Ask the Expert: Evangelical Hot Topics

No, in fact the number of evangelicals who believe in "six-day creationism" (as it is called) is diminishing. The Hebrew term

, used to denote "day" in the creation narrative (Genesis 1) is used in a variety of ways and does not demand an interpretation rendering it a 24-hour time period. It is also used to describe "the day [yom] of the Lord," which suggests an event outside the bounds of linear time.

"Evangelicals" are not a single monolithic entity, and therefore do not advance "an evangelical position" when it comes to evolution. Some believe it is yet to be definitively proven and therefore discount it. Others believe God could use the evolutionary process to advance his creative activity if he so chooses. It is safe to say, in any case, that evangelicals generally believe that, whatever the process, God started it and that human beings are not the result of a random process of natural selection.

Some estimates put the number around 50 million. Recent statistics indicate that white evangelicals comprise 24% of the U.S. population; black evangelicals, 10%; mainline Protestants, 16%; Catholics, 22%.

Not all evangelicals

care about prayer in schools for the very reason you mention: they can pray at home and realize that "a moment of silence" (or whatever form it might take) will not forge a person's religious sensibility or identity. Those who argue for freedom of prayer in public schools do so on the basis of the "free exercise" clause of the First Amendment, which states the government "shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion." Since the Constitution grants the free exercise of religion, the pro-prayer proponents argue, that right should not end as soon as a student walks through the door of a public school.

Those who oppose prayer in public schools do so by virtue of the same clause, arguing that the government should not encourage religion in public schools, but remain neutral. This line of argument is countered by the pro-prayer people who assert that any governmental "neutrality" is a backhanded way of saying God is irrelevant in the public square, which in turn, they argue, violates the individual's right to the free exercise of religion.

In any case, it's a safe bet that, before final exams, there is a lot of silent prayer going on in public schools.

Who knows? Some people may go to the Piggly Wiggly. Many churchgoing people, evangelical and otherwise, find Wednesday night the most accommodating night of the week for a midweek event: youth group, Bible study, various board or committee meetings. Who can say why? Maybe it's pacing. But not everyone in the "Bible Belt" is at church on Wednesday night.

Evangelicals believe what Jesus believed (and said) about demons, and that is that they are real and they are force to be reckoned with. One will note in the gospel narratives that Jesus spent a lot of time "casting demons out" of people who were considered possessed. The classic evangelical view of the demonic (and evil generally) is that it is a parasitic force that latches on to something wholesome and good and then eats away at it until it loses itself--kind of like the way undergrowth in the rain forest lives off of larger trees until the host tree loses its ability to sustain life.

When he sent out his disciples to start spreading the word about God's Kingdom, Jesus gave them "authority to cast out evil spirits." Both the authority and the casting out concur with the notion that the demonic realm is less powerful than God's realm, and that when the two confront one another, God has the upper hand. A "deliverance" is a contemporary term used to describe the event Jesus himself exercised and gave authority to his disciples to exercise: that is, once it has been discerned by two or three mature believing individuals that a person has fallen prey to a parasitic demonic spirit, they possess the authority, given by Jesus himself, to command that spirit to leave the broken individual.

The temptation is to put so much emphasis on "the demonic" that one transfers responsibility for destructive behavior onto the devil instead of to the individual. This is why it is incumbent upon the ministering individuals to discern and be unanimous in their determination about demonic possession.

No, evangelicals do not handle snakes. This tradition arises out of Appalachia and the isolated expressions of the faith in these mountains (where, evidently, there was an abundance of snakes). The notion is rooted in a portion of the gospel of Mark which says a person can hold a snake and not be harmed. One has to walk a long hard mile to find an evangelical and a snake together in the same room.

As to why people fall down at tent revivals, I have no idea. They call it "being slain in the spirit," but this notion does not exist (as such) in the New Testament. This phenomenon is more typically expressed in Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement, which emphasize manifestations outside the parameters of conventional evangelicalism.

Why do grandparents talk about grandchildren? Parents about children? Lovers about their mates? Evangelicals have a love relationship with Jesus. He is their friend, their champion, the one with whom they share their most intimate cherished emotions, frailties and weaknesses. They also believe he rescued them from alienation from God when they were powerless to save themselves. They believe Jesus can be the same kind of friend and champion to others, if they'll give him the chance. The point is well taken, in any case. Maybe evangelicals should stop talking about him so much and start living more as he lived. This is what Jesus would want.

Whether or not it would be impolite to ask people to stop talking about Jesus could likened to whether or not it would be impolite to ask grandma to stop talking about her beloved grandson. You make the call. Or write Miss Manners.

No. Among evangelical Protestants, 56% self-identify as Republicans, 27% as Democrats, and 17% as Independents (

).

Many are not. But if one had to make a distinction, it would be (broadly speaking) that mainline Protestants are less assertive about wanting to know what you believe and letting you know what they believe. They tend to uphold a certain standard of privacy on these matters.

Of course! Many are. As noted in the book, evangelicalism is not a monolithic "bloc." It is a river (of belief) that flows through all kinds of demographic landscapes, including Mainline Protestantism.

Evangelicals believe the writers of the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, are telling the truth as they saw and experienced it and that they can be trusted. If these writers were going to make up incidents they recount in the Bible, it certainly would have had less holes, incongruities, and fewer messy situations. The Psalms say the "trees clap their hands" in praise of God. Do evangelicals believe trees have hands? No. Do they believe nature in all its beauty and robustness bears witness to the beauty and robustness of God? Yes.

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