The Spirit of American Liberal Theology is an interpretation of the entire U.S. American tradition of liberal theology. A highly condensed and far-more-accessible summary of Gary Dorrien’s three-volume trilogy, The Making of American Liberal Theology (Westminster John Knox Press 2001, 2003, and 2006), Dorrien here presses the argument that the most abundant, diverse, and persistent tradition of liberal theology is the one that blossomed in the United States and is still refashioning itself. While discussions of English and German liberalism persist, new material includes expanded treatment of the Black social gospel, the Universalists, developments into early 2020s, and a robust expression of the author’s post-Hegelian liberal-liberationist perspective.
“No one knows more about American theological liberalism than Gary Dorrien, and no book about it is more illuminating than this astonishing study of the liberal tradition in the nation in which it has been most persistent and diverse. Dorrien has read everything—from multi-volume tomes to letters and notes in archival collections—and then condensed this material into a coherent narrative in which the reader encounters not only the ideas but also the creative human beings who gave them birth. Writing in a terse and lively style, he presents us with an inclusive array of personalities and positions: men and women, Black and white, who refashioned an ancient tradition in a continually changing culture. The story is full of gripping descriptions, lucid insights, and bold judgments. It is a magisterial work.” – E. Brooks Holifield, C.H. Candler Professor Emeritus, Emory University
“Dorrien’s abridgement and revision of his three-volume history remains an authoritative reference that can function almost as an encyclopedia of liberal theology in the United States. If one wants to know more about an American theologian, one will be able to find an account of her or his life and thought that stands largely on its own, written by a master scholar. At the same time each essay fits into a larger story, and Dorrien’s readable style will entice the reader into the overall history.” – John B. Cobb, Jr., Professor of Theology Emeritus, Claremont School of Theology, and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies
Gary Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, and Professor of Religion, Columbia University. He is the author of more than twenty books and three hundred articles that range across the fields of social ethics, philosophy, theology, political economics, social and political theory, religious history, cultural criticism, and intellectual history. He is a two-time recipient of the American Library Association’s Choice Award, a 2012 recipient of the Association of American Publishers’ PROSE Award, and a 2017 recipient of the Grawemeyer award for his book The New Abolition: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel.