Bebbington pracuje v Texase (Slovak), Bebbington works in Texas.
Highlights
Part 1: Bebbington
Part 2: Clark Chapter 2, a bridge between Bebbington and Weber
Part 3: Summary and a world note
Part 1: Bebbington
David W. Bebbington’s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to The 1980s[1], Is more than a walk-through history. During a peer group meeting, Jenny Dooley shared that the reading helped her find her place in Evangelical history. This intrigued me and searching YouTube to find the man himself, I stumbled upon an interview where a Baylor University professor was interviewing Bebbington who apparently teaches at Baylor (in Waco, Texas) on a regular basis.
From Baylors website, David Bebbington, Distinguished Visiting Professor of History, Education, Ph.D., University of Cambridge, 1975, Biography, [2]
David Bebbington is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Stirling in Scotland. An undergraduate and postgraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge (1968-73), he subsequently became a research fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1973-76). From 1976 he taught at the University of Stirling, where from 1999 to 2019 he was Professor of History. He now serves as Director of the Evangelical Studies Program at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.
David Bebbington – David_Bebbington@baylor.edu
In the interview conducted by Professor Barry Hankins, [3] he questions Bebbington about his quadrilateral. Hankins was surprised he said, that in his initial search, that he could only find the quadrilateral in the introduction for another Bebbington Book, Patterns of History. Bebbington stated that, “What I thought I was doing…was simply summarizing what everyone knows. I really did not think it was original, I was desperately keen to try to reflect the consensus of opinion (see minute 18:00)….It’s weird that in the last two or three years I find myself at the center of American public discourse (19:01)…which I find slightly alarming.”[4]
Bebbington believes that his quadrilateral entered the mainstream discourse when the National Association of Evangelicals referred to it on their website and journalist used it as a reference for the definition of evangelicals. He stated that he was surprised that a concept developed solely for the UK would be so widely used in America.
Part 2: Clark Chapter 2, a bridge between Bebbington and Weber
Dr. Jason Clark’s Chapter 2: Evangelical Anxiety: From Assurance to Providence, is a nice bridge between Bebbington’s Quad and Weber’s Protest Work Ethic (chapter 3). [5] His chapter is broken down into the following subsections.
2.1 Capitalism: Technical critique or social arrangements?
2.2 What is Evangelicalism? Bebbington’s quadrilateral
2.3 Protestant Anxiety and Discontinuities: Generating Evangelical activism
2.4 Conclusion
In 2.2 Clark writes, Boyd Hilton like many others also considers Bebbington’s work to be the ‘best introduction’ to Evangelicalism, whilst Mark Noll declares it to be “the most serviceable definition.” (p. 56). Clark goes on to say that “The activism-conversionism ‘entrepreneurial’ strand of Evangelicalism that developed in the UK in the late twentieth century owes much to its entrepreneurial possibilities because of its situation within developing capitalist markets. (p.56).
While at Dallas Baptist University, one of my Global Leadership classes looked at Patrick Johnston’s book, The Future of the Global Church. [6] Johnston writes…” Capitalism was the primary mechanism-though its inherent greed was challenged and constrained by the moral and ethical standards of Christianity, who underpinning helped to disseminate its gains in the West. In a bit of a reverse, Johnston begins to explore the symbiotic relationship between Capitalism and Evangelism.
Clark’s dissertation takes the relationship further, he writes…”For it is the relationship between Evangelicalism and capitalism, its ‘arrangements’, in particular social and embodied organisations, that I wish to explore (p.51). He adds, “Leading early Evangelical leaders themselves noted that their faith propagated fastest and best where capitalist markets were developing” (p.54).
Part 3: Summary and a world note: GoodSports International – Using Walker and Bebbington
As GoodSports International (www.goodsportsinternational.org) is joining with Ukrainian churches (Redemption Church in Kharkiv) and Christian sports ministries (Penuel -Hebrew God’s face, in Kryvyi Rih). Walker provides some sound advice in his Appendix: Troubleshooting Problems in Leadership, he states “What are your foundations going to be? You need to establish core values, expected behaviours, standards, goals, routines and rhythms. Are you clear about yours? “[7] Bebbington helps GoodSports remember the core values (the quadrilateral) as we select our ministry partners in our relationship building process with the Ukrainian children, youth, and adults. Scripturally, the “Romans road” helps us to align the quardilateral to our work.
- Crucicentrism (or Christocentrism) – Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” & Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” & Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Conversionism – Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” & Romans 10:13: “For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
- Biblicism – 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
- Activism – Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Epilogue. Slovakia elected Robert Fico who is the head of the party advocating a pro-Putin platform. The picture here with Prime Minister Viktor Orban grieves me, as once again Slovakia and Hungary choose to be willing participants in the Russian sphere of influence. GSI has been in Slovakia for 27 years and Hungary for 25 years. How will our gospel message fair in an environment that is willing to advocate for an “unjust war.”
