American Idolatry, Andrew L. Whitehead
American Idolatry, Andrew L. Whitehead
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American Idolatry
How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

Author: Andrew L. Whitehead

Narrator: Andrew L. Whitehead

Unabridged: 6 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/15/2023

Synopsis

Power. Fear. Violence. These three idols of Christian nationalism are corrupting American Christianity.

Andrew Whitehead is a leading scholar on Christian nationalism in America and speaks widely on its effects within Christian communities. In this book, he shares his journey and reveals how Christian nationalism threatens the spiritual lives of American Christians and the church.

Whitehead shows how Christians harm their neighbors when they embrace the idols of power, fear, and violence. He uses two key examples—racism and xenophobia—to demonstrate that these idols violate core Christian beliefs. Through stories, he illuminates expressions of Christianity that confront Christian nationalism and offer a faithful path forward.

American Idolatry encourages further conversation about what Christian nationalism threatens, how to face it, and why it is vitally important to do so. It will help identify Christian nationalism and build a framework that makes sense of the relationship between faith and the current political and cultural context.

About Andrew L. Whitehead

Andrew L. Whitehead is associate professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he codirects the Association of Religion Data Archives at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture. He is the coauthor of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Whitehead has written for the Washington Post, NBC News, Time, and Religion News Service and speaks frequently about Christian nationalism.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Richard on April 07, 2023

As a lifelong resident of Indiana, I take great comfort in the fact that "American Idolatry" author Andrew L. Whitehead is one of our own. A leading scholar on Christian nationalism in America and Associate Professor of Sociology at IUPUI, Whitehead's presence in what can often be a significantly fr......more

Goodreads review by Brice on July 03, 2024

Longest ever review inbound: I wanted to like this book. The author seeks to address Christian Nationalism, which I agree is a problem and I have rarely heard addressed with an ounce of nuance. I hoped this would be that book and it was not. My qualms with the book are three fold: First, I think the au......more

Goodreads review by Ruth on October 02, 2023

A high school friend recently recommended the book American Idolatry, which is about the way white Christian nationalism is corrupting the gospel and our political process. So I listened to it, and I also recommend it strongly. It’s written by a sociologist who himself is a practicing Christian and......more

Goodreads review by S.J. on July 10, 2023

As someone who has been studying and watching Christian Nationalism over the years, American Idolatry does a fantastic job laying out what's at stake and why Christians should be concerned about it. This will be a book I will recommend and gift to several of my Christian friends who are "enablers" o......more

Goodreads review by Laura on April 21, 2025

I read this book after two others on similar topics: "White Too Long" by Robert Jones, and "The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory" by Tim Alberta. I was/am really trying to understand where Christianity is today, and how those who proclaim to follow Jesus can support and celebrate heinous, hateful p......more

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