The Other Evangelicals The major outlet for official evangelicalism has been, and probably will continue to be, Christianity Today. But the definition of “evangelical” that shapes the meaning of “evangelicalism” requires a Who question as much as a What
I’m looking forward to this... my parents are solidly in this evangelical world, which has shifted from the evangelicalism of my childhood into something much more political and overtly fundamentalist, at least to them.
I can’t wait to get my hands on this book. It’s going to be so helpful not only for my research, but for my faith journey.
This last week at the Theology in the Raw conference put on by Dr. Preston Sprinkle, I heard Dr. Gary Bershears (core professor of Western seminary, my former pastor’s mentor, and PhD graduate of Fuller where I got my masters degree) this past week give his argument for complementarian theology. He unapologetically stated that his theology would not only disallow women from eldership but also Jesus Christ because Jesus is an unmarried man. I have been deeply unsettled since. This is the tree from which I am fruit. A tree that suddenly looks very very rotten. I feel really confused, especially as my doctoral work is focused on the formation of rising women leaders in the evangelical church. With your work and Nijay Gupta’s work, it seems like way is opening within the evangelical church for women to step into leadership. But I felt so discouraged after listening to Dr. Bershears I started wondering if I could even identify as evangelical anymore.
The more interesting question to me is the one raised in the subtitle — who is a Christian? which is the question the Bible, itself, is constantly asking as it warns against false teachers and pseudo-believers. The Christian Faith is necessarily exclusive; Brueggemann calls the Bibles’s stubborn exclusivism “the scandal of particularity.” I understand that the question this book addresses is important as issues of power, privilege, access, a place at some tables, and so on are at stake as we draw lines, include and exclude from evangelical institutions. Perhaps the book does address this necessarily prior question — who is a Christian? If the criteria of the scriptures, e.g. belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, exclude, then a Christian group would obviously be justified in excluding these from their group as well. I’m interested first in learning how this previous question is addressed in the book. It causes one to wonder about the wisdom of drawing lines and dividing up at all, apart from the one relevant line - who’s in Christ and who’s not. It’s saddening, as one reflects on the reality. I hear Jesus’ prayer, John 17:20–21, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Looking forward, backward, and around the bingo tumbler for this discussion. I say all that, because evangelicals are like everyone else - one name but a million classifications. Based on personal feelings (in my honest opinion) and sound reasons.
The Oxford English Dictionary entry (revised March 2023, no less) has a long entry, reading in part:
Root meaning, going back to 1527
Of, relating to, or characteristic of the spirit, precepts, and teachings of the Christian gospel; of or relating to the teachings or revelation of Jesus Christ.
2nd, narrower meaning, first recorded 1740
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a tradition within Protestant Christianity, emphasizing the authority of the Bible, the doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ's atonement, and (hence) the importance of personal conversion and evangelism . . .
In England, evangelicals are concerned with distinguishing themselves not from fundamentalists but from those who do not base their faith on Scripture.
I understand the political nature this word has taken on in the U.S., but the OED makes no mention of a different meaning of the word. If a word has a different meaning in places outside of Britain, the OED usually notes it.
I’m looking forward to this... my parents are solidly in this evangelical world, which has shifted from the evangelicalism of my childhood into something much more political and overtly fundamentalist, at least to them.
Thank you for this insight .
I can’t wait to get my hands on this book. It’s going to be so helpful not only for my research, but for my faith journey.
This last week at the Theology in the Raw conference put on by Dr. Preston Sprinkle, I heard Dr. Gary Bershears (core professor of Western seminary, my former pastor’s mentor, and PhD graduate of Fuller where I got my masters degree) this past week give his argument for complementarian theology. He unapologetically stated that his theology would not only disallow women from eldership but also Jesus Christ because Jesus is an unmarried man. I have been deeply unsettled since. This is the tree from which I am fruit. A tree that suddenly looks very very rotten. I feel really confused, especially as my doctoral work is focused on the formation of rising women leaders in the evangelical church. With your work and Nijay Gupta’s work, it seems like way is opening within the evangelical church for women to step into leadership. But I felt so discouraged after listening to Dr. Bershears I started wondering if I could even identify as evangelical anymore.
Again, I think I need this book ASAP.
The more interesting question to me is the one raised in the subtitle — who is a Christian? which is the question the Bible, itself, is constantly asking as it warns against false teachers and pseudo-believers. The Christian Faith is necessarily exclusive; Brueggemann calls the Bibles’s stubborn exclusivism “the scandal of particularity.” I understand that the question this book addresses is important as issues of power, privilege, access, a place at some tables, and so on are at stake as we draw lines, include and exclude from evangelical institutions. Perhaps the book does address this necessarily prior question — who is a Christian? If the criteria of the scriptures, e.g. belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, exclude, then a Christian group would obviously be justified in excluding these from their group as well. I’m interested first in learning how this previous question is addressed in the book. It causes one to wonder about the wisdom of drawing lines and dividing up at all, apart from the one relevant line - who’s in Christ and who’s not. It’s saddening, as one reflects on the reality. I hear Jesus’ prayer, John 17:20–21, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Looking forward to this. Had David Gushee as an Ethics professor in Seminary. Thoughtful Christian man.
Looking forward, backward, and around the bingo tumbler for this discussion. I say all that, because evangelicals are like everyone else - one name but a million classifications. Based on personal feelings (in my honest opinion) and sound reasons.
I was surprised by the definition here.
The Oxford English Dictionary entry (revised March 2023, no less) has a long entry, reading in part:
Root meaning, going back to 1527
Of, relating to, or characteristic of the spirit, precepts, and teachings of the Christian gospel; of or relating to the teachings or revelation of Jesus Christ.
2nd, narrower meaning, first recorded 1740
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a tradition within Protestant Christianity, emphasizing the authority of the Bible, the doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ's atonement, and (hence) the importance of personal conversion and evangelism . . .
In England, evangelicals are concerned with distinguishing themselves not from fundamentalists but from those who do not base their faith on Scripture.
I understand the political nature this word has taken on in the U.S., but the OED makes no mention of a different meaning of the word. If a word has a different meaning in places outside of Britain, the OED usually notes it.