The phrase “What would Jesus do?” became widely popular in the United States in the 1990s among evangelical Christians, who would wear bracelets and related paraphernalia bearing this motto. Interestingly, this is not a new Christian phenomenon: the phrase was first popularized in Charles Sheldon's novel, In His Steps, which appeared in 1896 (though I use the 1899 edition). In this novel, a minister challenges the members of his church to join him in a pact of sorts, according to which they will devote themselves for one full year to living as they believe Jesus would. They commit to asking themselves daily what Jesus would do if he were in their situations, and promise to follow through on their answers.

This novel is of interest because in it we can find almost all of the elements we have covered in this book: classification, social stratification, domination, habitus, legitimation, authority, authenticity claims, and so on. In this chapter I will provide a reading of this novel, showing how the method and theory I have proposed can shed light on a specific text.

Charles Sheldon's In His Steps

The story takes place in a town called Raymond, somewhere in America's Midwest, and centers around the activities of the members of the First Church of Raymond, a Protestant Christian Church. It begins as the minister at the church, Henry Maxwell, is preparing his Sunday sermon on a passage in the New Testament about following in Jesus' steps.