hudson details this phenomenon by examining the leading figures and institutions on both sides of the debate, exposing the dramatic encounters between those espousing fundamental Judeo-Christian beliefs and those heralding the "death of God" and the new age of secular humanism. Dealing with today's hot-button issues, Onward, Christian Soldiers provides an unprecedented look at the confrontation of the religious right with secularists in America, a confrontation that is not only timely but also timeless in its impact.

In His Steps

In His Steps
Author: Peter J. Cooper
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1525544551

This book describes the experiences of the author's great-uncle, Wilberforce Cooper, who was an Anglican priest ministering to the people of Vancouver's downtown east side during 1921-1952. Reverend Cooper began his ecclesiastical calling in the slums of London and then as a British Army chaplain in the hospitals and trenches of WW1 before moving to Canada - first to the B.C. Cariboo and then to be the rector of St. James Church in Vancouver. During the early-mid 1900s the East End of Vancouver was home to most of the city's poor, homeless, addicted and unemployed, and was a magnet for illegal intoxicants, disreputable venues and prostitution. In addition, the East End was where Chinese and Japanese immigrants had settled and their presence attracted the continuing attention of white racists. And all this vice and prejudice was enabled by a corrupt Civic Administration that depended upon graft. This was the parish that Father Cooper presided over and where he became well known and loved as someone who cared and fought for the physical as well as the spiritual wellbeing of each individual resident. The author has made use of unpublished memoirs as well as stories in newspapers and other writings to document his great-uncle's life and times. While a number of references to Rev. Cooper's religious thought and outreach can be found in the literature, this is the first book to address his work and actions solidly within the context of the social and political milieu of the Lower Mainland during his tenure.