Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"
God's Internationalists is a fascinating new narrative about American evangelicals and politics in the 20th century . . . [T]his is an important book that complicates our understanding of how evangelicals came to see social issues as a key part of their Christian witness." *
Christianity Today *
"[A] nuanced exploration of evangelical humanitarianism through the work of World Vision . . . Through vivid storytelling and layered contextual analysis, King presents a rich organizational history of World Vision that is nothing short of a page turner . . .
God's Internationalists is essential reading for anyone interested in how large religious non-profit organizations that operate within a broader field negotiate religious identity." *
Review of Religious Research *
"If history is fundamentally about story, King succeeds here. Against all odds, he manages to make the history of this bureaucratic behemoth a rollicking tale of one man's strength and weakness-and an organization's fascinating response to the chastening of decolonization, Vietnam, and famine in Ethiopia . . . [T]his book succeeds because the story of World Vision matters . . . {It] may be one of the most necessary interventions in American evangelical historiography in many years." *
Patheos/The Anxious Bench *
"While institutional histories can take on a narrow quality,
God’s Internationalists situates World Vision amid a wider cultural and religious context. King’s work convincingly depicts a brand of evangelical internationalism…King’s history provides a fruitful contribution to better understanding the internationalist dimension of twentieth century evangelicals within the United States." * Church History *
"David P. King constructively upends long-standing narratives of modern evangelicalism's development in the twentieth century that tend to emphasize its politicization on American soil. Offering a refreshingly nuanced reading of World Vision, he uses the organization's history to illustrate how modern evangelicalism's work abroad unfolded independently of domestic political developments dictated by the Religious Right. Along the way, he raises intriguing and important claims about the nature of church-state relations, secularization, and religion and public life in contemporary America." * Darren Dochuk, University of Notre Dame *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. Bob Pierce Becomes Evangelicals' Global Ambassador
Chapter 2. Opening Americans' Eyes to a New World
Chapter 3. A Growing Organization and the Evolving Identity of American Evangelicalism
Chapter 4. Between Missions and Humanitarianism in a Decade of Upheaval
Chapter 5. Taking Domestic Debates of God and Country Overseas
Chapter 6. World Vision Internationalizes
Chapter 7. Evangelical Relief and Development
Chapter 8. A Changing World Vision: A Changing Evangelicalism?
Chapter 9. World Vision and the New Internationalists
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
