Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier

by Kirk Douglas Farney

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2022

Overview

During the anxiety-laden period from the Great Depression through World War II to the Cold War, Americans found a welcome escape in the new medium of radio. Throughout radio’s “Golden Age,” religious broadcasting in particular contributed significantly to American culture. Yet its historic role often has been overlooked.

In Ministers of a New Medium, Kirk D. Farney explores the work of two groundbreaking leaders in religious broadcasting: Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier. These clergymen and professors—one a Catholic priest, the other a Lutheran minister—each led the way in combining substantive theology and emerging technology to spread the gospel over the airwaves. Through weekly nationwide broadcasts, Maier’s The Lutheran Hour and Sheen’s Catholic Hour attracted listeners across a spectrum of denominational and religious affiliations, establishing their hosts—and Christian radio itself—as cultural and religious forces to be reckoned with.

Farney examines how Sheen and Maier used their exceptional erudition, their sensitivity to the times, their powerful communication skills, and their unwavering Christian conviction, all for the purpose of calling the souls of listeners and the soul of a nation to repentance and godliness. Their combination of talents also brought their respective denominations, Roman Catholicism and Missouri Synod Lutheranism, from the periphery of the American religious landscape to a much greater level of recognition and acceptance. With careful attention to both the theological content and the cultural influence of these masters of a new medium, Farney's study sheds new light on the history of media and Christianity in the United States.

Key Features

• Examines the careful attention to both the theological content and the cultural influence of these masters of a new medium
• Examines how Sheen and Maier used their skills for the purpose of calling the souls of listeners and the soul of a nation to repentance and godliness
• Explores the work of two groundbreaking leaders in religious broadcasting

Contents

• Golden Mouths, Ethereal Pulpits
• Medium Becomes Large: American Radio in the 1930s and 1940s
• Purposeful Preparation: Maier's and Sheen's Formative Years
• Catching the (Air)Waves: Sheen and Maier Move to Radio
• Filling the Hours: Program Format, Preparation, and Delivery
• Homiletic Heft: Preaching Foundational Theology
• Homiletic Animation: Personal Implications and Temporal Engagements
• Span of Significance: The Impact of Maier and Sheen on Network Radio
• Epilogue: Tuning in to Religious Radio

Product Details

• Title: Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier
• Author: Kirk Douglas Farney
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 345
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Sheen, Fulton J. (Fulton John), 1895-1979; Maier, Walter A., 1893-1950; Religious broadcasting › Christianity--History--20th century; Religious broadcasting › United States--History--20th century; Radio in religion › United States--History--20th century
• ISBNs: 9781514003237, 9781514003220, 1514003236, 1514003228
• Resource ID: LLS:MINOFNEWMED
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:31:27Z