[1] Bebbington, David W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to The 1980s. London, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 1989. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/georgefox/detail.action?docID=179445.
[2] https://history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/david-bebbington
[3] https://history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/barry-g-hankins
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jouF7XW6A, An Interview with David Bebbington
[5] Clark, Jason Paul. “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship,” 46.
[6] Johnstone, Patrick J. St G. The Future of the Global Church: History, Trends and Possibilities. Colorado Springs, CO : [Bucks, England]: Biblica ; WEC International, 2011.
[7] Walker, Simon P. Leading with Nothing to Lose: Training in the Exercise of Power. Carlisle: Piquant, 2007.
About the Author
Russell Chun
interlinkt.org is now ready for your Refugee Resettlement needs. 15 tasks, languages ESL plans coming5 responses to “Bebbington pracuje v Texase (Slovak), Bebbington works in Texas.”
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Hi Russell,
I really appreciate how you looked up D.W. Bebbington. I am intrigued and will watch the You Tube video you referenced.
You mentioned the book, The Future of the Global Church. I noticed it was published in 2011. I wonder how much of the world and the thinking regarding evangelicalism and capitalism has changed since then. Our understanding of things seems to keep evolving at a rapid rate. You quoted Johnstone, “Capitalism was the primary mechanism-though its inherent greed was challenged and constrained by the moral and ethical standards of Christianity” and I am thinking Max Weber said something similar. I just starting reading The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. My mind is kind of blowing up with all the connections. Help!
I just read Pam Lau’s theory of 500 year cycle of Christian change.
Wow, evolution (is that heresy) in our Christian perspectives.
To be frank, there have always been some issues that I thought the bible was “wonky” on. Like not letting women preach and head scarves, long hair on men (NOT HAPPENING).
They appeared to be addressing the cultural issues of the time. So maybe not so timeless in tradition instruction.
Still I put my hallmark scriptures to Bebbington’s quadrilateral and called it good.
• Crucicentrism (or Christocentrism) – Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” & Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” & Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Conversionism – Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” & Romans 10:13: “For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
• Biblicism – 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
• Activism – Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
So your thoughts on the new Israeli war? If the Jews had eliminated the tribes God told them to, would we be having the death and destruction happening now and on the horizon?
Shalom…
After you mentioned the interview, I watched it as well and found it really helpful to better understand Bebbington. Thanks for the info. Just like Jenny, it helped me to find my place in all these branches as well. I can say I hold to each of the four quadrants, but like Bebbington points out in his book about different Evangelicals throughout history, I express and understand each of them much differently today than I did at one time in my Christian walk.
Russell, thanks for dropping by to my side of the blogs! Wanted to come by and read some of your thoughts. I appreciate how you brought your work into your reading of Bebbington and Clark!
I’m curious if you’ve seen the relationship between evangelicalism and capitalism that Bebbington and Clark talk about in your work with churches and immigration. Do you feel like their responses have leaned more toward the core quadrilateral of values or more toward capitalistic values? (Also please don’t feel the need to respond, I know youve got plenty of your own cohort to respond to!)
Appreciate you!
Hi Caleb,
I appreciate you wandering into our 2nd year sphere.
The time spent with you and Daron was so challenging and refreshing. All my efforts were placed into Interlinkt and not so much on my NPO.
As a result I have been playing with the wording and finally I asked ChatGPT to lend a hand. After some tweaking….
“An In-depth Analysis of U.S. Immigration Policy, Its Impact on the Resettlement of Newcomers, and the Socioeconomic Integration of Immigrant Populations within Local Communities.”
Version#4 – abstract
“This dissertation comprehensively analyzes the historical evolution of U.S. immigration policies influenced by all branches of government. It investigates the contemporary impact of these policies on newcomers’ resettlement and socioeconomic integration. Additionally, the study provides a comparative analysis of U.S. immigration policies with those of other nations, shedding light on best practices and potential areas for improvement. The thesis introduces ‘Interlinkt,’ an innovative telephone app designed to aid navigation through the complex landscape of immigration integration requirements. Tailored for newcomers and stakeholders, it addresses multifaceted challenges and opportunities, including legal, social, economic, and cultural dimensions ‘Interlinkt’ aims to enhance the immigrant experience and foster effective resettlement with local communities.“
What do you think?
Oh, yes, In Hungary I used the power of economics to “open doors” in the places I needed to work in. Local village school (donations), the village admin (gifts to the Mayor), and feeding the orphanage in Miskolc, when funding was dropped by the Hungarian government for meals in orphanages and homes for the elderly. I was shameless in the use of gifts, which amounted to bribes.
Shalom…