James Hudnut-Beumler
Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of American Religious History | Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN, UNITED STATES
Expert in the history of religion in the American South.
Biography
Hudnut-Beumler served as Dean of the Divinity School from 2000 until 2013. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt in 2000, he was dean of the faculty at Columbia Theological Seminary, a program associate for Lilly Endowment, and director of the undergraduate program in Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Hudnut-Beumler is the author of Looking for God in the Suburbs: The Religion of the American Dream and Its Critics, 1945-1965 (Rutgers, 1994) and Generous Saints: Congregations Rethinking Money and Ethics (Alban, 1999), and is co-author of The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York (NYU, 2005). He is also the author of an economic history of American Protestantism from 1750 to the present, entitled, In Pursuit of the Almighty’s Dollar: A History of Money and American Protestantism (University of North Carolina, 2007) and Strangers and Friends at the Welcome Table: Contemporary Christianities in the American South (University of North Carolina, 2018) and co-editor of The Future of Mainline Protestantism (Columbia, 2018) Professor Hudnut-Beumler and his wife, Heidi, are both Presbyterian ministers and make their home in Nashville.
Areas of Expertise (4)
Religion and philanthropy
History of religion in the U.S.
Religion in the American South
Religious symbolism in the U.S.
Accomplishments (3)
Vanderbilt Distinguished Faculty Member (professional)
2020-06-16
Awarded Vanderbilt Distinguished Faculty Member in 2003
Associated Church Press, Best Professional Article (professional)
2020-06-16
Awarded Best Professional Article by Associated Church Press in 1991
Princeton University Fellowship (professional)
2020-06-16
Held Princeton University Fellowship from 1984-87
Education (3)
The College of Wooster: B.A.
Union Theological Seminary: M.Div.
Princeton University: M.A., Ph.D.
Affiliations (3)
- American Academy of Religion
- American Society of Church History
- Organization of American Historians
Links (3)
Selected Media Appearances (9)
New Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments churns old political conflicts
Associated Press online
2024-06-20
Disputes over the law likely won’t just be about whether the commandments should be mandated on school room walls, but also which version, said James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “The Ten Commandments always look universal until you put a shortened list up on the wall and discover that there’s room for dispute.”
Methodists end anti-gay bans, closing 50 years of battles over sexuality for mainline Protestants
Associated Press online
2024-05-05
The United Methodist Church was the last of the major U.S. mainline groups to liberalize its policies on sexuality in part because of its large presence in rural, small-town and Southern areas, where a more conservative sexual ethos prevails, said James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of American Christian History at Vanderbilt University. He is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister and co-author of “The Future of Mainline Protestantism.”
Our Many Jesuses
The Wall Street Journal online
2023-04-07
The Jesus of the corner office is not, however, the Jesus of the Prosperity Gospel, which holds that God will reward believers with material as well as spiritual gifts if they embrace standards of personal purity and sacrifice, including by tithing with their church, according to James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University. The movement, whose exponents have included Oral Roberts, Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen, has roots in the healing revivals of Pentecostal pastors in the mid-20th century.
Religious liberty has a long and messy history – and there is a reason Americans feel strongly about it
The Conversation online
2022-07-19
At the close of its recent term the Supreme Court ruled on the cases of Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, rekindling controversy over one of the most enduring issues in American history: religious liberty. Another of this term’s blockbuster decisions, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, underlines the fact that religious beliefs and actions in the public realm matter. Whether the issue concerns religion and education, prayer or reproduction, Americans feel strongly about their religious liberties.
Despite Supreme Court rulings, religious liberty has always been a contentious issue | Opinion
Tennessean online
2022-07-06
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the cases of Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, giving the justices yet another occasion to wrestle with one of the most difficult issues in American history: religious liberty.
A year after Gwen Shamblin Lara's death, her presence looms large at Remnant Fellowship
USA Today online
2022-05-29
The sudden passing of several church leaders itself caused disbelief and trauma among the congregation, but that was further complicated by the fact that Lara ran a personality-based ministry, said James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Symbols brought to Capitol raise questions about role of Christian belief in riot
Tennessean online
2021-01-08
It is easy to find Christian symbolism in the movement supporting Trump's reelection and the sense of embattlement that accompanies it, said James Hudnut-Beumler, a Vanderbilt University professor of American religious history. Adversity is a trope of Christian life, he said.
Masks keep churches from being superspreaders. But they make sermons tough
Religion News Service online
2020-10-16
As congregations reopen, often with social distancing and masks, preachers have faced new challenges, said Jim Hudnut-Beumler, professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville.
The Methodist Church will probably split in two over homosexuality, and that's bad for all of us
CNN online
2020-01-17
"The mainline Protestants are like the shock troops," said James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of religious history at Vanderbilt University. "They absorb the first body blows. But as the mainline goes, so more conservative and evangelical will go eventually."
