Full Description
Abortion and America's Churches explores the surprising history of how American Christians think about abortion.
Many people assume that Christians have steadfastly condemned abortion throughout the United States's history. Daniel K. Williams overthrows all assumptions about the unity, consistency, or simplicity of American Christian thought and belief in this groundbreaking new book. He demonstrates that churches in the United States have fought among themselves and with the wider culture as they developed and enforced their stance on abortion, revealing major struggles to define their often-changing positions. Far from a cynical exercise of political interest, changes and disagreements arose from serious theological considerations informed by each tradition's approach to the faith. These theological shifts—and corresponding shifts in interreligious political alliances—led to the changing fortunes of Roe v. Wade.
By capturing the fascinating and complicated history informing each faith's position, Abortion and America's Churches restores much-needed context to the sharp polarization over abortion today.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Liberal Protestants before Roe: Abortion as a Personal Moral Decision
2. Catholics before Roe: A Theology of Unborn Life
3. Evangelicals before Roe: A Moderate Conservatism on Abortion
4. Catholics and Evangelicals after Roe: The Making of a Pro-Life Alliance
5. The Rise and Fall of a Consistent Life Ethic
6. Liberal Protestants after Roe: A Theology for a Pluralistic Nation
7. The Conservative Christian Coalition That Overturned Roe
Notes
Index
