Christianity and the Mass Media in America: Toward a Democratic Accommodation (Michigan State University Press, 2003)

Named an "Academic Essential" by Academia, an online magazine and resource for academic librarians

"Highly Recommended" by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

Awarded "Best Book of 2004" by the Religious Communication Association

"An excellent book for understanding the history of Catholic as well as Protestant ventures in and with the media."  
  — National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood

"But Schultze aspires to, and achieves, more than historical analysis and cultural critique. He offers a hopeful path of mutual obligation in which the various rhetorics at play (or at war) enhance the quality of our democratic experience. One comes away from this book with quotes to ponder, books to read, and things to think about. It is a good place to begin important conversations with each other, and with media scholars and practitioners who care about the way things are and about the way they ought to be."
          — Wally Metts, Spring Arbor University, Christian Scholar's Review, Fall 2004, pp. 155-6

"Christianity and the Mass Media in America is destined to become one of the most important scholarly books on American mass media. It should become required reading for communication, history, and religion courses in universities and seminaries."
          — Michael W. Casey , Pepperdine University, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Vol. 8, Fall 2005, pp. 499-501 (read entire review)

"What has the media to do with Christianity in a democratic society? [Schultze's] weighty tome (literally and figuratively) explores this question rhetorically, historically, and sociologically in the broader context of a theological vision. With extensive notes ... it is an ambitious project but one well worth the fresh compilation and thoughtful exploration given the topic here."
          — Annalee R. Ward, Calvin Theological Journal, April 2005, pp. 160-2

"Schultze argues for a richer theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between religion and the mass media in the United States."
          — Eric Michael Mazur, Bucknell University, The Journal of Religion, July-September 2005, pp. 483-4

"Schultze offers important insights as his study unfolds.... The book demonstrates the critical importance of communications for two very important areas: evangelism and knowledge....The book also helps explain America's unique religiosity in a modern secular world and the resilience of evangelical Protestantism in American life."
          — Michelle Mart, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 102, 2004, p. 132-3

"With the brilliance of Augustine's City of God, Schultze presents a theology of culture that is also a theory of democratic narrative. In the master's hand, the sacred and secular dimensions of public life interact through the mass media to benefit both. His integrationist model is intellectual craftsmanship of the highest magnitude."
          — Clifford G. Christians, University of Illinois

"This sprawling, learned, and insightful book brings a new sophistication to consideration of the public media and Christianity. It is excellent both on how religious groups have assessed the media and for how the media have depicted religion. To make his arguments, Schultze brings to bear solid history, pungent cultural criticism, and prophetic discernment in a series of sharply focused case studies. The result is singular wisdom on a set of relationships that are as important as they are complex.”
          — Mark A. Noll, Notre Dame University

"No other book explains the Protestant and Roman Catholic experience with the diverse media in the United States as well.... Schultze's analysis, which impels him to argue for pluralism and empowerment, is original, learned, precise, and provocative. This book should become required reading in colleges and seminaries across the country."
          — John P. Ferré, University of Louisville

"In this important book, Schultze offers a historic examination and evaluation of how religion has interacted with the media within American democratic rhetorical and cultural history. The author has a masterful command of the subject matter, and he uses incisive case studies to ground his synergistic analysis of the relationship between the two. Of particular interest is a discussion of the seldom-addressed problem of evil as portrayed on television. Schultze suggests that in locating evil solely within malevolent people and actions, television offers a "gospel of hope" that is paramount to civic sin and serves to affirm the market forces of media. In a visionary conclusion, the author addresses the mutual responsibilities of both media and religion to serve democracy in the US, arguing that the tension inherent in the two fields can serve as balance to the differing agenda of each. He sees technology as needing the humanizing and sanctifying aspects of religious traditions and narratives, and the US as profoundly characterized by faith in progress tempered by the discernment that flows from recognition that in democracy one "must be able to live harmoniously in both the "City of God" and the "City of Man." Summing Up: Highly recommended."
          — M.R. Grant, Choice

"[A]nyone interested in the intersection of Christianity and the media needs to read this book and will find it quite interesting."
          — David E. Settje, Concordia University, River Forest, IL, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (January 2006), p. 59