By: Debbie Owen on October 23, 2024
The American dream: a concept as varied as the individuals who dream it. In his 1931 book, The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams coined the term, “the American dream,” and defined it as, “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.” [1] In her paper,…
By: Graham English on October 23, 2024
This week, I was introduced to The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time by Karl Polanyi. Polanyi was an economic anthropologist and economic sociologist who lived through the collapse of a western society after the nineteenth century. He blames this collapse on the myth of the self-regulating market. While it might…
By: Glyn Barrett on October 21, 2024
(Image – Maps of Industrial Manchester) Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation, the political and economic origins of our time,[1] first published in 1944, is a seminal work offering an analysis of the economic and social upheavals that accompanied the rise of market capitalism. It is not a natural go-to book for me, but it was…
By: Shela Sullivan on October 21, 2024
What is this book about? I began reading the book, “The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time,” by Karl Polanyi on my flight to Washington DC last month, knowing I would need ample time to mentally digest and process the content. Consequently, articulating my post this week proved difficult. The challenge…
By: Jeff Styer on October 21, 2024
I am not an economist and this week’s readings were some of the hardest for me so far. However, as Simone Weil said “students who love God should never say: ‘For my part I like mathematics’; ‘I like French’; ‘I like Greek.’ They should learn to like all these subjects, because all of them develop…
By: Noel Liemam on October 20, 2024
“The Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730’s to the 1980’s,” by D.W. Bebbington and a chapter 2 from Dr. Jason Clark Thesis, titled “Evangelical Anxiety: From Assurance to Providence” are the assigned readings from this blogpost. For me, Bebbington’s is so comprehensive to grasp in and fully understand within the time frame.…
By: Joel Zantingh on October 19, 2024
Assurance, confidence and narrowness of focus all meet each other on the same road leading to ‘success’. Growing up in 20th Century North America was like being in a pressure cooker of success, spurred on by capitalism’s constant call for innovation, and the delivery of the next great artifact, product or solution to peddle to…
By: Chad Warren on October 17, 2024
I recently met with 20 key leaders in our church, discussing our doctrinal statement and those beliefs that distinguish our church. I indicated that, most simply, we are a Christian, Evangelical, Baptist, and Congregational church. Immediately, a hand shot up, and one of our leaders asked, “What does it mean that we’re ‘Evangelical,’ and how…
By: Daren Jaime on October 17, 2024
Journeying through ministry I am mindful of some of my ministerial mentors and those who taught me polity and liturgy. One such professor was Dr. Odinga Maddox. Dr. Maddox was a respected pastor, leader, and critical thinker. During one of his lectures, he reminded this novice group of emerging leaders to form ecumenical bonds. When…
By: Kari on October 17, 2024
Titles. Labels. Boxes. These categories help us organize thoughts, ideas, things, and even people. “Evangelical” is a name by which one can classify a type of Christianity. I have always considered myself an evangelical, but I have rarely used that word to label myself—that is, until I moved to France to study French. I enjoyed…
By: Elysse Burns on October 17, 2024
Evangelicalism has experienced many changes since its emergence in the 1730s, making it often hard to define.[1] D.W. Bebbington’s Evangelism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s outlines the basis of Evangelicalism and further analyzes and explains the movement’s changes. Bebbington writes concerning Evangelicalism’s quadrilateral of priorities, “There are four qualities…
By: Ryan Thorson on October 17, 2024
“You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner…you’re in one!” This famous line from one of my favorite movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, echoed in my ears as I read through the history of evangelicalism. Elizabeth Turner longed for adventure but when she was taken hostage by cursed pirates she didn’t believe what she’d…
By: Adam Cheney on October 17, 2024
I have struggled with which direction I want to go with this blog on Bebbington’s book for a couple of reasons. First, the book was slow to read, written like a history book by a scholarly historian. Secondly, the book ended too soon. Since the book’s print date, Evangelicalism has continued to change distinctly. His…
By: Graham English on October 16, 2024
I grew up with a nominal Anglican faith. It was church at Christmas and Easter and perhaps a few Sundays sprinkled in. I decided that I would leave the church as a teenager because it held little relevance to my life. I was a theist and there was a moral component to my life but…
By: Shela Sullivan on October 16, 2024
“Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s” by David Bebbington is comprehensive historical study of the evangelical movement in Britain from the 18th century to late 20th century.[1] This book explores how evangelicalism has influenced and been shaped by British society over time. Furthermore, Bebbington examines key periods and events such as the impact of the evangelical movement in the 19th century its resurgence after…
By: Diane Tuttle on October 15, 2024
When I was growing up, my only exposure to, what I told was, evangelicalism, was seeing someone standing on a milk crate at the country fair with a mega-phone shouting to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or face eternal damnation. As a young teen who wanted to ride rides or win a…
By: Debbie Owen on October 15, 2024
“You know it when you see it.” This phrase is often used as a definition for “pornography” but it can have many other applications as well. In his classic book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, D.W. Bebbington uses a similar quote for evangelicalism: “Who was an Evangelical? Sometimes adherents of the movement were in doubt themselves.…
By: Jennifer Eckert on October 15, 2024
An optimist’s view of evangelicalism and capitalism might resemble a dance that ebbs and flows together in rhythms that rise and fall in an exchange of faith and fortune. Conversely, a pessimist’s view of these two critical forces could look more like tossing yesterday’s forgotten leftovers into a jumbled cauldron of hash, destined to become…
By: Glyn Barrett on October 15, 2024
Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s[1] by David W. Bebbington explores the development and transformation of Evangelical Christianity in Britain over a 250-year period. As a British-based Pastor, many of the names, locations and events are so ingrained in the storytelling narrative of the British church that it was…
By: Jeff Styer on October 14, 2024
“’Jesus Is My Savior, Trump Is My President’” was a sign carried by those on January 6, 2021 outside the U.S. Capitol. Matthew Sutton describes what was seen that day and leading up to January 6th in an article titled “The Capitol Riot Revealed the Darkest Nightmares of White Evangelical America.”[1] Evangelical, a term that…
