In evangelical culture of the last century, «worldliness» had come to signify entertainment or lifestyle choices with which many conservative Christians weren't comfortable.
(I Timothy 2:12) This little verse has made big waves
in the evangelical culture, and all my life I've heard it used to enforce restrictions on the positions women can hold in church leadership.
Then, just when you think it can't get any better, Vicky Beeching hits it out of the park with her presentation about what it was like growing up, living, and leading
in the evangelical culture, while (until recently) keeping her sexuality a secret.
The biggest surprise was that my experience
in the evangelical culture strengthened my faith.
If, like me, you've spent any amount of time
in the evangelical culture, you will relate to this movie.
In 20 years will people say «that book really changed things
in evangelical culture and Adam has become a significant voice in the church» or will they say, in a sexy deep voice: «Adam McHugh: he is the most introverted man in the world.
Discernment is a buzzword
in evangelical culture these days.
Not exact matches
That's compounded often
in the religious
evangelical culture: «Send me.
In the UK, where calls for equality are admittedly met with less resistance, in general, than in the gender minefield that is US evangelical culture, Christian advocates for equality have also been active, with the launch of gender - based violence charity Restored in 2010 and the publication of Jenny Baker's Equals (SPCK) this year, which talks about the practical outworking of equality in family life, work, and churc
In the UK, where calls for equality are admittedly met with less resistance,
in general, than in the gender minefield that is US evangelical culture, Christian advocates for equality have also been active, with the launch of gender - based violence charity Restored in 2010 and the publication of Jenny Baker's Equals (SPCK) this year, which talks about the practical outworking of equality in family life, work, and churc
in general, than
in the gender minefield that is US evangelical culture, Christian advocates for equality have also been active, with the launch of gender - based violence charity Restored in 2010 and the publication of Jenny Baker's Equals (SPCK) this year, which talks about the practical outworking of equality in family life, work, and churc
in the gender minefield that is US
evangelical culture, Christian advocates for equality have also been active, with the launch of gender - based violence charity Restored
in 2010 and the publication of Jenny Baker's Equals (SPCK) this year, which talks about the practical outworking of equality in family life, work, and churc
in 2010 and the publication of Jenny Baker's Equals (SPCK) this year, which talks about the practical outworking of equality
in family life, work, and churc
in family life, work, and church.
Finally, while broader trends
in American
culture might seem closer to the ideals of liberal Protestants than their
evangelical counterparts, I think both groups simply now find themselves on the margins of an American
culture that seems out of synch with either brand of Protestant Christianity.
This has many
evangelicals very worried because they view the Supreme Court as the decisive field of battle
in the
culture war.
Evangelical culture tends to treat women as if their primary purpose
in life is to give our husband sex.
Whether
in evangelical, practical, or intellectual terms, the combination of the three systems
in one — the democratic republic, a creative and dynamic economy, and an open, free, and pluralistic
culture — has a proven modern record, surpassed by none, of raising up the poor.
As Todd Brenneman argues
in his recent book, Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality
in Contemporary American Evangelicalism, sentimentality may be a defining characteristic of religious life for many Americans, and so most readers
in the dominant
Evangelical culture, outside a few hip and urban churches, are more likely to encounter the treacly poetry of Ruth Bell Graham than the spiritually searing work of R. S. Thomas or T. S. Eliot.
The youth group
in effect competes with more secular forms of youth
culture for the hearts of future
evangelicals.
Religious historian Thomas S Kidd writes, «
In American pop
culture parlance, «
evangelical» now basically means whites who consider themselves religious and who vote Republican.»
And while part of the
evangelical dilemma can be ascribed to the «scandal» of our noninvolvement
in intellectual
culture, as one historian has argued, this is only part of the story.
As mainline Protestantism ceased to be a
culture - forming force
in American public life, the void was filled by a new Catholic presence
in the public square and, perhaps most influentially
in electoral terms, by the emergent activism of
evangelical, fundamentalist, and Pentecostal Protestantism
in what would become known as the Religious Right» a movement that has formed a crucial part of the Republican governing coalition for more than a quarter - century.
Mother's Day struck a resonant chord
in the
culture - with all those unnerved by women's suffrage and urban migration, with Protestants long familiar with the maternal ideals of
evangelical womanhood, with business leaders (especially florists) who were quick to see the commercial potential, with politicians who still regularly voiced the Enlightenment precept that virtuous mothers were the essential undergirding of the republic
in nurturing sons to be responsible citizens.
One might look, for example, at From
Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate, by neoliberal Protestants Don Browning, Bonnie Miller - McLemore, Pamela Couture, Bernie Lyon and Robert Franklin; Gender and Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting
in a Changing World, by
evangelical Protestant Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen; and Sex, Gender and Christian Ethics, by Catholic Lisa Sowle Cahill.
