{"id":15810,"date":"2018-01-11T17:29:26","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T01:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15810"},"modified":"2018-01-11T17:29:26","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T01:29:26","slug":"evangelicalism-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/evangelicalism-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelicalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I could be labeled a religious, conservative republican and an evangelical. Most people who read that would automatically assume the worst about me. It is one of the reasons I chose to come to George Fox University, I would have the opportunity to be stretched. I would not be in the same circles I have run in since finding Christ. In addition, before August 2016, if you were labeled a religious liberal democrat, I automatically put you in a category you did not deserve to be put in. So, when I first started reading\u00a0Evangelicalism\u00a0in Modern Britain<\/em> by Bebbington I was not sure where it would go. It was interesting in that at Southwestern Seminary (an SBC seminary) I had classes on church history and we did touch on British church history, but mainly focused on American church history once we got to the 1800’s. Reading this book was a great introduction to Evangelicalism roots.<\/p>\n

In the opening chapter Bebbington discusses the four distinctives of evangelicals. “conversionism<\/em>, the belief that lives need to be changed;\u00a0activism,<\/em> the expression of the gospel in effort;\u00a0biblicism,<\/em> a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called\u00a0crucicentrism,<\/em> a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.”[1]\u00a0 I would identify with all these markers. Since finding Christ and given the grace of his forgiveness, these things have been part of my mindset so I guess I am an evangelical.<\/p>\n

I found Bebbington’s chapter on Walking Apart interesting. It was interesting to see the arguments for both sides, it seems to have come down to “an attempt to present Christianity in terms of modern thought, to translate traditional doctrines into a contemporary idiom. [2] This seems to be an argument less on “becoming all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. [3] Bebbington sees the liberal views as “rightly perceived at the time to be innovators.”[4] It seems as usual a high view of scripture is seen as old fashioned and small minded. I have been called worse. I do understand there are many who will see scripture as fluid, and some of the precepts as outdated, that is their prerogative. If there are those who choose to see scripture as inspired and inerrant it is their prerogative as well. I feel where both sides can fail is to see their interpretation as the only way scripture is to be received, and to be on the other side is to be heretical.\u00a0 As I read Bebbington’s book I could no shake the feeling, right or wrong, he holds conservative viewpoints as old and outdated. Then I read this “In reality, as will appear, the progress of stronger views of inspiration, bolstering conservative opinion, was of equal importance.” [5]<\/p>\n

It is at this point I started to relax my criticism of this book and to look at it with an open mind. If I am to call myself and evangelical pastor, I have to know my roots. Not just what I have been fed from one side or the other. A critical look at my forbearers is essential. So, what do others think of Bebbington’s treatment of the history of evangelicals. In his review of Bebbington’s book Robert Clouse speaks of how the book brings together “many details and interpretations into a cogent synthesis” [6]. One gets a sense of the magnitude of this work in bringing together many diverse ideas and show the relation between each other.<\/p>\n

While reading this book, I got the sense that this was a historical reckoning as well as an attempt to understand the intricacies behind the evangelical movement in Britain, but\u00a0 Desmond Bowing disagreed when he writes “Analysis is not the strongest part of the work…, He also tends to gloss over the challenges posed by the great secularist critiques…, the study is not as incisive in its later chapters as it is when discussing the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.” [7] While I can understand that such a undertaking would be a challenge, it was worth reading. Michael Winter argues “The author has painstakingly analyzed all the major trends in doctrine and worship which have shaped evangelical Christianity in the last two and a half centuries.”[8] I agree with his analysis of Bebbington’s work.<\/p>\n

The discussion of a social gospel as an alternative to the Evangelical gospel hit a chord with me. The idea of taking care of peoples social ills gives you an opportunity to to share the gospel. I have never understood the aversion to the social gospel some in my denomination feel. When I read “…the gospel must affect the environment. ‘If cleaner streets, better housing, seeter homes do not come within the scope of our aim, neither will those who are convinced that they have a right to these things come within the shadow of our places of worship.'”[9] Jesus met physical needs as well as spiritual. He healed then he saved. To many churches have forgotten the former and that takes away the effectiveness of the later. This is at the heart of my problem for my dissertation. Why has the American church have such an inward focus.<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0Bebbington, D. W.\u00a0Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/i>. London: Routledge, 1996.\u00a0 3.<\/p>\n

[2] Ibid.\u00a0 181-182.<\/p>\n

[3]\u00a01 Corinthians 9:22-23<\/i>. In\u00a0ESV Holy Bible<\/i>. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001.<\/p>\n

[4] Bebbington, D.W.Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/i>. London: Routledge, 1996.\u00a0 183.<\/p>\n

[5] Bebbington, D.W.Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/i>. London: Routledge, 1996.\u00a0 184.<\/p>\n

[6]\u00a0Clouse, Robert G. “Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (Book).” American Historical Review<\/i> 96, no. 1 (February 1991): 165. Academic Search Premier<\/i>, EBSCOhost<\/i> (accessed January 11, 2018).<\/p>\n

[7]\u00a0Bowen, Desmond. “Evangelicalism in Modern Britain\/Defending and Declaring the Faith\/Age of Atonement (Book).” Victorian Studies<\/i> 33, no. 3 (Spring90 1990): 505. Academic Search Premier<\/i>, EBSCOhost<\/i> (accessed January 11, 2018).<\/p>\n

[8]\u00a0Winter, Michael. “Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s.”\u00a0Political Quarterly<\/i>60, no. 3 (July 1989): 389-390.\u00a0Political Science Complete<\/i>, EBSCOhost<\/i>\u00a0(accessed January 11, 2018).<\/p>\n

[9] Bebbington, D. W.\u00a0Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/i>. London: Routledge, 1996.\u00a0 212.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I could be labeled a religious, conservative republican and an evangelical. Most people who read that would automatically assume the worst about me. It is one of the reasons I chose to come to George Fox University, I would have the opportunity to be stretched. I would not be in the same circles I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15832,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15810\/revisions\/15832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}