For the last several decades, at the far fringes of American evangelical Christianity, has stood an intellectual movement known as Christian Reconstructionism. The movement was founded by theologian, philosopher, and historian Rousas John Rushdoony, whose near-2000-page tome The Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) provides its foundation. Reconstructionists believe that the Bible provides a coherent, internally consistent, and all-encompassing worldview, and they seek to remake the entirety of society-church, state, family, economy-along biblical lines. They are strongly opposed to democracy and believe that the Constitution should be replaced by Old Testament law. And they carry their convictions to their logical conclusion, arguing, for example, for the restoration of slavery and for the imposition of the death penalty on homosexuals, adulterers, and Sabbath-breakers. In this fascinating book, Julie Ingersoll draws on years of research, Reconstructionist publications, and interviews with Reconstructionists themselves to paint the most complete portrait of the movement yet published. She shows how the Reconstructionists' world makes sense to them, in terms of their own framework. And she demonstrates the movement's influence on everything from homeschooling to some of the more mainstream elements of the Christian Right.

About the Author
Julie J. Ingersoll is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of North Florida. She is the author of Evangelical Christian Women (2003).

Reviews
Throughout her narrative, Ingersoll does the difficult but important work of discovering the influence of reconstructionism through a study of personal connections, shared language, and common themes seen in reconstructionism and a variety of conservative Christian political and cultural groups. The preponderance of evidence enables Ingersoll to make a compelling and sobering case for the significant impact of this extremist movement. * L. H. Hoyle, CHOICE *
Ingersoll's book does much to document the social and cultural significance of Reconstructionism in recent US history. Students of American Protestantism, extremist religious movements, and the interaction of religion and politics will find Ingersoll's work a useful reference on Reconstructionism and a productive arguing partner for teasing out the problems of influence and historical evidence when documenting the rise and fall of marginal social movements. * Michael J. McVicar, Journal of Religion *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199913787
Author Julie J. Ingersoll
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 241mm * 153mm * 19mm