This book deals with the structure and identity of American Protestantism in the twentieth century. The standard picture of these years portrays Protestantism as divided into two diametrically opposed camps - fundamentalist/evangelical Protestantism and liberal/mainline Protestantism. Re-Forming the Center challenges this two-party thesis, questioning it on the basis of empirical validity and on the basis of contemporary usefulness. Most of the book's contributors argue that the two-party model not only provides an inadequate map of American Protestantism during the past century but also distorts Protestant hopes for the future. These insightful essays as a whole seek to move beyond a bipolar model and toward the formulation of a more accurate and sophisticated understanding of Protestantism in the United States.