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Article: Denominationalism
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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DENOMINATIONALISM
DENOMINATIONALISM.
Religion scholars developed this term to account for the variety of faiths in the United States. Because of its associations with religious pluralism, denominationalism also implies ecclesiastical disestablishment and religious freedom, in the sense that no particular religious body receives the endorsement of nor financial support from the government. Prior to the last quarter of the twentieth century, the concept was usually a Protestant term that referred to a cooperative spirit among the largest Protestant denominations in the United States. But after 1970, as those denominations lost members and influence, and as public institutions began to ...