What is it about?
This article explains how leaders in the Methodist Episcopal Church used the Bible to support American involvement in the First World War.
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Why is it important?
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the largest Protestant body in the United States when the USA entered the First World War in 1917. The denomination's leadership gave full support to the war effort and argued that the war was necessary for the preservation and spread of democracy throughout the world. The topic of the First World War tends to be overlooked in Methodist historical literature. Secular histories of the First World War tend to leave out the tremendous support the Wilson administration received from Christian denominations. This article starts scratching the surface of Methodist support for the war.
Perspectives
I found the documents quoted in this article to be both fascinating and somewhat disturbing. Methodist authors certainly connected biblical themes with the importance of liberal democracy. Although the United States entered the First World War almost three years into the conflict, the larger war period was a critical one for the country. I hope readers will see that the war brought to the surface certain assumptions that Methodists had about the importance of the United States in future development of international politics.
Cindy Wesley
University of Northern Colorado
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Making the Bible Safe for Democracy: American Methodists and the First World War, Journal of the Bible and its Reception, October 2017, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/jbr-2017-0015.
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