Letter to the Editors

116 The Canadian Historical Review Letter to the Editors 4 June 1997 I have read the review of my book, A Kingdom on Earth: Anglo-American Social Christianity, 1880-1940, by Nancy J. Christie in the June 1997 issue of your journal. I found it difficult to recognize my book from her review. May I therefore take this opportunity to clarify a number of areas for your readers. Dr Christie is correct in seeing my book as having something to say about secularization through its consistent argument for the primacy of religious ideas over secular influences in the movement known as Social Christianity. But this book was not designed primarily to be, in Christie's words, a 'vehicle by which to study in some detail the problem of secularization.' I made it clear in my introduction that this consideration w:as subordinate (xvi) to my main, rather daunting task of identifying the core ideas of Social Christianity and tracing out their influence among Protestants on both sides of the Atlantic. To this end the book was organized in~o chapters dealing with theology, urban problems, social service and social science, the media, concepts of church and state, and politics. None of the latter is mentioned in the review. However, there are more specific and serious problems with the review. Dr Christie asserts her belief that the American side of the picture has been inadequately covered and has little more to say of it. I think there is sufficient evidence of extensive primary research, even in my notes. As for a proper examination of the significance of my American sections, I would suggest that your readers consult reviews of my book in leading journals of American history such as the journal ofAmerican History 83, 4 (1997), Reviews in American History 25 (1997), and the Canadian Review ofAmerican Studies 26, 2 (1996). With regard to Canada, I am sorry that Dr Christie feels it is treated as a 'meaningless subset.' Admittedly in a study of this scope, most of the attention invariably is given to the larger societies, but I do not think English Canada has been slighted. Ironically, when I attempt in one section to show the uniqueness of Social Christianity in Canada in achieving a strong base in rural political culture (263), my effort is dismissed by Dr Christie as a filler, the mere result of a lack of better evidence on the United States and Britain for the period. Incidentally, my alleged statement on page 201 that 'Canadian clergymen' acted in imitation of British and American figures actually referred to one person. The last point reinforces my persistent concern with the problem of misleading statements by Dr Christie. Setting aside my view that Social Christianity, as a transnational movement, also cut across denominational lines and all that that entails, Christie believes that my 'basis of comparison is false: Broad Church Anglicans and North American Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists .' This assertion ignores large portions of the book devoted to other parties, Notes and Comments rr7 such as Anglo-Catholics and Modernists, within the Established Church, and the different types of Nonconformists on the British side. It also misses the prominence of Episcopalians on the u.s. side, and the places where Canadian Anglicans receive some attention. This is a,good place to stop. May I state in conclusion that I can respect different views and approaches to these complex issues, when presented in a reasonable way. But your readers should be accurately informed about the content of any book being reviewed, even one in large measure concerned with other countries. PAUL T. PHILLIPS St Francis Xavier University ...