The Kingdom of God Has No Borders: A Global History of American Evangelicals

Award of Merit, 2019 Christianity Today Book Awards (History/Biography) More than forty years ago, conservative Christianity emerged as a major force in American political life. Since then the movement has been analyzed and over-analyzed, declared triumphant and, more than once, given up for dead. But because outside observers have maintained a near-relentless focus on domestic politics, the most transformative development over the last several decades--the explosive growth of Christianity in the global south--has gone unrecognized by the wider public, even as it has transformed evangelical life, both in the US and abroad. The Kingdom of God Has No Borders offers a daring new perspective on conservative Christianity by shifting the lens to focus on the world outside US borders. Melani McAlister offers a sweeping narrative of the last fifty years of evangelical history, weaving a fascinating tale that upends much of what we know--or think we know--about American evangelicals. She takes us to the Congo in the 1960s, where Christians were enmeshed in a complicated interplay of missionary zeal, Cold War politics, racial hierarchy, and anti-colonial struggle. She shows us how evangelical efforts to convert non-Christians have placed them in direct conflict with Islam at flash points across the globe. And she examines how Christian leaders have fought to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa while at the same time supporting harsh repression of LGBTQ communities. Through these and other stories, McAlister focuses on the many ways in which looking at evangelicals abroad complicates conventional ideas about evangelicalism. We can't truly understand how conservative Christians see themselves and their place in the world unless we look beyond our shores.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction I. Networks 1) "The Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man": Racism as a Missionary Problem 2) "Peril and Persecution": The Congo Crisis 3) "Have you read the Communist Manifesto?": Christian Revolutions 4) "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked": Christians and the Future of Israel 5) "Reaching the Unreached": The Battle of Lausanne II. Body Politics 6) "These Marks on My Body Are My Credentials": Jesus in the Communist World 7) "The Suffering Church": Apartheid in South Africa 8) "The 10/40 Window": The Struggle with Islam 9) "The Persecuted Body": The Religious Freedom Agenda 10) "Leave the Nuances for the Diplomats": Redeeming Sudan III. Emotions 11) "I"ll Go Where You Send Me": Short-term Missions 12) "The Greatest Failing of Our Christian Obedience": The War in Iraq 13) "I am Not a Big Checkbook": Churches and Money in South Sudan 14) "The Power of a Weeping Christian": Sexual Politics and HIV / AIDS in Africa 15) "Despair is an Unmerciful Tyrant": Yotuh and Justice in Cairo Epilogue

About the Author :
Melani McAlister teaches American Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University. Her books include Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and US Interests in the Middle East and the co-edited collection, Global Faith/Worldly Power.

Review :
The book is an important resource for anyone interested in American Evangelism, in particular its intersection with politics outside the US. ... Summing up: Recommended The Kingdom of God Has No Borders shines among the best of recent works on how American evangelicalism is shaped by its international connections. Melani McAlister, professor at George Washington University, has produced an insightful, mature, and well-written volume.... A nuanced work of scholarship that names but wisely refuses to resolve the multiple contradictions embedded in American evangelicalism. Melani McAlister's book is a well-written account of American evangelicals' engagement with the Middle East and Africa in the fifty years after the end of the Second World War. By making her story an international one, she complicates existing narratives of evangelicals as only conservative and as overwhelmingly focused on American domestic politics. A sophisticated and sensitive portrayal ... A well-written and subtly interpretive account of a changing intellectual consciousness. McAlister traces the 20th-century history of American Protestant evangelical internationalism in this excellent volume . . . McAlister visited [contemporary mission] projects and includes her own observations as part of her discussion . . . valuable work on the global reach of evangelicalism. A meticulously researched survey full of fascinating historical information . . . [McAlister]uses her firsthand experience to ground her scholarly work. Her impressions give readers not only a welcome sense of the author as a person, but also an account of how she develops her expertise." - Kirkus Ambitious and wide-ranging...She makes readers see, even feel, the rub of evangelical ideals against practices-of lofty goals against real-life consequences-and these tensions make her book sizzle."- Heather Sharkey, Church History There have been numerous studies of evangelicalism within America but this is the first I know to look at how evangelicals have engaged with other cultures. It has important lessons for anyone interested in the mission of the church. Distinguished by deep insight, The Kingdom of God Has No Borders is a work of exceptional analytic creativity and exhaustive research in remote locations. McAlister shows how American evangelicals have come to identify themselves with the Christian populations of the Global South. Melani McAlister offers a stunningly fresh reinterpretation of American evangelicals by concentrating on their activities abroad. More than inward-looking political conservatives who elected Donald Trump, evangelicals are encountered here as global actors whose faith-in-action is having profound consequences in nations across the globe no less than at home. An absorbing, provocative, and wholly essential account. A deeply absorbing account of the complex relationship between American religion and American power, The Kingdom of God Has No Borders offers a fascinating examination of what happens when Americans take their faith abroad. The Kingdom of God Has No Borders is an enthralling work of stunning originality and ingenuity. By resituating the history of modern American evangelicalism internationally, Melani McAlister is not just complicating conventional wisdom, she's smashing it completely. In its place, she offers a startlingly new interpretation: American evangelicals have been fundamentally shaped by the wider world. This is an important, landmark book. Melani McAlister's The Kingdom of God Has No Borders is the gold standard for understanding the impact and implications of American evangelicalism around the world. Meticulously researched and strikingly informative, McAlister's insights into how American evangelicals engaged other cultures shows how evangelicals' pervasive and, at times, detrimental influence continues to shape international politics and local policies. McAlister's descriptions and analysis come together like a multidimensional matrix of events, personalities, religious and political motivations, and broader cultural contexts. Her research illuminates the complexity of international politics, human rights history and religious identity building, all with American evangelicals in the center. She is well versed in global evangelical culture.