The Magic of Science and the Science of Magic in Evangelical Publicity

This essay reflects on two cases of evangelical publicity; that is, on situations where an evangelical cultural form operates in spaces that are open to diverse audiences and not wholly or strictly definable as religious. The first was a traveling science-themed ministry active between the 1930s and 1990s. The second is a biblically-themed museum that opened in Washington, D.C. in 2017. I take up these two cases in this forum because together they offer a valuable reflection on the entanglement of magic, technology, spectacle, and religious publicity. Both examples are defined by their use of sensory play through technology in order to arrest the attention of audiences. They surprise, confound, disorient, and otherwise upend sensory expectation in service of broader evangelical ambitions.

SERMONS FROM SCIENCE

Sermons from Science (SfS) integrated theatrical stagecraft, technological spectacle, and biblical fundamentalism from 1931 until 2000.¹ The ministry was started by a Los Angeles pastor named Irwin Moon, and later joined Chicago's Moody Bible Institute as the Moody Institute of Science. Over the decades, SfS created and circulated multiple forms of cultural production, from print materials to didactic films and a regionally broadcast television series. Its centerpiece, however, was always live science demonstrations laced with messages of biblical literalism and born-again salvation. Moon, followed by his protégé George Speake (a navy veteran and mechanical engineer), toured extensively in churches, high schools, civic centers, and military bases.

Among the ministry's pinnacle achievements was its presence at six World's Fairs: 1939 San Francisco, 1962 Seattle, 1964 New York City, 1967 Montreal, 1968 San Antonio, and 1974 Spokane. The Moody Bible Institute archives are replete with celebratory descriptions of Moon and Speake tirelessly entertaining Fair crowds. In 1939, Moon was reported to have taken no time off throughout the Exposition's first eight-month run.² And in 1962, Speake performed for 186 consecutive days in Seattle.³

Speake expanded Moon's repertoire, but the organizing strategy was consistent: to present scientific demonstrations (mostly chemistry and physics) that confound sensory experience and reframe a lesson of natural law into one of evangelical spiritual law. The register of science-as-magical entertainment thoroughly infused the ministry's publicity materials. For example, a fundraising brochure circulated ahead of the 1964 New York Fair replicated language from an earlier Seattle visitor brochure:

Visitors will see in action:    The cry that can shatter glass    A frozen shadow    A flashlight that talks    The stammering machine    Metal rings floating in the air    1,000,000 volts of man-made lightning    Liquid lights from cold chemicals    Invisible energy sets steel aflame    Eyes that see in total darkness    Electron magic with a ribbon of rust.⁴

The signature demonstration, often performed as a grand finale, was the "1,000,000 volts of man-made lightning." Here, Moon or Speake stood barefoot on a platform. On their command (the shout of "On!", a part of the drama), one million volts of high-frequency electricity were sent from the platform and through their body (see Figure 1). They alternated between

Figure 1.

Irwin Moon performing "man-made lightning" for Sermons from Science, c.1940. Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.

two ritual choreographies. The original version was to stand with hands raised in the air, fingers fitted with a series of metal tips that would emit lightning-like currents. Moon added a variation where he stood with a pine board held in an outstretched arm, which would spark and then ignite. In both scenarios, the men experienced only a minor jolt. Images of Moon or Speake with arms held high and electricity appearing to shoot directly from their fingers proved irresistible both within and outside of the ministry. This image adorns publicity posters, newspaper profiles, as well as academic book dust jackets, such as James Gilbert's 1997 Redeeming Culture: American Religion in an Age of Science published by the University...