Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:3 (Summer 2004)
Article: A Tale of Two Pieties: Nurture and Conversion in American Christianity
Author: William B. Evans

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A Tale of Two Pieties:
Nurture and Conversion in American Christianity

William B. Evans

Conservative American Protestantism is, it would seem, more divided than ever before. The old theological boundaries separating Calvinist from Arminian, and Methodist from Presbyterian from Baptist remain, and new issues have emerged (e.g. the so-called “New Perspective on Paul”). At the same time, a host of praxis-related divisions (e.g. the issue of worship style) have also arisen and many people do not have a clear sense of how to evaluate these issues or even determine what is at stake. The older theological categories of analysis often don’t seem to do justice to the contours of current controversy. Often ignored in all this are profound differences in piety which have equally profound implications for one’s conception of the Christian life, life in the church, how one is to worship, the raising of one’s children, and so forth.

The purpose of this article is to explore the contours and implications of what maybe called “models of piety.” Webster’s Dictionary defines piety as “religious devotion and reverence to God.”1 A model of piety, then, is a particular approach to relating to God, a style of being a Christian. Although these models involve theological content, they are much more than abstract ideas—they are ways of being Christian. In a sense, they are more fundamental than theological constructs. Within conservative American Protestantism, two quite distinct models of

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piety have been at work since the beginning of the American Protestant experience. Moreover, these two models of piety color one’s understanding of what it means to be a Christian, and also complicate relations between Christians, even within congregations that ostensibly hold to a uniform theology. The task at hand is to explore the dynamics, the strengths and weaknesses, and the implications of these models.

Certain challenges, of course, must be recognized at the outset. American Christians tend to grow up immersed in one particular approach to being Christian, and there is often the temptation to privilege one particular model of piety (namely one’s own) as self-evidently correct. However, these are not just issues of right or wrong, but of emphasis and balance, of strengths and weaknesses on both sides. A further complication here is that these models of piety are accompanied by distinctive jargon. Why do Baptists and Presbyterians often have difficulty communicating with each other? Why do some conservative Presbyterians seem to be speaking a different language to one another? It is, at least in part, because t...