Book Review

Mark A. Matthews (1867–1940) was arguably the Pacific Northwest's most influential religious figure during the early twentieth century. Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Seattle from 1902 until his death, he made it the largest Presbyterian congregation in the world. An aggressive participant in civic life, he left his imprint on many public and voluntary institutions. Dale E. Soden's judicious book fulfills the promise of his previous writings on Matthews and deserves a wide readership.

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Though Matthews identified himself with the emerging fundamentalist movement in the 1910s, Soden demonstrates that he resists easy categorization. Comfortable with nineteenth-century evangelicals' optimistic postmillennialism, he sought to create a "righteous community" not only through the spiritual regeneration of individuals but also through institutional and environmental reform. From his support of the Farmers' Alliance and People's party during pastorates in his native South through involvement in virtually every Progressive Era reform in Seattle, he displayed an unusual breadth and persistence of reformist commitments for a theologically conservative minister. Shaped by Old School Presbyterian orthodoxy, Matthews never accepted the liberal perspective on science, history, and the Bible that Social Gospel leaders espoused, and he believed that the Social Gospel neglected individual salvation. In his public role, however, he was virtually indistinguishable from the Social Gospel model. Soden's study is a valuable addition to the ongoing reconsideration of the relationship between fundamentalism and social reform.

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