Toward Peacemaking

The Southern Presbyterian Church, U.S., is a denomination born in the Civil War and once called the most "hawkish" church in the nation. Yet, by 1973 the PCUS often openly criticized the U.S. military ventures and foreign policy objectives. This change in the church's attitude toward the nation was the occasion of frequent and fervent debate among its members. What accounts for that transformation? In this examination of one mainline church during the postwar period, Nutt provides a case study that may help us understand not only Presbyterianism in the South but also changing Protestantism in 20th-century America.