Overview

When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. Lauren Frances Turek tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late-Cold War world. In To Bring the Good News to All Nations, she examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism. Using archival materials from both religious and government sources, To Bring the Good News to All Nations links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Turek's case studies-Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union-reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.

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9781501748912

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Reviews

Lauren Frances Turek's 2020 study, To Bring the Good News to All Nations, provides the basis for a more complete and accurate assessment of the inspirations, aims, and achievements of the movement. * First Things * This work is a welcome addition to the growing literature on religion and US foreign policy. * Choice * To Bring the Good News to All Nations is a thoughtful, lucidly written study of how activist networks are built and exert influence at the nexus of international and domestic politics. The book adeptly treats conservative evangelicals and their beliefs with sensitivity even while still evaluating them critically, providing a model for other scholars interested in similar topics. * PASSPORT *

This work is a welcome addition to the growing literature on religion and US foreign policy. * Choice * To Bring the Good News to All Nations is a thoughtful, lucidly written study of how activist networks are built and exert influence at the nexus of international and domestic politics. The book adeptly treats conservative evangelicals and their beliefs with sensitivity even while still evaluating them critically, providing a model for other scholars interested in similar topics. * PASSPORT *

This work is a welcome addition to the growing literature on religion and US foreign policy. * Choice *

Author Information

Lauren Frances Turek is Assistant Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Follow her on X @laurenfturek.

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