I expect that this article will blow up in the coming days… It’s already getting play.
I’m still thinking about it, but either way, it’s a timely piece. Wondering if other people are convinced. Also wondering if this is less of a prediction and more of a description. Either way, he said it – and I’m glad the conversation is happening.
The original posts appear here, at InternetMonk.com.
I’ll put some thoughts down soon. At first pass, I’m thinking a little more broadly than the life-span of “Evangelicalism” – and I’m compelled to look at things in the context of 2000 years of Christianity rather than 200, or however long the movement in question has been around…
Wow! At first glance I don’t know if I share his pessimism, but teaching at a Christian school, this line grabbed me:
“Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.”
This describes a good many of my students, and they are probably against gay marriage as much because they think it “gross” as for the moral and spiritual reasons. Check out “Between Two Worlds” site today for a different take on the influence of Christianity, particularly of the Reformed sort.
Evan – I agree with your take on the 2000 years of Christian history. I’ve been reading Latourette’s two volume history, and when you look at the scope you realize that we’ve faced down many of the same problems before. I have no dog in the fight for “evangelicalism,” but I think I detected a number of false dichotomies in his piece.