What are the biggest changes you see in evangelicalism in the last century?<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable evangelicals aside, of course. I don’t know the history of all of this, and I know the Methodists have been much more balanced than many others, but when I came of age the voices that were rattling the evangelical cage about developing a social conscience included Jim Wallis and Ronald Sider and Tony Campolo. There are others, and I would say the Moral Majority and Religious Right must be included in the development of a social conscience, but these come to mind for me.<\/p>\n
They have been at work since the 60s and 70s and 80s, and the most distinctive change — in my view — in the 20th Century and now into the first decade of the 21st Century is the now largely unquestioned acceptance of a gospel that is designed — by God — to impact the human holistically and the influence is even larger: it is global and it is ecological. <\/div>\n
\nMost people call this “social justice” and, while I prefer to use the word “justice” and define “justice” by the will of God as taught through the Bible and the Church, it is now a part of much of evangelicalism — and not just as an appendix to the spiritual work done at the church.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Some are calling this larger gospel work “missional,” and I think that term is here to stay. So, what I’d like to propose for this afternoon’s conversation is this simple claim:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Evangelicalism’s biggest shift in the 20th Century was a gradual, if largely unacknowledged, repentance from the near gnostic division of the spirit and the body that shaped its gospel in the early part of the 20th Century to a robust embracing of the missional gospel in the waning years of the 20th Century and the first decade of the 21st Century.<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And now a point about books: the number of justice books coming out from evangelical publishers right now is next to astounding — and I think I could list 25 in the last three months. Publishers are like that: when something gets hot, they scratch out so many contracts that, by the time all the books come out, we’re glutted and wearied by the onslaught.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So a question: What are the best justice books you are reading that are shaped for evangelicals?<\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I have a number of old favorites, including Jim Wallis’ The Call to Conversion<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0060842377\")
\n<\/strong><\/em>, but there’s a new one by Peter Greer and Phil Smith that is up to date and practical and beautifully-produced and it might be the best place to start for those who are wondering where to turn. It is called: The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0310293596\")
\n<\/strong><\/em>. The issue is no longer if<\/i> we should help; the issue is how<\/i> to help, and these authors spell out the possibilities and realities of microfinance development (and not just relief).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20th Century's Biggest Change in Evangelicalism - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/20th-centurys-biggest-change-i.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20th Century's Biggest Change in Evangelicalism - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 20th Century began with war between evangelicals or fundamentalists and liberals or modernists. 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\n<\/strong><\/em>, but there’s a new one by Peter Greer and Phil Smith that is up to date and practical and beautifully-produced and it might be the best place to start for those who are wondering where to turn. It is called: The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/em>. The issue is no longer if<\/i> we should help; the issue is how<\/i> to help, and these authors spell out the possibilities and realities of microfinance development (and not just relief).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 20th Century began with war between evangelicals or fundamentalists and liberals or modernists. Not only were doctrines under dispute but there was another dispute: was the gospel designed to address spiritual or social problems? It can be said that vast majority of the 20th Century saw the American Church split between liberals, who preferred…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\n