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Despite a religious background that he himself later called “completely parochial,” John Mackay matured into a Christian leader with a remarkably inclusive vision. “If it is to be truly ecumenical,” Mackay declared, “the Church must transcend every boundary … As the Church, it must rise above every human division.” To go beyond such boundaries, Mackay not only engaged in standard ecumenical ventures such as the YMCA and the World Council of Churches, he also raised his voice to protest social and political evils, whether found in Nazi Germany, the Communist Bloc, or the United States. Mackay also reached out to movements such as Pentecostalism, often ignored by many mid-twentieth century ecumenical Protestants. Beneath Mackay’s inclusiveness lay his faith in a Christ in whom all things ultimately cohere and who even now leads his people beyond existing boundaries toward the fulfillment of cosmic unity in Him.

The pre-Civil War leaders of Princeton Seminary desired social reform and progress, but these had to come gradually and non-disruptively. Thus while Charles Hodge and his colleagues looked for an end to slavery at some indefinite time in the future, they supported in the meantime the colonization of free blacks in Africa and fought immediate emancipation. They likewise opposed full equality for women. A properly ordered society, they believed, involved “social subordination”—of humanity to God, woman to man, children to parents, slaves to masters, and the morally unfit and uneducated to the best and brightest.

If denominational histories were recast as accounts of practice and behavior, there would still be a place for the traditional emphasis on theological debates, but these would be examined with greater attention to their impact on religion as actually lived. Forms of worship, church architecture, the weekly offering envelopes, church potlucks, and ice cream socials would also become important topics. Denominational history written in this key is not likely to yield a single story but rather many stories.