But
in terms of priorities, focus, and direction, assumed evangelicalism begins to give gradually increasing energy to concerns other than the gospel and key
evangelical distinctives, to gradually elevate secondary issues to a primary level, to be increasingly worried about how it is perceived by others and to allow itself to be increasingly influenced both
in content and method by the prevailing
culture of the day.
The problem with the
evangelical purity
culture, as I see it, isn't that it teaches saving sex for marriage, but that it equates virginity with sexual wholeness and therefore as something that can be lost or given or taken away
in a single moment.
The purpose of my project was to unpack and explore the phrase «biblical womanhood» — mostly because, as a woman, the Bible's instructions and stories regarding womanhood have always intrigued me, but also because the phrase «biblical womanhood» is often invoked
in the conservative
evangelical culture to explain why women should be discouraged from working outside the home and forbidden from assuming leadership positions
in the church.
First, our recent dive into parenthood has made me exceedingly glad we ditched the strict gender roles promoted by conservative
evangelical culture in favor of a relationship characterized by mutuality and flexibility.
Rachel: You note that while Catholics, African Americans, Hispanics and many Mainline Protestants have continued to be involved
in public education, White
evangelical Christians are largely absent, until a «
culture war» issue arises --(around school - led prayer, evolution, sex ed, etc.)-- and the protests begin.
Methodology: LifeWay Research is a Nashville - based,
evangelical research firm that specializes
in surveys about faith
in culture and matters that affect churches.
Neo-fundamentalists believe they alone are remaining true to the fullness of the gospel and orthodox faith while the rest of the
evangelical church is
in grave, near - apocalyptic danger of theological drift, moral laxity, and compromise with a postmodern
culture — a
culture which they see as being characterized by a skepticism towards Enlightenment conceptions of «absolute truth,» a pluralistic blending of diverse beliefs, values, and
cultures, and a suspicion of hierarchies and traditional sources of authority.
In conclusion, the above suggestions — Indoctrination, Incarnation, and Influence — are public, personal and practical ways for contemporary
evangelical Christians to confront ongoing racism within our
culture and even within the church.
And it seems to me that this conundrum
in particular — this tendency among young, social media - savvy
evangelicals to consume information about the depravity of our
culture like Cookie Monster at an Oreo Factory, only to belch out the same tired critiques — comes down to our understanding of the Kingdom of God and how it's made.
I've seen this
in my own life as my frustrations with the conservative
evangelical culture in which I grew up cause me to dismiss its proponents with more anger and disdain than those of any other faith.
And memories of forced union with Reformed churches
in Germany
in the early nineteenth century (which prompted much Lutheran immigration to the U.S) also induced isolation from broader American
Evangelical culture.
The Lutheran heritage
in music is far from barren — Luther himself was a musician of note and to be Lutheran is to know that J. S. Bach is to music as Shakespeare is to literature — but the musical
culture of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) had by the 1940s been considerably corrupted by American
evangelical Protestantism, and I wallowed
in the corruption.
A Peculiar People: The Church as
Culture in a Post-Christian Society by Rodney Clapages InterVarsity, 251 pages, $ 14.99 paper A prolific
evangelical Protestant writer, Clapp proposes an understanding of «church as way of life» along lines made familiar by the work of Stanley Hauerwas.
In fact one of the most serious studies undertaken by all schools of theology in the churches whether evangelical or catholic is the relation between the one gospel and many culture
In fact one of the most serious studies undertaken by all schools of theology
in the churches whether evangelical or catholic is the relation between the one gospel and many culture
in the churches whether
evangelical or catholic is the relation between the one gospel and many
cultures.
