415 - Religion in Strange Times: The 1960s and 1970s

Religion in Strange Times: The 1960s and 1970s
By Ronald B. Flowers
Macon, Mercer University Press, 1984. 242 pp. $21.95.

The author, professor of religious studies at Texas Christian University, attempts to explain the reasons that the religious radicalism of the sixties gave way to the conservatism of the seventies. He contends that the conservative resurgence-a term he uses for groups as diverse as "born-again" Christians, the charismatic movement, the Unification Church, and the Moral Majority-was in large measure a reaction against the cultural and religious upheaval of the previous decade. Following Dean Kelley's much debated thesis, Flowers believes that Americans wanted stricter faiths offering clear meaning for life. Because of its brevity, the book sometimes tantalizes the reader with statements crying out for further explanation. For example, secular humanism, the current bogey of the religious right, receives only six lines of analysis. Flowers' last three chapters, while providing a thoughtful treatment of black and feminist theologies and church-state issues, appear to be addenda not fully integrated with the central argument of the book. Apart from these criticisms, Flowers has written an extremely useful work for his intended audience. students and lay people in church or synagogue.

This reviewer especially recommends Flowers' astute account of recent Supreme Court decisions relative to the relationship of church and state.

James H. Moorhead
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.