Books by Randall J. Stephens

Randall Stephens traces rock's inspiration to the Pentecostal churches where Elvis, Little Richard, and others worshipped. Faith, which served as a vehicle for whites' fears, led them to condemn the godless music of blacks and hippies. But in a reversal of strategy, evangelicals later embraced Christian rock as a way to project Jesus's message.

Why do so many evangelicals follow leaders with dubious credentials when they have other options in their own faith? Exploring intellectual authority within evangelicalism, the authors reveal how the concept of anointing-being chosen by God to speak for him-established a conservative evangelical leadership isolated from secular arts and sciences.

Pentecostalism came to the South following the post-Civil War holiness revival, a northern-born crusade that emphasized sinlessness and religious empowerment. With the growth of southern Pentecostal denominations and the rise of new, affluent congregants, the movement slipped cautiously into the evangelical mainstream.