Faith in the Halls of Power

Evangelicals, once at the periphery of American life, now wield power in the White House and on Wall Street, at Harvard and in Hollywood. How have they reached the pinnacles of power in such a short time? And what does this mean for evangelicals--and for America?

Drawing on personal interviews with an astonishing array of prominent Americans--including two former Presidents, dozens of political and government leaders, more than 100 top business executives, plus Hollywood moguls, intellectuals, athletes, and other powerful figures--D. Michael Lindsay shows
first-hand how they are bringing their vision of moral leadership into the public square. This riveting volume tells us who the real evangelical power brokers are, how they rose to prominence, and what they're doing with their clout. Lindsay reveals that evangelicals are now at home in the
executive suite and on the studio lot, and from those lofty perches they have used their influence, money, and ideas to build up the evangelical movement and introduce it to wider American society. They are leaders of powerful institutions and their goals are ambitious--to bring Christian
principles to bear on virtually every aspect of American life.

Along the way, the book is packed with fascinating stories and striking insights. Lindsay shows how evangelicals became a force in American foreign policy, how Fortune 500 companies are becoming faith-friendly, and how the new generation of the faithful is led by "cosmopolitan evangelicals." These
are well-educated men and women who read both The New York Times and Christianity Today, and who are wary of the evangelical masses' penchant for polarizing rhetoric, apocalyptic pot-boilers, and bad Christian rock. Perhaps most startling is the importance of personal relationships between
leaders--a quiet conversation after Bible study can have more impact than thousands of people marching in the streets.

Faith in the Halls of Power takes us inside the rarified world of the evangelical elite--beyond the hysterical panic and chest-thumping pride--to give us the real story behind the evangelical ascendancy in America.

"This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to."
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"For people wanting an understanding of how evangelicals have acquired so much power, money, and influence in the past 30 years, this is the ultimate insider's book."
--Sojourners Magazine

"Anybody who wants to understand the nexus between God and power in modern America should start here."
--The Economist

"Fascinating."
--John Schmalzbauer, Wall Street Journal

Evangelicals, once at the periphery of American life, now wield power from the White House to Wall Street. Drawing on personal interviews, Lindsay reveals how a new generation of the faithful is bringing its vision of moral leadership into the public square.

"A clear-eyed, evenhanded analysis of evangelical influence that dispenses with overheated fears of theocracy to present a complex and nuanced portrait."
"Faith in the Halls of Power provides an extraordinary map of faith and power today." --Joseph Kip Kosek, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"A book for serious readers, with insights into how Christians have shaped aspects of Republican Party policy; how they've engaged with the intellectual elite...and how corporate America has many Christians in the boardrooms." --Christianity

"As Lindsay demonstrates with overwhelming evidence, the rise of religious conservatives is a carefully orchestrated, well-financed, and systematic effort to inject evangelicals into the center of American society. ...revelatory." --Symposium

"The single finest account of the goals, ambitions, challenges, and complexities of evangelical elites I have ever read."--The Journal of Law and Religion