The American Protestant Experience: A Free Market for Faith (streaming)

(This resource is in a streaming format. If you would prefer a DVD click here.)

It's no accident that America is home to a wide range of religious expressions. Immigrants, brought their faith with them from around the globe and established churches and denominations. But the most unique quality of American religious life is the innovation and experimentation that takes place here. This makes this country a free marketplace for faith.

This series documents the eternal argument about the relationship between the church and civil authority. The country's founders, seeing the intolerance of the early immigrants, wisely sought to create a republic where faith could be practiced freely but where a theocracy would be avoided. 

Twenty-five top church historians, including Martin Marty, Grant Wacker, Amanda Porterfield, Mark Granquist and many others, tell this amazing story with support from images, films and music of the era. Sessions average 22 minutes in length. 

• Session One: Setting the Stage (The Reformation and The Enlightenment)
• Session Two: Escaping and Practicing Intolerance (The Colonial Period)
• Session Three: Faith – A Matter of Choice (The Great Awakening)
• Session Four: America – A Christian Nation? (Separation of Church and State)
• Session Five: A Stirring of the Soul (The Second Great Awakening)
• Session Six: The Great Moral Questions (Indian Decimation and Slavery)
• Session Seven: The Marketplace Expands (Unique American Religious Inventions)
• Session Eight: The Response to Change (Confronting Modernity)
• Session Nine: Muddier Waters (Race, Ecumenism, Social Gospel, Evangelicals)
• Session Ten: Boom and Bust (The End of Christendom in America)

Click here to download the study guide.

The American Protestant Experience - Trailer from Kevin B. Dragseth on Vimeo.