[
In thousands (175,440 represents 175,440,000)--------- Total Christian --------- 173,402 Catholic --------- 57,199 Baptist --------- 36,148 Protestant - no denomination supplied --------- 5,187 Methodist / Wesleyan --------- 11,366 Lutheran --------- 8,674 Christian - no denomination supplied --------- 16,834 Presbyterian --------- 4,723 Pentecostal / Charismatic --------- 5,416 Episcopalian / Anglican --------- 2,405 Mormon / Latter - Day Saints --------- 3,158 Churches of Christ --------- 1,921 Jehovah's Witness --------- 1,914 Seventh - Day Adventist --------- 938 Assemblies of God --------- 810 Holiness / Holy --------- 352 Congregational / United Church of Christ --------- 736 Church of the Nazarene --------- 358 Church of God --------- 663 Orthodox (Eastern)--------- 824
Evangelical / Born Again \ 2 --------- 2,154 Mennonite --------- 438 Christian Science --------- 339 Church of the Brethren --------- 231 Nondenominational \ 2 --------- 8,032 Disciples of Christ --------- 263 Reformed / Dutch Reform --------- 206 Apostolic / New Apostolic --------- 970 Quaker --------- 130 Full Gospel --------- 67 Christian Reform --------- 381 Foursquare Gospel --------- 116 Fundamentalist \ 2 --------- 69 Salvation Army --------- 70 Independent Christian Church --------- 86 --------- Total other religions --------- 8,796 Jewish --------- 2,680 Muslim --------- 1,349 Buddhist --------- 1,189 Unitarian / Universalist --------- 586 Hindu --------- 582 Native American --------- 186 Scientologist --------- 25 Baha'I --------- 49 Taoist --------- 56 New Age --------- 15 Eckankar --------- 30 Rastafarian --------- 56 Sikh --------- 78 Wiccan --------- 342 Deity --------- 32 Druid --------- 29 Santeria --------- 3 Pagan --------- 340 Spiritualist --------- 426 Other unclassified --------- 735 --------- No religion specified, total --------- 34,169 Atheist --------- 1,621 Agnostic --------- 1,985 Humanist --------- 90 Secular --------- 34 Ethical
Culture --------- 11 No religion --------- 30,427 --------- Refused to reply to question --------- 11,815
Because of the ubiquity of dispensational themes
in evangelical pop
culture, it's reasonable to assume that it must be the catalyst for
evangelical Judeophilia.
I don't know enough about
evangelical culture to speak for them en masse but I do know many
evangelicals who work
in slums, garbage dumps and to stop human trafficking to say that it's not always true that only the pretty things are redemptive.
More recently, the idea of plausibility structures has been employed
in several studies concerned with the question of how American
evangelicals are able to maintain their traditional religious beliefs within the secular, pluralistic context of modern
culture.
Keel carries no weapons
in the
culture war, and he figures that his people, hardly stereotypical
evangelicals, vote Democratic or Green as often as Republican.
While debate over the understanding of Biblical interpretation lies at the heart of current
evangelical discussions concerning women, differences
in theological tradition lie at the center of discussions over social ethics, and disagreement over one's approach toward the wider secular
culture is surfacing as the focus of controversy regarding homosexuality.
David Hubbard, for example,
in his taped remarks on the future of evangelicalism to a colloquium at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary
in Denver
in 1977 noted the following areas of tension among
evangelicals: women's ordination, the charismatic movement, ecumenical relations, social ethics, strategies of evangelism, Biblical criticism, Biblical infallibility, contextual theology
in non-Western
cultures, and the churchly applications of the behavioral sciences.2 If such a list is more exhaustive than those topics which this book has pursued, it nevertheless makes it clear that the foci of the preceding chapters have at least been representative.
The intramural dialogue over what Mark Noll has called «the scandal of the
evangelical mind» worries that intellectually serious people have passed
evangelicals by while we were allured by the sensations of revivalism, seduced by a materialistic market - driven
culture, overtaken by the «disaster of fundamentalism»
in the face of challenges from modern science and technology, and robbed of our universities through negligence and the inertia of secularized education.
Today, Catholics and
Evangelicals have,
in large part, become cobelligerents
in the
culture wars and evince a growing confidence that theirs is the opportunity to advance their cause
in the face of a multifaceted crisis of secular liberalism.
Moreover, problems within
evangelical hermeneutics have become apparent
in two areas: (1) the issue of «
culture,» and (2) the tendency toward inconsistency.
Because all of Scripture is culturally directed — i. e., because all of it was written for a particular situation and out of a particular context - the
evangelical can not use the issue of
culture to distinguish between arguments for women's place
in marriage and her place
in the church.
In the absence of any concerted effort toward arriving at a univocal Biblically based definition of «justice,»
evangelicals have too often adopted certain working definitions from the American
culture.
By the time I was a teenager at the Jesus camps, pledging my life to being a warrior
in God's
culture army, I had memorized Bible verses as answers, and developed a pretty major
evangelical hero complex along with my superiority and false sense of control.
In recent decades, Evangelicals and Catholics have encountered one another as brothers and sisters in Christ in many forums, and especially as they contend together for a culture of life that will protect the unborn, the aged, the handicapped, and others who are often deemed to be expendabl
In recent decades,
Evangelicals and Catholics have encountered one another as brothers and sisters
in Christ in many forums, and especially as they contend together for a culture of life that will protect the unborn, the aged, the handicapped, and others who are often deemed to be expendabl
in Christ
in many forums, and especially as they contend together for a culture of life that will protect the unborn, the aged, the handicapped, and others who are often deemed to be expendabl
in many forums, and especially as they contend together for a
culture of life that will protect the unborn, the aged, the handicapped, and others who are often deemed to be expendable.
The
evangelical church
in America is deeply invested
in purity
culture.
As a woman whose opportunities for Christian leadership were severely limited by the conservative
evangelical culture in which I was raised, blogging has given me a voice and a reach I would not have otherwise had, and I am so grateful for that.