{"id":6617,"date":"2010-08-09T12:51:48","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T12:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/08\/the-future-of-evangelicalism-1.html"},"modified":"2010-08-09T12:51:48","modified_gmt":"2010-08-09T12:51:48","slug":"the-future-of-evangelicalism-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/08\/the-future-of-evangelicalism-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Evangelicalism 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BillyGra.png\"<\/a><\/span>Here is a part of a piece posted last Monday at Patheos.com, which was also picked up by WaPo. But, I want to have a discussion about it here so I will spread it out over three days (MWF) on this blog to facilitate conversation on a variety of topics:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

            <\/span>Some
\nare announcing the end of evangelicalism, like former evangelical and now anti-evangelical
\njournalist, Christine Wicker. Others, like evangelical sociologist, Bradley
\nWright, describe a movement that is holding its own if not actually gaining
\nsome ground. David Wells, theologian and author, speaks for many when he
\ncontends the theological bottom is falling out of much of contemporary populist
\nevangelicalism, while megachurch after megachurch pastor reveals an optimism
\nthat numbers are growing. From a variety of angles, then, evangelicalism is
\nunder investigation, and one of the concerns is its future. What is the future
\nof evangelicalism?<\/p>\n

            <\/span>I’m
\nneither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. So answering the question about the
\nfuture of evangelicalism is something I can only probe into on the basis if
\nwhat I know and see and hear and sense.<\/p>\n

Evangelicalism: What
\nis it?<\/i><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Perhaps
\nwe could begin with some definitions. If we define “evangelical” as those who
\nfaithfully sustain the Reformation’s central impulses, like justification by
\nfaith and the solas<\/i>, I would contend
\nthat evangelicalism will be here for a long time. There are plenty who will
\nkeep the Reformation’s gospel and theology alive. If we define “evangelical” as
\nthose who are faithful to the Great Awakening(s) and revivals of America, who
\ncarry on the work of folks like Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley and D.L. Moody,
\nalong with the missionary movement that flowed from that kind of
\nevangelicalism, I would say that movement is sputtering along and is not likely
\nto go away anytime soon. But I would caution that the great drive for
\nevangelism has seriously waned on American soil, and the promptings that
\ncreated missionary work all over the world has fallen on dry days. And,
\nfinally, if we define “evangelical” as the coalition that was created in the
\n1940s and 1950s and 1960s around such luminaries as Billy Graham, Carl Henry,
\nJohn Stott and J.I. Packer, I would say the days are numbered.<\/p>\n

The Neo-Evangelical
\nCoalition<\/i><\/p>\n

            <\/span>More
\nneeds to be said about the nature of the evangelical coalition that I see
\nfalling apart. The evangelicalism that formed in the 1940s and 1950s, more accurately
\ncalled “neo-evangelicalism,” was a reaction to strident forms of
\nfundamentalism, a call to serious intellectual engagement so that
\nevangelicalism could gain both theological and academic credibility again, and
\na big tent coalition to work together for evangelism and theological
\ndevelopment.  <\/span>By and large, this
\nbig tent coalition combined the Calvinist and Wesleyan segments of
\nevangelicalism, found places for Christian colleges and parachurch ministries
\nand missionary societies and a plethora of magazines and radio stations, and
\ngave special places to evangelical leaders like Billy Graham and Carl Henry.
\nThis big tent evangelicalism did not spend its energies fighting over theological
\nissues so much as it galvanized those energies for missional and theological
\nwork. One reason it did not fight theologically is because its theology, though
\nit clearly embraced those across a wide spectrum, was more or less grounded in
\na common affirmation of the centrality of the Bible, the necessity of
\nconversion, the clarity of an atonement-shaped gospel message, and an
\nexpectation that real Christians were hard at work in local churches, in
\nevangelism, and in community-focused activism.<\/p>\n

            <\/span>But
\nthat coalition has all but broken apart, and not just because that theology is
\nless central. It is only heritage-rich institutions like Christianity Today<\/i> and memories in 50 and 60 and 60somethings that
\nperceive both what neo-evangelicalism was and what it has become..  <\/span>The only way the older coalition can
\nsurvive is if Christianity Today<\/i> –
\nand I see no other genuine alternative – can continue to attract
\nconsensus-shaped evangelicalism.<\/p>\n


<\/i><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is a part of a piece posted last Monday at Patheos.com, which was also picked up by WaPo. But, I want to have a discussion about it here so I will spread it out over three days (MWF) on this blog to facilitate conversation on a variety of topics:           …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future of Evangelicalism 1 - 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\/08\/the-future-of-evangelicalism-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Future of Evangelicalism 1 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is a part of a piece posted last Monday at Patheos.com, which was also picked up by WaPo. 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