Smidt provides a careful, thorough overview of white Evangelical Protestants in the US that is rooted in empirical data and objective in nature, which is essential and long overdue. Throughout the book, Smidt, one of the top scholars of religion and politics in the US, devotes a good deal of attention to matters of definition and measurement. This is too often lacking in the discussion of American Evangelicals and much appreciated here. Grounding his definition of Evangelicals in religious tradition (although other definitional options are outlined as well), Smidt offers concise, highly readable chapters on the history, size, social characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, social theology, civic life (writ large), and political lives of American Evangelicals. The book closes with a quick summary and an insightful look into the future. Smidt states that "there is a need today for a more systematic analysis of evangelicals. . . that provides a broader overview of their current social, religious, and political characteristics." Smidt is right about this, and here he delivers in full. Essential for scholars whose work deals with Evangelicals in the US and highly recommended for all other readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

Choice Reviews

Evangelicals are often viewed as being politically and socially conservative, predominantly white, and found in greater numbers in the South than elsewhere in the country. Although there is some truth to these broad claims, the real story is infinitely more complex and nuanced. Smidt has completed a seemingly exhaustive review of the scholarly literature on evangelicals, though the 2007 Pew Religious Landscape Survey serves as the foundation of his study. Its massive sample size allows for analysis of the differences between evangelicals and other faith traditions as well as differences among evangelicals themselves. Some of the findings may surprise. For example, only one-fifth of evangelicals view the Christian Right or Tea Party favorably. And while the group’s views on abortion and homosexuality may upset some further toward the Left, evangelicals do not hold policy views that place them at some political extreme. Finally, they enjoy the highest participation rates in volunteer work and other civic activities. Academic yet accessible, Smidt’s work is intensely data driven. Though not a page-turner, it is, nevertheless, an illuminating analysis of a much-discussed tradition.

Booklist

American Evangelicals Today provides several important contributions. First, it is a rather sizable empirical study that provides an expansive look at evangelicals and complicates stereotypical views of who evangelicals are and what they believe. Second, it presents evidence that differences are emerging between older and younger evangelicals, especially over issues like homosexuality. Finally, it demonstrates that evangelicalism is still a vibrant tradition in the United States but one that is poised for great change in the coming decades. . . . Smidt’s work is an important contribution to the continuing historiography on evangelicalism.

Journal Of Southern Religion

Those who are curious about 'American evangelicals' may enjoy reading Corwin Smidt’s book, American Evangelicals Today. This may be particularly true for persons who wish to grasp a general overview of the social history of American evangelicalism via the 'traditional scholars.' Based on three surveys, Smidt describes extensively various beliefs and behaviors that are associated with American evangelicals. Perhaps, the greatest strength of this book is its comparative data concerning particular demographic shifts. . . .[I]f readers are not ready to investigate 'American evangelicals today' via SNA, self-organized criticality, emergence, chaos (nonlinear models), fractals (non-Euclidian geometry), complexity theory, and/or cellular automata, and want a quick descriptive overview on this subject as a group via survey data, Smidt’s book may be a good place to begin.

Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review

During national political campaigns, polling organizations churn out numbers almost daily that include something about evangelical Protestants. Journalists pick up small ticks in the data and turn them into headlines that become pronouncements about social trends. Thankfully, Corwin E. Smidt has now given us a thorough and judicious assessment of the data. American Evangelicals Today provides a valuable roadmap through the thickets of journalistic and academic prose. Taking a fresh look at the evidence, each of the chapters offers a more complex view of who evangelicals are, what they believe, and how they seek to engage their communities.

Robert Wuthnow, professor emeritus, Princeton University

It has been a long time since we have had a definitive, national-level, empirical study of American evangelicals. Many lately have felt in the dark about the current state of American evangelicalism. Corwin E. Smidt’s new book dispels that dimness with this impressive, rigorous, comprehensive updating of American evangelicalism today.

Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame